USF's road to success started with Selmon

[Don Toro]

USF's road to success started with SelmonBy John Rohde

The Oklahoman

People had little success shoving Lee Roy Selmon around on a football field. I had even less success trying to get pushy with Selmon during a telephone conversation Wednesday.

Repeatedly, I tried to shove credit Selmon's way for the amazing rise of South Florida football.

Selmon refused to accept, and never budged.

"It's been a wonderful experience, and I'm just blessed to be a small part of it,†Selmon said.

There's nothing small about Selmon, a defensive end long revered as the greatest football player in Oklahoma's storied history.

He is soft-spoken and self-effacing, and behaves no differently when it comes to discussing the USF Bulls, who are No. 6 with a bullet in this week's Associated Press rankings.

"It's just nice to see all that hard work and effort come together, and to see them finally recognized on a national basis,†Selmon said. "When you watch something built from the ground floor, you have a chance to see those historic moments take place.â€Â

The most historic moment so far came last Friday when the Bulls upset No. 5-ranked West Virginia 21-13 in Tampa.

Selmon credits Jim Leavitt, the only head coach the program has ever had, and former USF athletic director Paul Griffin.

If Griffin was the brains behind the school's football evolution, Selmon undeniably was the brawn  both in size and stature.

Selmon now serves as president of USF's Foundation Partnership for Athletics.

The first-ever draft pick of the expansion NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers and selected No. 1 overall in 1976, Selmon is a six-time Pro Bowler who remains an area icon.

Seven local restaurants and a crosstown expressway bear his name.

"Lee Roy was hired before we had approval of having a program,†said Griffin, who left USF five years ago and is now senior associate AD at Georgia Tech. "We hired Lee Roy when we didn't have anything  not a player, not a coach, not a helmet, not a ball. And the purpose was that Lee Roy was the area's most respected athletic figures.

"We wanted to have persona attached to our program, and you can't imagine a better image of what you want your program to look like than Lee Roy Selmon.â€Â

USF began as a Division I-AA program in 1997, became a I-A independent in 2001, joined Conference USA in 2003 and was scooped up by the Big East two years later.

The Bulls started out by practicing with a bunch of walk-ons and gradually began recruiting scholarship kids.

USF football offices initially were two trailers tucked behind the school's baseball field.

"They were trailers with nothing in them,†Selmon said with a laugh. "One of them had a desk in it, and that was about it.â€Â

Going from a blank canvass to a BCS conference in eight years is an impressively outrageous feat.

Griffin didn't seem all that anxious to accept full responsibility for the program's success, either.

"Let's see, who can I push the credit to?†Griffin said.

Griffin quickly pointed directly at Leavitt, who worked as a fellow defensive coordinator alongside Bob Stoops during the transformation of Kansas State football in the early 1990s before coming to Tampa.

"It would be a mistake for anybody to assume any credit for what's going on, other than Jim,†Griffin said.

In November of 2005, Leavitt signed a seven-year, $7-million deal to remain at USF.

Look for Leavitt to be offered a more lucrative deal in the next few months. He habitually has been mentioned as the successor for Dennis Franchione at Texas A&M, whenever that relationship formally ends.

"Jim took USF football from a blank sheet to a top-10 team,†Griffin said. "Certainly his fingerprints are all over that success.â€Â

And so are Lee Roy Selmon's.

http://newsok.com/article/3140155/1191465891

[Orlando Bull]

Nice read, Selmon is an awesome guy. I had the priviledge to be around him quite a bit when I was at USF working as a student assistant in the SID office. Went to a softball NCAA tourney with him, and it made me realize how much I had taken his career for granted and really just focused on him as an AD at the time. Other people at the pre-tourney press conference were asking me "Is that Leroy Selmon?", it was crazy that it wasn't that big of a deal to me to be hanging out with him, and other people were enamored with him.

He has been a huge part of the success of our program. I wish he was still a little more involved. You won't find a better person in football.

[usfgreg]

Me and a friend were talking about this the other day. Selmon put our team on the fast track right from the beginniing we wouldn't be here with out him.. Or with out Leavitt.

[SANJAY]

What would the story be today if the Bucs had not drafted the guy 30 years ago and he decided to stay in Tampa after his playing days? 

[Rocky Style]

Much respect for Mr. Selmon.

[THe JAVI]

Much respect for Mr. Selmon.

....and the food at his place ain't too bad either!!

[TampaTower]

I think Selmon is one of the most classy people in the Tampa Bay area.  He has been a great asset to our university.  I also love the food his place ;D