Ran into CJL at Gasparilla today

[goingbackbull]

Awesome guy, looks like he still would kill it.  Appreciated me telling him us die hard old school USF fans wish we had him back.  Just what I felt from our little conversation but seems like he holds a pretty big grudge.  

[USFBulls12]

1 hour ago, goingbackbull said:

Awesome guy, looks like he still would kill it.  Appreciated me telling him us die hard old school USF fans wish we had him back.  Just what I felt from our little conversation but seems like he holds a pretty big grudge.  

Well, considering it ruined his life as it was and the life he lived was not the one he set out to live, I can respect him holding onto those feelings. From my understanding, he poured his entire being into USF and it was all taken away from him and life was never quite the same from that point forward.

[CousinRicky]

6 hours ago, USFBulls12 said:

Well, considering it ruined his life as it was and the life he lived was not the one he set out to live, I can respect him holding onto those feelings. From my understanding, he poured his entire being into USF and it was all taken away from him and life was never quite the same from that point forward.

Not sure it ruined his life. Changed the course of it for sure. Coached in the pros and at major colleges afterward. 

[Bull Matrix]

3 hours ago, CousinRicky said:

Not sure it ruined his life. Changed the course of it for sure. Coached in the pros and at major colleges afterward. 

Lol it may have ruined a lot of USF fans lives to be honest. No doubt in my mind that if CJL never got fired at USF he would be like a Bobby Bowden by right now for USF. USF would have been in a better conference and be ranked in top 25 in just about every season. USF lost time when they pulled off that idiotic move…

[Triple B]

11 hours ago, USFBulls12 said:

Well, considering it ruined his life as it was and the life he lived was not the one he set out to live, I can respect him holding onto those feelings. From my understanding, he poured his entire being into USF and it was all taken away from him and life was never quite the same from that point forward.

If he's holding a grudge NOW, it can't be for the ones who fired him but for the ones who didn't rehire him so can't buy the whole "ruined his life" reasoning ...... plus he's had a darn nice career in coaching, one a lot who enter that profession would appreciate.

[Aurelius]

CJL being fired in the manner that he was made it nearly impossible for him to get another HC gig. Prior to that, he was a hot name for some big openings. I'd say it pretty much ruined his future path in coaching. No matter how good of a DC he was, nobody wanted to take the chance or absorb the bad PR.

Only CJL knows if that was truly earned or not. There is a certain amount of personal responsibility here too. 

I'd still love to see him and the university bury the hatchet and bring him aboard in some kind of role in athletics. It really is best for everyone. His legacy is at USF, his best professional accomplishments here... and for the University - our best on-field results. I think some kind of role engaging donors etc. would be good for him.

[Dave_Glaser]

55 minutes ago, Triple B said:

If he's holding a grudge NOW, it can't be for the ones who fired him but for the ones who didn't rehire him so can't buy the whole "ruined his life" reasoning ...... plus he's had a darn nice career in coaching, one a lot who enter that profession would appreciate.

Oh, don’t know about that. The man can hold a grudge. Personal experience.

[Triple B]

11 minutes ago, Dave_Glaser said:

Oh, don’t know about that. The man can hold a grudge. Personal experience.

Sounds like a story in there somewhere .....

[MaBull]

I won hundred percent understand why he is holding a grudge USF. This way that whole situation went down was terrible. Also never reached out to him or even really acknowledges his contributions to the football program and  the university.

FWIW I still feel that whole situation was handled poorly & was an unfair to hm & did not warrant his removal.
It really changed the direction not only his career but also the momentum and direction of USF football

[Dave_Glaser]

2 hours ago, Triple B said:

Sounds like a story in there somewhere .....

Long story short - when I was doing the BullsEYE magazine, I wrote a column after the San Diego State game when we made the switch quickly at QB from Glen Gauntt to Marquel Blackwell. The crux of the column was that, yes, they had the right guy as the starter in Blackwell, but I questioned how the whole thing played out. Gauntt sat behind Chad Barnhardt, then was elevated to starter, and pretty much got one half of football in the program’s first game ever against a IA opponent before losing his job.

Prior to that column, Jim was a fan of BullsEYE. The next week at James Madison, he refused to take my questions in the post-game news conference. We had a one-on-one meeting in his trailer the following week to clear the air, but he never treated me the same again. We were OK, but I covered the team for several more years and he never was the same. He never let that go.