I'm losing faith in this program

[SilverBull]

I don't think many folks are really going nuts.  I kind of expected this could happen last night, although it was a worse tran wreck than I expected.  For the season, I am one of those who had realistic expectations going in, figuring on a 7-5 record dan another near-Thanksgiving bowl game.  Going back to the beginning of time, I believed there would come a time our football program would plateau for at least some period of time and that has, apparently, occurred.  None of the foregoing is really surprising.  Having realistic expectations, however, does not mean I think our current situation sucks any less.  No progress in four years is simply not acceptable and is the kind of thing that would get folks fired at a developed program.  We are not that kind of program and we are a long way from being there.  Being disenchanted about that and calling for change is not unreasonable and should not be unexpected. I see it more as natural evolution than revolution.

On the bright side, I make's Coach Heath's efforts in the Big East look not so bad by comparison.

   

[SRQ]

we aren't lacking talent.  we've had the talent to beat ranked teams like Auburn, Kansas, West Virginia, FSU.  we had a top 25 recruiting class last year.

it's not talent.  it's poor coaching, plain and simple.

the only issue now is going to be minimizing the damage Leavitt does to this program and its credibility before his contract expires.

Why is it that our coaching staff looks good when we play the likes of UCF, Memphis, ECU, WKU, FAU, FIU or any other mid major?  Could it be because we have better players than those schools?   

You have it backwards.  The Auburn, Kansas, & FSU wins are the anomalies.  The real USF team you see week in and week out in BE play is the accurate measure of how good we really are. 

This.  2011 willbe the telling season for CJL's future with this program.

[MikeG]

I don't think many folks are really going nuts.  I kind of expected this could happen last night, although it was a worse tran wreck than I expected.  For the season, I am one of those who had realistic expectations going in, figuring on a 7-5 record dan another near-Thanksgiving bowl game.  Going back to the beginning of time, I believed there would come a time our football program would plateau for at least some period of time and that has, apparently, occurred.  None of the foregoing is really surprising.  Having realistic expectations, however, does not mean I think our current situation sucks any less.  No progress in four years is simply not acceptable and is the kind of thing that would get folks fired at a developed program.  We are not that kind of program and we are a long way from being there.  Being disenchanted about that and calling for change is not unreasonable and should not be unexpected. I see it more as natural evolution than revolution.

On the bright side, I make's Coach Heath's efforts in the Big East look not so bad by comparison.

     

to say we haven't had any progress in the last 4 years is wrong. Lots of areas have improved (attendance, recruiting, donors, big wins, rankings, All-Americans, school size, name recognition etc)

I do not see this as plateauing -- think more along the lines of diminishing returns. It's was relatively easy to raise up to the mid-major, mid-BCS ranks (well actually it was a ton of work and effort from a lot of people). Moving into the upper echelon of college football is far more harder and with a lot less movement for the same amount of work put in.

[usf97]

I am also losing faith in CJL, we feel like a C-USA team, surprise people and win a few, surprise people and lose a few. I wouldn't be surprised if we still beat Miami which I don't think changes anything. As had been said in the past, our team has a very emotional, undisciplined personality and it has been that way since it's inception. The problem I see, is even if we wanted to fire CJL, we can't due to money.

Look at the following article prior to is conract extension in 08'. His contract is through 2014.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/feb/05/sp-usf-revises-leavitts-new-contract-offer/sports-colleges-bulls/

Notice this clause:

If fired without cause - such as poor performance - Leavitt would receive the following: $4.2 million (2008), $3.75 million (2009), $3.2 million (2010), $2.55 million (2011), $1.8 million (2012), $950,000 (2013 and 2014).

I have found nothing after the contract was signed that actually outlines what was accepted. But this is the only option I see proposed that matches the years of his contract. There is no way we are going to dole out 3.2 million next year and millions over the next 5 years and then on top of that hire a new coaching staff. For better or for worse, CJL is our man for at least 3 to 5 years more years.

[Bulls Are We]

I see three parts to the situation and why some fans go nuts every single time we lose (or in this case, get our asses kicked)

1. we have talent-- but it isn't as good as some think. UF gets top ten classes every season-- EVERY SEASON. We barely cracked the top 25 in recruiting just last season and most of those kids have yet to see the field and won't have any impact for a few year (with the exception of Juco transfer JPP)

2. we lack experience - you cannot simply replace a four year starter like Grothe and not expect some problems. But it isn't just that position-- the offensive line is very green, other key positions are also either undersized or green. We have a handful of seniors who are contributing this season-- which should help us out in the long run (remember the last terrible losing season when we had a Mike Jenkins et al starting? By their senior season, that team was kicking *** (well, most of the time).

3. don't think in terms of 13 years - it's been really about 9 years of 1-A football, even less if you consider the BCS tag. No one said this was going to be a cakewalk but for some reason, people actually expect it to be based on the fallacy of item #1. I fully expect many more bumps in the road, along with some awesome wins that just leave some scratching their heads as to how we were able to do that. I have said this a thousand times-- people need to be more patient when it comes to this program. Jesse Palmer can talk out of his *** all he wants about how we have the talent to win etc-- but honestly, he is just flat out wrong about how this team should be expected to win the Big East. We are not there yet. Bringing in a new coach isn't the answer-- we can't afford that for one, a new regime is no guarantee of instant success, and anyone who might be able to bring that type of success is either too expensive or tied up at some other school. So what do you expect the AD to do--- fire Leavitt and bring in some completely unproven OC/DC from another school? Yeah-- that works EVERY TIME.

