1997 players honored

[MikeG]

in case this doesn't make the album... here is the full team that was on the field

[raz7943]

It is kind of depressing that there has been so little coverage of the fact the first Bulls team was at the game.  Maybe there will be something on the USF web site later, but it would have been nice to have more about these guys and what they are up to now.

Thanks for the photos!

[MikeG]

the gousfbulls.com photographer was out there and probably got better pictures than me since he was getting them to pose a little better ---- so give it a little time-- I'm sure they will have something.

Now for the fun part--- identifying all the players in the pictures above.

[Brad]

Follow this link to MikeG's USF-Cincinnati album at BullsGallery.com

[Bull Matrix]

It was just a shame to have to lose like we did with the 97 team in attendence. 8 turnovers was too hard to overcome. The breaks didnt go USF's way. We are sorry to do that to the 97 team that had to witness that. GO BULLS!!!

[E.T.]

...

Now for the fun part--- identifying all the players in the pictures above.

Mize is easy to spot ... is that Charlie Jackson in the last pic, on the right ?

Go BULLS !!!

[Guest BasketBull.]

USF competes in Land of the Giants

The Tampa Tribune August 24, 1997 Author: BILL WARD;

After all, this is a state that, for the past 15 years or so, has produced some of the nation's best college football teams in the form of Florida, Miami and Florida State. This is not only the Sunshine State, it's home of the Gators' feared Fun N' Gun, former Seminoles star Deion Sanders and a former Hurricanes hairdo named Jimmy Johnson.

So Leavitt is hoping Bulls fans, some of whom might be spoiled by the state's impressive collection of silverware from Division I-A national titles, will cut his squad a little slack when its inaugural season begins at the often not-ready-for-prime-time I-AA level.

"I'm realistic and I think our fans will be too," said Leavitt, himself a Division I-A college football product [Missouri] from the area. "You can't worry too much about expectations. ... Some people might expect you to win a national championship the first year. But I'm sure that most people realize it's going to take time for us to get established, to grow."

Last year, the 40-year-old Leavitt and his relatively young coaching staff laid the foundation for a program they expect to be able to take on several Division I-A opponents within two years and join an ever-improving Conference USA (the league where USF's other sports teams compete) by 2001. True, the state's "Big 3" football powers hauled in the bulk of the local blue-chippers, but USF still was able to lure several Tampa Bay area recruits, nearly all of whom were sought by at least one Division I-A school.

Some of the scholarships the Bulls have handed out went to:

[] Former all-county standouts Joey Sipp (a 6-foot, 280-pound guard) and Aleous Chambers (a 6-0, 205-pound linebacker who also was the county champion at 100, 200 and 400 meters) from Hillsborough High;

[] Prep All-American offensive lineman Cedric Bell (6-3, 305) from Bradenton Southeast;

[] Estero defensive back Anthony Henry (6-0, 175), who was Lee County's player of the year;

[] And defensive end Tchecoy Blount, a Pig-Skin Prep All-American and one of three players from Leavitt's alma mater, St. Petersburg Dixie Hollins.

The Bulls also landed a few Florida-raised players who have transferred from other programs. The projected starter at quarterback, junior Chad Barnhardt, falls into that category, as does interior lineman Ivan Alicot from Miami.

Barnhardt was a backup to Steve Taneyhill for his first year at South Carolina, but the Lake Wales native is back in the area with the chance to lead USF through its first season. The 6-2, 273-pound Alicot, who was born in Cuba, was a defensive lineman at West Virginia Wesleyan but returned home to enroll at Miami Dade Junior College, awaiting the start of USF football.

For the most part, however, USF will field a young, inexperienced team that will probably be full of players unknown to most of the 45,000 or so fans who are expected to turn up for the Bulls' first game Sept. 6 at a scaled-down version of Houlihan's Stadium.

"I think people will probably be looking at their programs a lot trying to figure out who everybody is," Barnhardt said. "Hopefully, they won't be doing that for too long, though."

Just try to remember this is a new program, Leavitt says, as the Bulls attempt to make the same type of steady progress the state's "other" football juggernauts made in the early 1980s.

"A dream of ours is to be a major player in this country," Leavitt said. "Will we reach it? Well, you're starting to see enough of a foundation that you might be able to say, "Hey, if there's enough people behind the program with enough money and support then in this state, it's going to happen eventually.

"We've all seen how Florida, Florida State and Miami grew. There was a time when those programs were fairly insignificant in the big picture of college football. I'm not saying how many years it'll take. I'm just saying that if enough people want something to happen, you can do it.

SHINING IN SHADOW OF THE BIG THREE \ USF ADDS TO OTHER OPTIONS

Miami Herald, The (FL) August 28, 1997 Author: MICHELLE KAUFMAN Herald Sports Writer

Last summer, after one season at West Virginia Wesleyan College (not exactly the dream location for a guy born in Cuba and raised in Miami), Ivan Alicot was eager to play Division I football closer to home.

He figured his three choices were Miami, Florida and Florida State.

He walked on at UM, but ditched that idea when he saw the tuition bill at registration.

