Lost to perennial football powerhouse Kansas...

[Cubanbull]

Herman

I want us to improve as fast as we can BUT the realities are that UL and WV HAVE a football tradition, they have had football for over 50 years. We are an unknown with less than FIVE years in 1A and mostly as an indy or in CUSA which dont get much publicity. It takes time to recruit and create that depth needed to be a top 25 team. I say we need FIVE years as a BCS school so we would have enough of the athletes needed to compete. Look at Rutgers this is Schiano's FIFTH year recruiting under BCS label.

USF still does not ring in the public ears even in our state, heck most players in HS do NOT know USF is in BCS conference. It takes time. I say we need to make 2 or 3 more Bowl trips before we can be a BCS Bowl buster.

[smazza]

wait wait wait

we have only been playing football 10 years

they have been playing football 200 years

we are a young team

we are an inexperienced team

it takes time

blah blah blah

[smazza]

I don't have a problem with people who have high expectations for the program. They want what I want, the only difference being the level of patience I have to let things develop.

I don't think you can say any team is NEVER supposed to lose to any other team EVER. That's just not reasonable. I think we could have beaten Kansas but they played with a lot of heart. They are a quality team-- not USC quality by any means-- but a decent Big 12 program. I can agree we let an opportunity pass us by there-- but I doubt anyone beyond the Bull nation really batted an eye at the outcome.

I can accept "failure" to a certain degree. If we had a truly terrible program and no success at all-- sure, that would be failure. That simply isn't the case. It would be if we overscheduled ourselves. I like to think that at this point we are simply trying to adjust to life in a BCS conference. If we win the Big East, then we can start concerning ourselves with bigger things. The fact is-- we've never really won anything of significance beyond a handful of surprising upsets.

My approach has always been-- "let me see some entertaining football". So far, we haven't any boring games even once. Partially that is our fault since we were probably supposed to beat McNeese much more handily (or earlier) than we did. If we happen to actually win all those tight/entertaining games-- so much the better. But we are definitely not boring. And I really don't see us as a failing program-- just one that is continuing to move toward what others see as where we are supposed to be.

this is all true

i wish i had more patience

[Cubanbull]

smazza

I wish we could be top 25 right now, and i do think we will be sooner than later but i also see the realities of where USF stands right now.

We cant get 30,000 freaking fans in the stadium game in game out. We cant get past 5,000 to travel to a Bowl game (our first ever), we just built an athletic facility less than two or three years ago (something most schools have had for ages). There is great talent in our state but we as fans need to do a better job of supporting our school.

Why in hell would a top recruit being wooed by most BCS schools choose USF over them?

[Triple B]

Cubanbull i agree, but this patience excuse is outdated.  I have been affiliated with this school for ten years ( a rookie to some on this board) and have seen improvements in the program but none signifigant enough to gain respect from other schools.  No one knows who we are.  Ask anyone who attends a BE school.  Its that simple, we know all about WVU and Louisville but they dont even have us circled on their calenders.  Can we please please please change that aspect of our name.

Why are some so **** insecure that they are so worried about what OTHER schools think about our program? We keep bringing up the relative newness of our program because it IS significant when talking about how others perceive us. The ones with the Green and Gold glasses are the ones who think just because we are USF we should automatically be on everyone's radar and everybody should know all about us. It doesn't work that way. You have to earn respect and we have only had a relatively short time to garner that attention ........ The patience excuse is NOT outdated.

[MikeG]

For starters, I'm not using patience as an excuse for anything. There is no such thing as a "patience excuse". I'm merely stating that I am patiently watching the situation get better every year.

Lets understand that we took HUGE steps those first 5 years. We continue to take steps-- but they get smaller each time because the effort to ratchett up one more level gets taht much tougher the closer we get to the top of the heap.

If there is anything that we need to blame this situation on (beyond that we are 10-12 years into the effort itself) it comes down to three things:

Money

size of the Fan base

reputation

These items directly impact how well we recruit which impacts how good of a team we have on the field. And until we have a proven winner of something signifcant, we won't get the typical fairweather fans from Tampa to take notice. More fans = more money.

Five years from now, I expect the situation to be markedly improved. I can't recall a year that we took a step backward in terms of overall health of the football program. But assuming we can compete with the 50+ year schools and their considerable war chests/fan base/reputations is pure fantasy. We can come close in only one area-- on the field. That is where USF has had the most success in getting themselves closer to the big boys.

But hell-- UF, FSU, and Miami didn't exactly become overnight sensations. It took decades to get to the point where they could out recruit the rest of the country on a yearly basis. And to build large facilities and fan bases and alumni support etc. You can't cheat that part of the equation-- it's just not feasible to think you can. You must be patient, do your best to support the team and promote USF, and hope to get lucky here and there to push the process along. This is not a sprint folks-- it's a marathon.

[smazza]

Why in hell would a top recruit being wooed by most BCS schools choose USF over them?

1.to play in an nfl stadium

2.a chance to start for a bcs team in big east

3.play in tampa

4.great school

5.great facility

6.a chance to be part of something exciting

[Triple B]

Why in hell would a top recruit being wooed by most BCS schools choose USF over them?

1.to play in an nfl stadium-Venue would be way down a TOP recruit's list

2.a chance to start for a bcs team in big east-Did you even read the question?

3.play in tampa-Only unique aspect of USF

4.great school-Plenty of great BCS schools

5.great facility-Plenty of BCS shools with great facilities

6.a chance to be part of something exciting-Plenty of other BCS schools with a lot more excitement than us right now

Bottom line, it's going to take a special TOP recruit to choose us over a multitude of other BCS schools at THIS point in our development ........ Take off the Green and Gold glasses.

[MikeG]

Why in hell would a top recruit being wooed by most BCS schools choose USF over them?

1.to play in an nfl stadium

2.a chance to start for a bcs team in big east

3.play in tampa

4.great school

5.great facility

6.a chance to be part of something exciting

7. playing close to home so family can watch them

[Ferdinand the Bull]

JFCOHIO'S quote-Im getting sick and tired of doing anything halfway-knute Rockne.

  Vince Lombardi once tried to explain his " winning is not the only thing, its everything" comment. He said that he did not mean that winning at any cost is not what he meant and he referred to TR's speach " the man in the arena."

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. the crdit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face ismarred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again,because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strives to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasims, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best know in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory or defeat."

It is so easy to criticize after the fact when you don't have to make the decisions that the coach has to make at the spur of the moment. It is so easy to tear everything down when you are not "in the arena."

  Winning is about a team being positive and believing in itself and its about the people who support that team being positive even when they make mistakes so that they will get back into their efforts and try to win.

 negativeism just destroys it all and can cause a team to give up. this is not the time for criticism. Its time to rally behind the team so that every player gives his all to win. If you guys don't understand this then you don't have a clue!