Honestly, I cannot understand how someone can say we won games against Auburn etc etc with talent alone, never giving the coaching staff any credit for anything good since that doesn't support their viewpoint of it's all on the coaches. Guess what? It is ALWAYS ON THE COACHES. They recruit the players, coach them, game plan for them, and are ultimately responsible. Is it one or two coaches specifically doing something wrong? I can't say but I still believe that CJL is the man to keep our trust in.

The loss hurts-- but I will not go crazy over how badly we lost. Same difference as a 1 point loss in the W-L column. BullyPulpit told me on the phone this was going to be Pitt all over again, and he was right. I think we have had this doom and gloom discussion for the weeks when we lost to Cincy and Pitt-- so I will just watch the implosion on this board from a distance. Why anyone thought our season was going to be a huge success after we lost Grothe still boggles the mind. The fact is that our team is fairly mediocre-- sometimes entertaining-- and occasionally suprising. But we are far from the most talented anything in the Big East or anywhere for that matter.

Couldn't agree more.  Probably the best MikeG post I have ever read on this board...

[SattyBull]

I see three parts to the situation and why some fans go nuts every single time we lose (or in this case, get our asses kicked)

1. we have talent-- but it isn't as good as some think. UF gets top ten classes every season-- EVERY SEASON. We barely cracked the top 25 in recruiting just last season and most of those kids have yet to see the field and won't have any impact for a few year (with the exception of Juco transfer JPP)

2. we lack experience - you cannot simply replace a four year starter like Grothe and not expect some problems. But it isn't just that position-- the offensive line is very green, other key positions are also either undersized or green. We have a handful of seniors who are contributing this season-- which should help us out in the long run (remember the last terrible losing season when we had a Mike Jenkins et al starting? By their senior season, that team was kicking *** (well, most of the time).

3. don't think in terms of 13 years - it's been really about 9 years of 1-A football, even less if you consider the BCS tag. No one said this was going to be a cakewalk but for some reason, people actually expect it to be based on the fallacy of item #1. I fully expect many more bumps in the road, along with some awesome wins that just leave some scratching their heads as to how we were able to do that. I have said this a thousand times-- people need to be more patient when it comes to this program. Jesse Palmer can talk out of his *** all he wants about how we have the talent to win etc-- but honestly, he is just flat out wrong about how this team should be expected to win the Big East. We are not there yet. Bringing in a new coach isn't the answer-- we can't afford that for one, a new regime is no guarantee of instant success, and anyone who might be able to bring that type of success is either too expensive or tied up at some other school. So what do you expect the AD to do--- fire Leavitt and bring in some completely unproven OC/DC from another school? Yeah-- that works EVERY TIME.

Honestly, I cannot understand how someone can say we won games against Auburn etc etc with talent alone, never giving the coaching staff any credit for anything good since that doesn't support their viewpoint of it's all on the coaches. Guess what? It is ALWAYS ON THE COACHES. They recruit the players, coach them, game plan for them, and are ultimately responsible. Is it one or two coaches specifically doing something wrong? I can't say but I still believe that CJL is the man to keep our trust in.

The loss hurts-- but I will not go crazy over how badly we lost. Same difference as a 1 point loss in the W-L column. BullyPulpit told me on the phone this was going to be Pitt all over again, and he was right. I think we have had this doom and gloom discussion for the weeks when we lost to Cincy and Pitt-- so I will just watch the implosion on this board from a distance. Why anyone thought our season was going to be a huge success after we lost Grothe still boggles the mind. The fact is that our team is fairly mediocre-- sometimes entertaining-- and occasionally suprising. But we are far from the most talented anything in the Big East or anywhere for that matter.

Couldn't agree more.  Probably the best MikeG post I have ever read on this board...

+1

Nice post man.

[LunchTimeBully]

we are still a young program  expectations were put to high 2 years ago........ we'll be fine long term

Leavitt needs more time.  Canales can't put in the whole offense with a Freshman QB.  We are only 13 years old.  One more win to 5 straight bowl games!  That's all a fan can hope for; those that want more are unrealistic.

I wasn't asking for a win. I just wanted a competitive game. I knew we were going to lose before the game started. Sad, I know... Losing a hard fought game say, 31-24 would have been understandable in my book, but to lose 31-0 on national  tv after having 2 WEEKS to prepare is UNACCEPTABLE!

[Brad]

we are still a young program  expectations were put to high 2 years ago........ we'll be fine long term

Leavitt needs more time.  Canales can't put in the whole offense with a Freshman QB.  We are only 13 years old.  One more win to 5 straight bowl games!  That's all a fan can hope for; those that want more are unrealistic.

I wasn't asking for a win. I just wanted a competitive game. I knew we were going to lose before the game started. Sad, I know... Losing a hard fought game say, 31-24 would have been understandable in my book, but to lose 31-0 on national  tv after having 2 WEEKS to prepare is UNACCEPTABLE!

To save a lot of people trouble and embarrassment, I'll inform you that bigworm is playing the game where he goes to multiple threads and makes sarcastic posts like this, I guess to mock others or the program.  I've asked him to stop because not everyone picks up on the schtick.  Going forward beware.  He's just slicing up some sarcastic spam.

[TyBull]

we are still a young program  expectations were put to high 2 years ago........ we'll be fine long term

Take a deep breath. It took UFlorida 80 years to win their first conference title.

now look....

[BowlBoundBulls]

I don't see the player talent as being the problem with the team.  The problem last night other than turnovers was offense coaching against the blitz.   There were no traps,  no quick slants and no really use of the tight end.   There are always hot reads against the blitz and Canales either did not have hot reads for BJ or BJ did not execute. Either way,  Canales needs to do a better job prepping the offense and BJ needs to learn from this mess.