``I couldn't pay nine grand a semester,'' he said.

Rather than move to Gainesville or Tallahassee, Alicot enrolled at Miami Dade Community College, figuring his playing days were over. That's when his Miami High coach, Kenneth Dodd, told him the University of South Florida was starting up a team.

USF? Football? As in, real, big-time, varsity football?

Alicot was skeptical, but he would soon learn what dozens of Florida high school kids learn every year -- there are more than three places to play college ball in this state.

There's the University of Central Florida in Orlando, where Daunte Culpepper might prove to be the best college quarterback in the state. The Golden Knights dropped their I-A training wheels and they mean business with early-season games at Ole Miss, South Carolina, Nebraska and Auburn.

There's Florida A&M in Tallahassee, where Coach Billy Joe is talking about winning a national I-AA title while the national media focuses on crosstown Coach Bobby Bowden.

There's Bethune-Cookman, also I-AA, in Daytona Beach, where first-year Coach Alvin Wyatt is trying to turn things around in a town where NASCAR is king.

And there's USF in Tampa, a school of 37,000 students where, for the first time in 40 years, they can root for their own football team rather than split their allegiances among The Big Three.

Ticket record at USF

Alicot, a former defensive lineman, walked on at USF and is projected to be the Bulls' starting center when their inaugural season opens Sept. 6 against Kentucky Wesleyan. A crowd of 45,000 is expected at Houlihan's Stadium. More than 18,500 season tickets have been sold, a Division I-AA record.

``I'm going to be part of history, and that's exciting,'' Alicot said. ``I don't think we'll be compared to UM, UF and FSU yet because we're so new, but maybe one day we'll be in that group.''

Alicot is one of 12 Bulls from South Florida. Among the others are linebacker Demetrius Woods (North Miami Beach), defensive back Edwin Greene and brother and defensive end Ernest Greene (Southridge), and wide receiver Charlie Jackson (Edison).

USF Coach Jim Leavitt, a former Kansas State defensive coordinator and a St. Petersburg native, is eager to find out whether this state can handle another college football team.

``We're coming into a state where football is in a frenzy, and no matter how you look at it, we're going to be compared to Florida, Florida State and Miami,'' he said.

``To reach those standards is going to be very, very hard. Everyone says, `Oh, but there are so many great high school players in Florida, you shouldn't have any trouble.' But there's a limit. Four schools can load up on local talent and be good, but I don't know if five or six can do it. We'll have to wait and see.''

All but one of the 87 players on the USF roster went to high school in Florida.

Recruiting-money problems

Culpepper, UCF's junior quarterback from Ocala, is rated among the top 10 I-A quarterbacks by almost everyone. He probably would have gone to one of the Big Three had his grades been better early in high school, but he doesn't regret ending up at UCF.

``I can look back 10 or 15 years from now and say, `Hey, I was one of the pioneers that brought this team to the Division I-A level,' '' Culpepper said. ``I can help get us on the national map.''

With a recruiting budget of $49,000, UCF is at a severe disadvantage in this state. Florida's recruiting budget is $250,000 and FSU's is $300,000. To make up the difference, the Golden Knights have agreed to play away games against top opponents. The Nebraska game alone will bring in $475,000.

``It's hard to recruit in this state, but I think there are enough good players to go around,'' Culpepper said.

Woods chose USF over UCF last year, even though that meant he had to wait an entire year for the first game.

``I have a lot of friends at Miami and UF, and I could have walked on there, but then I would have been just another face,'' he said. ``At one of the smaller schools, you can make a bigger impact and play sooner. I picked USF over the more famous programs because I can help build something new.''

`Happy with my decision'

At FAMU, Coach Joe has the unenviable task of sharing the town's spotlight with Bowden. Joe is 24-11 over the past three years and his team has won back-to-back titles in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Rattlers have two defensive ends who run the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds -- Jomo Cousins and Antonio Bradwell -- and their quarterback, Oteman Sampson of Edison High, threw for 2,800 yards and 21 TDs last season.

Sampson dreamed of playing at FSU and he was recruited by bigger schools as a defensive back, but FAMU allowed him to stay at quarterback.

``I don't mind playing in the same town as FSU and seeing them get more media attention, because I'm not in it for the hype and hoopla,'' he said. ``I like to watch Florida State. I'm a fan. I wanted to be the next Charlie Ward, but I didn't get attention as a quarterback. It was a pride thing, and I'm happy with my decision. We get our 30,000 die-hard Rattlers, and that's good enough for me.''

But it seems no matter what FAMU does on the field, the average fan knows the school only for its funky marching band.

``Anonymity is our worst enemy,'' Joe said. ``We need people to see us, to see what we're doing here. Our long-range goal is to win a national title. Our mission is to put together a team that has that championship aura about it.''

Then, just maybe, people would notice.

