AAC Departures

[Bull Matrix]

27 minutes ago, Gismo said:

So depressing looking at the future AAC. In 2007-2008, when I was a USF freshman, this was inconceivable. 

One positive way to look at is the travel destinations are fun.

[Friscobull]

36 minutes ago, Gismo said:

So depressing looking at the future AAC. In 2007-2008, when I was a USF freshman, this was inconceivable. 

Hell, when I graduated there was no football and to think we have already beat the likes of Florida State, Miami, Auburn, Clemson, Norte Dame etc…is inconceivable.  I see for the first time the University making sports a priority and going all in so I am feeling somewhat optimistic which is incredible considering our recent performance.

[NewEnglandBull]

51 minutes ago, Gismo said:

So depressing looking at the future AAC. In 2007-2008, when I was a USF freshman, this was inconceivable. 

Well I can tell you from experience as you get older you start to forget things…so one day you will have that going for you, which is nice. 

[Triple B]

3 hours ago, Ghostbuster said:

I say this all the time and no one believes me but you won't get good coaches if you don't have good facilities.  Here, have a quote from a coach that knows it:

Watch how coaches take jobs now. Coach is down to these four jobs. Well, before, [the decision was based on] facilities or whatever. If the coach is smart, the first question should be what?

Tell me about your [NIL] collective?

https://www.si.com/college/2022/05/25/lane-kiffin-nil-recruiting-boosters-nick-saban

There, Lane Kiffin talks about facilities and how the NIL is replacing them as most important thing for top coaches to look at in prospective jobs.

From a certain point of view, Jim Leavitt was the worst thing to happen because so many just look at him and say "he did more with less".  But that was a totally different era.  The year is not 1997.  More school have facilities today than they did back then.  Money infects everything more today than it did then.  Even if you went back in time and brought younger Jim Leavitt forward to be the coach today, he would still have trouble recruiting top players in Florida because other Florida schools are ahead of USF in the arms race.  Would he get better results because he bled green and gold and didn't take vacations?  Yes.  Would his work ethic (and extra couple of wins) make us substantially more attractive to top recruits?  No.

That does make a lot of sense and the one area I think the ball has been dropped in the past was the IPF ..... but having said that, I think we've done a decent job of attracting coaches.

Skip should have done better than he did based on his track record and maybe lack of facilities played a part, but for whatever reason he was a bust.... but then you had Willie with the same facilities do a yeoman's job. Then came Chuck who came in talking about the need for facilities, which he probably rationalized as to why he failed here, who appeared to be a good fit coming in but turned out to be Fool's Gold. Obviously the jury's still out on CJS but I think the consensus in the college football world at the time is that it was a good hire of an up and coming assistant coach.

Bottom line, though, is that I maybe can buy the facilities argument a little better for our down time, as long as an ocs isn't lumped in there. It is the last piece of the puzzle in having success on the field but I've got no problem with going forward with one. To me, though, I'd rather have seen the kick-ass football only facility going up with the IPF if we had to choose. (Yes, John, I remember about the Big 12 and revenue control)

BTW, loved the last paragraph about CJL. It kinda dovetails a bit into my controversial "the BE was the worst thing to happen" mantra pertaining to "doing more with less" ......

[Brad]

12 minutes ago, Triple B said:

BTW, loved the last paragraph about CJL. It kinda dovetails a bit into my controversial "the BE was the worst thing to happen" mantra pertaining to "doing more with less" ......

Maybe it was Leavitt that was the worse thing to happen to us.  He showed us hard work, commitment and worse - winning.  He botched it. Had he come out of the gate as a failure, we’d think everything else was either status quo or a smidge better.  

[Triple B]

11 hours ago, Brad said:

Maybe it was Leavitt that was the worse thing to happen to us.  He showed us hard work, commitment and worse - winning.  He botched it. Had he come out of the gate as a failure, we’d think everything else was either status quo or a smidge better.  

He spoilt us ..... should have paced himself.

[Steve]

12 hours ago, Brad said:

Maybe it was Leavitt that was the worse thing to happen to us.  He showed us hard work, commitment and worse - winning.  He botched it. Had he come out of the gate as a failure, we’d think everything else was either status quo or a smidge better.  

This was way before my time, so I’m sorry if this is a dumb question or if anyone takes offense…was he that great? I know we had a couple of good seasons under him, but he doesn’t seem like someone that built a strong foundation, so I question his greatness. I mean, it all fell apart after he left.

I saw Taggart have some success and I feel like he could’ve done some great things if he stayed.

I’ve only been here as a student & fan for one almost-great season (2017) and it’s been downhill since then.

Edited June 17, 2022 by Steve

[Brad]

@Steve,

I wasn't implying he was great, btw.  Whether he was great or not is a debatable point.  There are hundreds of threads on that.  Divided opinion.  He was clearly the most successful, but the "great" tag is an individual opinion.

As for Willie, I should have given him some credit too, he related well to players.  He did some "great" recruiting.  Again, had a number of issues with coaching as people have brought up.  There is no doubt he was in the top two of our four previous coaches.

[BDYZR]

19 minutes ago, Steve said:

This was way before my time, so I’m sorry if this is a dumb question or if anyone takes offense…was he that great? I know we had a couple of good seasons under him, but he doesn’t seem like someone that built a strong foundation, so I question his greatness. I mean, it all fell apart after he left.

I saw Taggart have some success and I feel like he could’ve done some great things if he stayed.

I’ve only been here as a student & fan for one almost-great season (2017) and it’s been downhill since then.

This is a group effort, and unless the entire group works toward a common goal, failure is imminent. CJL, at that time had full support. He made ONE glaring mistake and it all came crashing down. I believe he could have been great otherwise. Then the group was fractured. Then CSH was somewhat handcuffed and failed miserably. CWT came in and was gifted one of the most dynamic QB's to play at USF. But, just like most every businessman alive left for MUCH greener pastures. And there still was not consensus in athletics. CCS walked in and one of his first comments was absolute idiocy. Now the group, with new members, were beginning to get on the same page of a plan for the future of athletics. Coach Scott. VP Michael Kelly, BoT, Rhea Law, and everybody else are FINALLY on the same page.

GO BULLS! 

[USF968]

10 minutes ago, Brad said:

@Steve,

I wasn't implying he was great, btw.  Whether he was great or not is a debatable point.  There are hundreds of threads on that.  Divided opinion.  He was clearly the most successful, but the "great" tag is an individual opinion.

As for Willie, I should have given him some credit too, he related well to players.  He did some "great" recruiting.  Again, had a number of issues with coaching as people have brought up.  There is no doubt he was in the top two of our four previous coaches.

With Leavitt I knew we were going to win around 8 games every year. Which looking back at now I really miss. Just looked up his head coaching record and he was 95–57. That’s pretty impressive.