USF roster The Tampa Tribune August 24, 1997

(Chart)

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. High School Previous College

1 Charlie Jackson WR 5-9 165 Fr. Miami Edison

2 Edwin Greene DB 5-11 170 So. Miami Southridge

4 Clif Dell WR 6-0 180 Jr. King Florida State

5 Bryan Freese QB 6-1 185 So. Seminole Osceola

6 Steve Riggs PK 5-10 190 Sr. East Lake Weber State

7 Brian Newsome DB 5-10 170 Fr. Bradenton Manatee

8 David Thompson DB 5-11 170 Fr. Palm Beach Lakes

9 Aleous Chambers LB 6-0 215 Fr. Hillsborough

10 Chad Barnhardt QB 6-1 220 Jr. Lake Wales South Carolina

11 Roy Manns DB 5-11 170 Fr. East Lake

12 Anthony Henry DB 6-0 175 So. Ft. Myers Estero

13 Kevin White FB 6-0 195 Fr. Tallahassee Lincoln

14 Mike Sandy DB 5-9 188 Jr. Osceola

15 Jeremy Earle QB 6-1 190 Fr. Hillsborough

16 Lance Hoeltke QB 6-1 195 So. Palm Beach Lakes Austin Peay 17 Darren Bishop WR 6-0 180 Jr. Lakewood Boston U.

18 Glen Gauntt QB 6-2 195 Fr. Sarasota Booker

19 Ryan Reardon PK 5-9 160 Jr. Coral Springs

20 Alvin Salter WR 6-0 190 Fr. Florida A&M High

21 Otis Dixon FB 5-9 195 Fr. Clearwater

22 Jermaine Clemons RB 5-11 180 So. Clearwater B-CC

23 Bernard Brown DB 5-10 170 Fr. Jacksonville Lee

24 Glenn Davis DB 5-11 175 So. Dixie Hollins Purdue

25 Brian Surcy RB 5-10 180 Fr. Bloomingdale

26 Derrick Rackard DB 5-10 180 Fr. Reddick North Marion

27 Cedric Tate DB 6-2 195 Jr. Avon Park Duke

28 Rafael Williams RB 5-9 185 Fr. Perry Taylor County

29 James Kirkland DB 6-1 170 Jr. Seminole Osceola

30 Toby Kosiewska WR 5-11 170 So. Clearwater

31 Jay Mize DB 5-11 177 Fr. Palm Harbor East Lake

32 Keith Williams FB 5-10 215 Fr. Ft. Myers Bishop Verot

33 Terrance Smiley DL 5-10 220 Fr. Lake Wales

34 Jason Fox FB 6-0 225 Fr. Ocala Forest

35 Tony Umholtz P 6-0 186 So. Largo Osceola Missouri Valley 37 Kevin Bouis LB 5-11 195 Jr. Jesuit Kentucky

38 Joe Morgan DB 5-10 180 Fr. Miami American

39 Anthony Williams LB 5-11 220 Fr. Pahokee

41 Kevin Bishop LB 6-1 205 Fr. Northeast

42 Brian Wilson LB 5-11 200 So. Tarpon Springs Wingate

44 Vassay Marc LB 6-2 220 Fr. Miami Northwestern

45 Demetrius Woods LB 5-11 200 Fr. North Miami Beach

46 Marshall Smith LB 5-11 205 Fr. St. Cloud

47 Ernest Greene DE 6-2 220 Jr. Miami Southridge Liberty

48 Scott Harris DE 6-4 240 Fr. Brandon

49 Ron Johnson DL 6-2 245 Fr. Armwood

50 Jason Butler LB 6-1 220 Fr. Bartow

51 Joey Camero DL 6-0 240 So. Jesuit SE Mo. State

52 Jason Malouf LB 6-0 205 Fr. Tampa Catholic

53 Ryan Benjamin LS 6-2 240 Fr. River Ridge

54 Keith Barnier LB 5-11 205 Fr. Springstead

55 Steve Hatley DE 6-2 225 Fr. Northeast

56 Tchecoy Blount DE 6-3 230 Fr. Dixie Hollins

57 Carl Charles LB 6-0 215 Jr. Immokolee Miss. Delta CC

58 Mike Sizemore LB 6-0 220 Fr. Apalachicola

60 Craig Laufer OC 6-0 255 Fr. Coral Springs Taravella

61 Russell Everett OC 6-3 270 So. Cape Coral Citadel

63 Therrimann Edwards DL 6-4 255 Fr. Lake Wales

65 Isaac Bristol OT 6-4 255 Fr. Hillsborough

66 Jerry Ronshausen OT 6-3 280 So. Seminole Osceola Missouri Valley 68 Joey Sipp OG 6-0 285 Fr. Hillsborough

69 Brian McNulty OG 6-3 285 So. Jesuit Michigan State

70 Larry Scott OC 6-3 270 Fr. Sebring

71 Aaron Milton OG 6-2 264 Fr. Bradenton Southeast

74 Kenyatta Jones OT 6-4 285 Fr. Gainesville Eastside

75 Cedric Bell OG 6-3 305 So. Bradenton Southeast

76 Shawn Old OT 6-6 275 So. Clearwater

77 Brent Whitfield OT 6-4 310 Fr. Minneola South Lake

78 Ivan Alicot OC 6-2 273 Jr. Miami Senior WV Wesleyan

79 Kevin Christian OT 6-5 305 Fr. Bradenton Bayshore

80 Cory Porter WR 6-3 185 Fr. Tarpon Springs

81 Marcus Rivers WR 6-1 175 Fr. Panama City Rutherford

83 Trevor Hypolite TE 6-2 220 Jr. Rockledge Kentucky

84 Wes Marshall TE 6-4 230 Jr. DeLand

85 Tavares Bryant TE 6-2 250 Jr. Miami Senior

87 Scott McCready WR 6-0 180 Fr. King Louisiana Tech

88 Shawn Hay DE 6-4 255 Fr. Jupiter

89 Brian Erb TE 6-6 265 Sr. Hudson Florida State

90 Ryan Frisco DL 6-2 250 Fr. Jesuit

91 Rico Martinez DE 6-2 230 Fr. Tampa Catholic

92 Anthony McKenzie DL 6-2 280 Fr. Hollywood S. Broward

93 Derek Busciglio DL 6-1 240 Jr. Plant City

95 Eric Fiducia DL 6-2 245 Fr. Mascotte South Lake

97 Torre Crocket DL 6-1 240 Fr. Ocala Vanguard

98 Brett Avery DE 6-3 235 Jr. Tampa Catholic Rutger

Chad Barnhardt

[] Year: Junior

[] Position: Quarterback

[] Previous school: South Carolina

[] Hometown: Lake Wales

[] Why USF: "Although I played a little in just about every game my sophomore year, the main reason I left [south Carolina] was because I wasn't playing a lot," said Barnhardt, who was a backup QB two seasons for the Gamecocks. "Surely, this situation appealed to me because I had known about the inception of this program for a while, I had known Coach Leavitt and I'm from around here. But mainly, I came because I was tired of not playing. Here, I think I will -- a lot, I hope."

Kevin Bishop

[] Year: Freshman

[] Position: Linebacker/strong safety

[] Previous school: Northeast High

[] Hometown: St. Petersburg

[] Why USF: "Things have changed a lot since football has come here. It's going to be an honor to play on the first team," said Bishop, who was considering playing for Rice, Baylor, the military academies and some Ivy League schools. "In some ways, it'll be great to be part of the first team, or, if I'm redshirted this year, to help carry the tradition on." Bishop was also lured to USF because his older brother, Darren Bishop, was already signed as a wide receiver.

Aleous Chambers

[] Year: Freshman

[] Position: Fullback

[] Previous school: Hillsborough High

[] Hometown: Tampa

[] Why USF: Chambers has a 16-month-old daughter, Aejona, and girlfriend Shannon Lee, whom he wanted to be near while playing college football. "School and football are important to me, but so is my daughter," Chambers said. "Some guys would probably go away but I want to be here for her." Chambers, who was recently switched from linebacker to running back, says his daughter is also an inspiration. "When I come home tired after practice, I get a kick out of seeing how much energy she has."

James Kirkland

[] Year: Junior

[] Position: Wide receiver

[] Previous school: St. Petersburg Junior College

[] Hometown: St. Petersburg

[] Why USF: "I was like most guys, I wanted to play Division I right after high school," said Kirkland, a theater major. "But my test scores on the SAT and ACT were just a little short so I decided to enroll at SPJC and wait. I kept in shape the best I could the last two years, running, playing a little basketball, and when I got my A.A. [degree], I got over here as fast as I could to be a Bull on the first team."

Vassay Marc

[] Year: Freshman

[] Position: Linebacker

[] Previous school: Miami Northwestern High

[] Hometown: Miami

[] Why USF: "I knew I had a cousin who had gone to school here but I had never heard of South Florida football until [uSF assistant] Coach [Eric] Wolford walked into my high school coach's office," said Marc, who was considering Michigan, Tulane and Massachusetts. "But I took a visit up here, liked what I saw and especially what the coaches had to say -- that I was probably going to get a lot of playing time here even as a freshman.

[BJ]

Very cool they were honored.  I am a bit surprised, I expected more to be wearing USF gear.  It's not a big deal, just a bit unexpected.

[usfbullcpa]

I think it is great that we are where we are right now and have this many of the OGs there.  Think about it, Rutgers would have to dig their players out of the cemetary, Miami, out of maximum security prison.

UCF, out of the character costumes they wear now.

[Guest BasketBull.]

Scouting report  The Tampa Tribune August 24, 1997 Author: Bill Ward

[] Quarterback: Bulls offensive coordinator Mike Canales says projected starter Chad Barnhardt, a junior transfer from South Carolina, has an "NFL arm" and the brains to match. But Canales has also been impressed with his best scrambling quarterback, Lance Hoeltke, a sophomore transfer (Austin Peay University) from Palm Beach. Whoever starts, both quarterbacks are trying to learn the intricacies of Canales' Brigham Young-style offense, an offense that he guarantees will never be built ar ound the running game concept of "three yards and a cloud of dust" as long as he's around. "You're going to see the ball in the air quite a bit," said Canales, whose was a three-year starter at QB for Utah State. "It'll probably be 60-40 (pass-run), util izing the backs and tight ends and stressing ball control.

[] Running backs: The likely starters are freshman Rafael Williams (Taylor County High), who ran for more than 1,000 yards his senior season at Taylor County High, and fullback Otis Dixon, a Clearwater High graduate who had 970 yards and 10 TDs his senior season. Sophomore Jermaine Clemons, also from Clearwater, is targeted at running back behind Williams, while Kevin White, a freshman from Tallahassee Lincoln, will see action at fullback. Canales says the blocking of the fullback is one of the keys to the Bulls' offense and calls Dixon's skills in that area "superb."

[] Receivers: With a BYU-type offense, the tight end might be one of the more important targets. There, the Bulls have some experience in junior Trevor Hypolite, a transfer who played split end his freshman season at Kentucky. Canales describes Hypolite as a "Shannon Sharpe-type of tight end," with athleticism and size (6-2, 220). Senior Brian Erb (6-6, 265), who was a walk-on at Florida State, and Wes Marshall (6-4, 230), who is recovering from a broken ankle, will also contribute at TE. The top receivers are Miami's Charlie Jackson, who snared a 50-yard TD catch in the Bulls' spring game, and Panama City's Marcus Rivers, who is one of the three fastest players on the squad. Also in the mix are juniors Clif Dell of Tampa, a transfer from Florida State, and James Kirkland, who played at Seminole Osceola.

[] Offensive line: For a Division I-AA team, the Bulls should have decent size. The key to their passing game will be the blocking of tackles Kevin Christian (6-5, 305) and Kenyatta Jones (6-4, 285) or Brent Whitfield (6-4, 310). Former Hillsborough High standout Joey Sipp (6-0, 285) lines up at one guard and highly recruited Cedric Bell (6-3, 305) from Bradenton Southeast at the other. At center will be Cuban-born Ivan Alicot (6-2, 273), a junior transfer from West Virginia Wesleyan wh ere he was a defensive lineman.

[] Defensive line: The Bulls aren't huge in this department but they have plenty of quickness and athleticism. The ends will be junior Brett Avery (6-3, 235), a transfer from Rutgers and Tampa Catholic graduate, and Tchecoy Blount (6-3, 230), a freshman from Dixie Hollins who was ranked among the top 20 LBs in the state. At the defensive tackles, the Bulls boast junior Derek Busciglio (6-1, 240) from Plant City and the player with the coolest name on the team, Joey Camero (6-0, 240), from Jesuit. USF defensive coordinator Rick Kravitz says he has good depth along the line, where he can use a "cast of hundreds" including Lake Wales freshmen Therriman Edwards (6-4, 255) and Terrance Smiley (5-10, 220) and Miami's Ernest Greene (6-2, 220).

[] Linebackers: Kravitz says he's especially pleased with his first crop of linebackers to work with, athletes he says will make the Bulls' "in-your-face, aggressive, up-tempo" defensive scheme work. Among the group is freshman Vassay Marc (6-2, 220) and Demetrius Woods (5-11, 200), both all-Dade County performers; Wingate College transfer Brian Wilson of Palm Harbor; freshman Aleous Chambers (6-0, 215) from Hillsborough, an all-state performer and the county's defensive player of the year; Bartow's Jason Butler (6-1, 220), his district's player of the year; 1996 Pinellas County player of the year Kevin Bishop of Northeast High; and first-team all-state (Class 3A) Anthony Williams (5-11, 220) from Pahokee.

[] Defensive backs: Here, the Bulls feature some the squad's best athletes, like Estero freshman Anthony Henry, who was Lee County's player of the year, Rutgers transfer Mike Sandy, who was all-state at the position his senior year at Seminole Osceola, Miami Southridge's Edwin Greene, sophomore transfer (Purdue) Glenn Davis from Dixie Hollins and the expected starter at strong safety, freshman Roy Manns from East Lake High. Bradenton Manatee's Brian Newsome and East Lake's Jay Mize also expect to see action in the secondary.

[] Special teams: Former Bradenton Bayshore coach Mike Hobbie leads this unit. His top place-kicker in camp is one of the team's two seniors, Steve Riggs, another East Lake graduate who was an all-state selection his senior year. Riggs played one season at Weber State in 1993, where he was eight of 18 on field-goal attempts with a long of 42 yards. Riggs later transferred to Middle Georgia College. Sophomore Tony Umholtz, a transfer from Missouri Valley College, is expected to be the punter. He averaged 39 yards a punt last season. At Seminole Osceola, he also handled the place-kicking duties.

[] Coaching: Led by the 40-year-old Leavitt, this is a young staff that boasts plenty of playing experience at both the college (former University of Miami All-American defensive end Kevin Patrick) and professional level (former Bucs tight end Calvin Magee and Eagles defensive back Andre Waters). Leavitt also has numerous personal ties dating back several years with much of his staff, including Kravitz, who was his high school friend and teammate at Dixie Hollins. Later, as a co-defensive coordinator at Kansas State, Leavitt met USF's eventual coach for receivers, Frank Hernandez, along with Bulls offensive line coach Eric Wolford. Leavitt's strength is defense, helping lead K-State from being a program some had called one of the nation's worst to being one Sports Illustrated called the most improved in the country in 1993. This is his first shot at head coaching full-time and it will be interesting to see if Leavitt can still give the meticulous kind of attention to details he is known f or. But his job has been made easier by surrounding himself with coaches he says have the same careful attention to their work and ones whom he says he "truly trusts and cares for.

USF makes debut at No. 212 St. Petersburg Times September 4, 1997 Author: SHARON GINN

Because no human seems to have a clue how South Florida will do this season, someone apparently asked a computer.

USA Today came out with its first computerized rankings of the season Wednesday - called the Sagarin Football Ratings - and USF made its debut at No. 212 out of 232 Division I-A and I-AA programs. That means the Bulls, though they've never played a game, supposedly are better than at least 20 programs that have.

Among the bottom 20 (all are I-AA) is Prairie View A&M, which hasn't won since 1989 but is ranked No. 213. (Perhaps there is optimism that new coach Greg Johnson will snap that 69-game skid.)

Also below the Bulls are Robert Morris (214), which started its program in 1994, and basketball schools Butler (215), Georgetown (221), Iona (228), St. John's (225) and La Salle (232).

LOOKING AHEAD: USF's power rating is lower than all seven of its opponents that appear in the rankings.

Georgia Southern, ranked No. 19 in the I-AA coaches' poll, is highest in the computer rankings at No. 116. Western Kentucky is No. 143, The Citadel No. 151 and Southern Illinois No. 172. The computer figures USF will lose by at least four touchdowns to each of them.

The games against Drake (206), Charleston Southern (210) and Morehead State (211) figure to be closer. The Bulls' I-AA opponents not in the power rankings are Davidson, I-AA non-scholarship school, and Elon, Division II last year.

The Bulls' opening opponent, Kentucky Wesleyan, is Division II.

TOP OF THE HEAP: Now that I-AA national champion Marshall moved to I-A, Montana is the unquestioned No. 1 in the coaches and writers polls despite having just eight starters return.

Montana, the 1995 national champion, lost to Marshall 49-29 in the national title game last season. Among those back for the Grizzlies is All-America quarterback Brian Ah Yat.

No. 2 in the writers poll is Troy State, which will be on USF's schedule next season.

QUICK STRIKES: In Georgia Southern's 45-26 victory over Valdosta State last weekend, the Eagles' average scoring drive was five plays and 1 minute, 57 seconds.

OUCH: Charleston Southern scored on its first possession against No. 7 East Tennessee State, but things went downhill quickly. The Buccaneers didn't get another first down in the first half and ended the game with 15 yards rushing on 22 carries in the 30-7 loss.

- SHARON GINN

Ratings have USF going 4-7 The Tampa Tribune September 6, 1997 Author: Brett McMurphy

South Florida coach Jim Leavitt has been realistic about his expectations for the Bulls' inaugural season, which kicks off tonight against Kentucky Wesleyan.

"I think we'll win a game, but we won't win a national championship," Leavitt said. "We'll be somewhere in between."

But where? Based on USA Today's Division I-A and I-AA power ratings, the Bulls -- if they play according to the computer's form -- are headed for a 4-7 season.

The Bulls would be rated as underdogs in at least seven games with their toughest opponent Georgia Southern (rated 36 points stronger).

Of the 232 teams rated by USA Today, South Florida is ranked No. 212.

"I'm surprised we're that high, to be honest with you," Leavitt said. "We should be ranked 232. But that's encouraging, though we don't deserve to be 212."

Florida State is rated No. 1, followed by Florida, Nebraska, Ohio State and Tennessee.

By the way, if the Bulls played at either FSU or UF this year, USF would be 89-point underdogs according to the power ratings.

(CHART) Underdog Bulls

While South Florida's games won't have a Las Vegas point spread until it

jumps to Division I-A in several years, it's still possible to compare the

Bulls with this year's opponents based on USA Today's power ratings. Under

Jeff Sagarin's ratings, the Bulls would be underdogs in seven games. Four

of USF's opponents -- Kentucky Wesleyan, Elon, Cumberland and Davidson --

didn't earn rankings. A look at how much of an underdog the Bulls will be

this year.

Points

Opponent Favored

The Citadel -33

Drake -5 1/2

W. Kentucky -35

Morehead St. -4 1/2

S. Illinois -21 1/2

Charleston Southern -2

Georgia Southern -3

BULL'S EYE

South Florida finally reaches its target of fielding a football team, but the program is aiming to accomplish much more.

September 6, 1997

Author: BILL WARD; of The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA -- When describing the state of the University of South Florida's athletic department when he arrived as its director 11 years ago, Paul Griffin pulls no punches.

"We were bleeding profusely," Griffin said. "We were about $650,000 in debt, borrowing from everyone in sight and our staff meetings were like a gun fight at the O.K. Corral, with everyone pointing fingers at each other."

USF Athletics are now comfortably in the black and set on becoming even wealthier with the start of the school's first football season.

More than 20,000 season tickets have been sold for the Bulls' inaugural football season, an unofficial Division I-AA record by about 8,000. Tonight, another 25,000 or so are expected to join them to sell out Houlihan's Stadium, mostly students from the sprawling campus of nearly 37,000.

Bulls merchandise will be hawked at the games. Television and radio rights have been sold. So have corporate sponsorship packages. Tonight's first game even has a title sponsor, much like a bowl game. And some 41 local businesses and prominent individuals donated at least $50,000 each to be a member of USF's prestigious "First Team" club.

Directly and indirectly, Griffin says football will generate about $3 million this first season alone.

USF even has enough money this first season to pay opponents, including tonight's opening foe, Kentucky Wesleyan College, to come to Tampa and play a game. For their trouble, the Division II Panthers will earn their program about $20,000. That's not much compared to what some Division I-A programs pay to patsies but it represents an unprecedented standard for a I-AA team.

So the obvious question is: Why didn't USF have football when it opened in 1956?

Even before Griffin's arrival, the possibility of starting football at USF was discussed on several occasions by various alumni and student groups. After all, the school had one of the largest student populations without football. But with USF constantly fighting athletic budget problems, it was hard for football to get much farther than a spirited panel discussion.

Enter Griffin in 1986, who says he spent the better part of his first four years at USF trying to end the red ink before ever considering football.

"There were so many other pressing issues that it wasn't until about 1990 that we could even start making a game plan for football," Griffin said. "But it was clear it was something we could do -- something we should do."

And undertaking football wasn't purely for the potential economic benefits. Griffin says the NCAA was evolving into a organization controlled by Division I-A schools and their respective conferences and moving away from the concept of "one school, one vote."

If USF wanted to have a voice in the NCAA, it was clear to Griffin that football was needed.

By late 1991, then-USF President Frank Borkowski gathered a group of about 40 individuals from the school's staff, faculty and students, as well as several influential people within the community to once again study the issue of USF football.

Almost immediately, a division of opinion formed. Students and most alumni surveys showed a strong interest in starting football. Polls of USF faculty as late as November 1992 showed strong opposition.

But when the university's athletic council voted to initiate a study to see if sufficient private funds could be raised to support football at USF, the ball was rolling. The key, organizers believed, was starting the sport without asking for a handout from the state or outlandish increase in student fees.

By the summer of 1993, former Buc and Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon had joined the campaign as an associate athletic director. That fall, the school was offering season ticket commitments. That winter, another football supporter -- albeit a cautious one -- came to the forefront when Betty Castor became USF president.

With Selmon spearheading public relations and a community fundraising committee co-chaired by Frank Morsani (originator of Tampa Bay's push for pro baseball) and Peyton Adams (a prominent GTE executive), goals were set to raise $10 million in two years and $5 million before seeking approval from the Florida Board of Regents.

By the summer of 1995, USF had its $5 million, $1 million from a single pledge from Tampa attorney Ed Rood.

With that kind of private funding, the Board of Regents had no hesitation giving its OK to raise USF student fees 50 cents per credit hour to generate an annual operating budget of $350,000. After a final fact-finding review by the board, it made Bulls football official on Sept. 15, 1995, at its fall meeting in Orlando.

From there, the momentum was hard to stop. Jim Leavitt was hired as head coach the following December, and by the spring of 1996 the Bulls had signed its first recruiting class. The first practice was held last fall and another recruiting class was inked last February.

Meanwhile, the money and the season ticket sales kept rolling in. There were 350 donors who gave $50-$5,000 annually 10 years ago when Mike Lewis arrived as the athletic association's director. There are now more than 3,500 donors, and 1,400 have come in the last year.

"Today alone I got five new people at $1,000 each," Lewis said Friday. "They called me wanting tickets for the first game and asked me, "What would it take to get them?' "

Even Selmon, as confident as he was of USF's eventual success in football, has been surprised at the response.

"With the Bucs and the University of Tampa having proven track records here, I think we all knew there was an interest here in college football and football in general," Selmon said. "But it was hard for anyone to predict this kind of response. And it's still growing."

Indeed, when will the euphoria end? Maybe after USF loses a few games and comes back to earth. But Leavitt believes that Bulls' fans have realistic expectations of a start-up program and will hopefully come to support a "growth process" for college football in the Bay area.

"I think our fans understand that, at least I hope they do," Leavitt said. "As a coach, you have to keep looking at the big picture and not just what we're doing the first game or the first year.

"We have talent, our talent will be fine and will match up or surpass some of our opponents. But never our experience. I don't think we'll have nearly the team this year that we will have in three years."

And that's where Griffin is now looking -- several years down the road. He admits he's proud of what USF has done to this point. In fact, he says he'll probably shed a tear or two tonight.

(CHART) USF era begins

[] Who: South Florida vs. Kentucky Wesleyan.

[] Where: Houlihan's Stadium, Tampa.

[] When: 7 p.m.

[] Tickets: A limited number of tickets remain.

[] TV/radio: WTOG-Ch. 44; WZTM-820 AM

  Caption:

© (Montage of USF Bulls football images)

TIM PRICE/Tribune photo illustration

USF football has been a long time coming. Athletic Director Paul Griffin, left, and Associate Athletic Director Lee Roy Selmon have been ready for several years. Tribune file photo

The field, featuring the Bulls' logo, above, was ready Friday.

High school bands will step in for Bulls

St. Petersburg Times

September 5, 1997

Author: KARI K. RIDGE

When the long-awaited University of South Florida Bulls take the field Saturday, a bit of traditional college football flavor will be missing.

Sure, mascot Rocky the Bull will be there to inspire the fans. So will USF Bulls cheerleaders dressed in green and gold and the Sun Dolls dancers. A live bull even will be penned outside the stadium on game days, and fireworks are scheduled after the first-ever game.

But the resonating sounds of a college marching band charging up the crowd won't be heard at football games this year. USF doesn't have one and can't afford one, at least for now.

Instead, said Ivan Wansley, assistant director of bands, USF is improvising. Seven local high school bands are scheduled to play during pregame and halftime shows at home games this year. That's probably the plan for next year, too, until USF can muster the money to field its own band, possibly by 1999.

""We figured we needed some kind of band,'' Wansley said.

The season's first game is Saturday against Kentucky Wesleyan at Houlihan's Stadium. The band chosen for the inaugural game is one of the most impressive in the area: Bloomingdale High School's 300-member marching band, which also features a bull as its mascot.

Vivian Ryan, 17, is a French horn section leader for the Bloomingdale band. She has played the instrument for five years and hopes to become a member of the University of Notre Dame marching band next year.

""I was amazed that they asked us,'' Vivian said. ""I was so pleased that they chose high school bands so we could have the college football experience. It's great to show off Bloomingdale in front of so many people.''

Each day, Bloomingdale band director Ted Hope reminds his students of the spectators expected at the inaugural game. USF officials are expecting 36,000 people at the first game, including 20,000 season ticket holders.

""We get asked to do a lot of things because of the caliber of our program, but this is a great opportunity to play at the inaugural football game,'' Hope said.

While the band has endured grueling practices the past three weeks, Hope expects members to be ready but apprehensive.

""There's going to be so many people, it's actually kind of making us nervous,'' said Jason Bombaugh, who also plays the French horn for Bloomingdale. ""When we first heard we would play for USF, we were like, "Yeah, right. They don't really want us to play.' Now we're pretty much ready for it and excited.''

When the university decided to begin its football program, the blueprints didn't include a marching band. Last month, officials in the school of music presented plans for ways USF could provide musical entertainment at games, including what it would take to start a marching band. USF officials hope to have a marching band or other entertainment, such as a pep band, playing in the stands in time for games in the fall of 1999.

In their marching band proposal, music school officials expect the preliminary price tag to be about $535,000 for things such as color guard flags, specialized marching tubas and uniforms, which can run as high as $100,000 for the proposed 264 band and auxiliary members. Christopher Doane, director of USF's school of music, anticipates a continuing cost of about $260,000 a year.

""There's a lot of money involved,'' Wansley said. ""People just don't understand. When you think about a band, people think about the individual, not the cost of running a show with 264 members.''

Just where that money would come from isn't yet known. Doane said other schools pay for bands through a variety of sources, including the university director's office or student affairs.

""Putting together a collegiate marching band is every bit as big a process as putting together the football program,'' Doane said.

Wansley said many music students at USF chose the university because they wouldn't have to feel obligated to play in a band. Band members at most schools, he said, actually comprise a small number of music majors.

But Doane hopes a marching band actually would attract students to the school. Jason Bombaugh, 17, of Bloomingdale, said he would consider USF if the school created a marching band.

""Many people who want to be in a marching band are not at USF,'' Doane said.

John Gerdes, USF sports information director, hopes the school someday will have a marching band to increase unity among students. He describes forming a football team before creating a marching band a ""chicken or the egg'' situation.

""Ideally, we want a marching band,'' he said. ""But a band, while worthy, is also costly. People point out the tradition of college bands, but we've got the entertainment value of the high school bands for now. We're just glad to have the whole atmosphere and pageantry of college football.''

Doane, who also has worked as marching band director at Ohio State University, agrees that bands enhance the traditional college experience.

""There's an enthusiasm of what a marching band could bring to USF,'' Doane said. ""We want to do this right, make it something people are proud of and represent the quality of what USF stands for.''

During the next year, Doane anticipates that school officials will consider plans and determine what USF could have in place by fall of 1999.

""Once the fundamental decisions have been made, we can tailor our resources to achieve that,'' Doane said. ""We can do whatever they're willing to pay for.''

While Wansley is glad to have the high school bands revving up the crowd with USF's alma mater and The Fighting Brahmas, an original piece written in the '60s, he looks forward to the prospect of the school's own band.

""If you're going to have a big-time college football team, you've got to have a big-time college band,'' Wansley said. ""It's part of what college football is all about.''