A possible reason for USF's midseason slides?

[Stier]

It's the one question that hangs over South Florida football. New coach Skip Holtz says that, by far, it's the most-asked question he's gotten since taking the job.

Why do the Bulls always start off so strong and then fade once Big East play starts in October?

"Right now, I don't know," Holtz said. "I'm trying to learn how we did things, go through it every step of the way."

There is probably not one easy answer, or else the previous staff would have found it. However, I thought something defensive coordinator Mark Snyder told me was pretty interesting.

In discussing his side of the ball, Snyder noted how his players were fast but undersized, a characteristic of Jim Leavitt's defenses. That's great for stopping spread teams, but not bulky, run-oriented offenses.

"Some of the teams in this conference play big," Snyder said, "and that's where we had some of our struggles. Against teams that spread us out and let us run, we've done pretty well."

Just look at the results. The three Big East teams you'd most associate with big lines and run-first mentalities are UConn, Pitt and Rutgers. All three beat the Bulls in 2009, averaging 33 points in those games. Rutgers has beaten South Florida three straight times, while Pitt and UConn are 2-1 against the Bulls in the last three years.

Conversely, South Florida has had success against West Virginia, a team that loves to spread the field, by winning three of the last four against the Mountaineers. The outlier here is Cincinnati, which has won four straight against South Florida despite playing a spread offense. Then again, the Bearcats have beaten a lot of teams the past few years.

Snyder, a who cut his teeth as a Big Ten assistant at Minnesota and Ohio State, said he would like to recruit bigger players for the D-line going forward. He says the defense has to get better fundamentally against the run going forward.

And maybe that would help the Bulls avert their midseason slides.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/8704/a-possible-reason-for-usfs-midseason-slides

[nobull.Bulls]

That is definitley part of it. Our Defense looked HORRENDOUS against Pitt last year. I think Cincy just had a great coach who could develop any player into a stud and new the x's and o's

[Larry]

At least we have identified the potential problem, and can work towards a solution. It's great to get new blood into this program.

Unlike past years, were it was the repeated year after year.

[The Great 8]

You mean our DT's that are built like DE's aren't big enough?

[Mama_Bull]

At least we have identified the potential problem, and can work towards a solution. It's great to get new blood into this program.

Unlike past years, were it was the repeated year after year.

So, you think the previous staff didn't recognize the problem and didn't TRY to fix it?

Every school is looking at the SAME players, because it is probably the most difficult spot to fill. We've gone after quite a few of them with mixed results:

Defensive Tackles

2007

63    Terrell McClain

(Pensacola HS)

Pensacola, FL   6-3/290  Verbal  Yes  Committed to South Florida 

68    Kyle Dampier

(Merritt Island Senior HS)

Merritt Island, FL   6-3/275/5.00  Verbal  Yes  Committed to South Florida 

JC    Kevin Dixon

(Garden City)

Garden City, KS   6-3/295  None  Yes  Committed to Nebraska (He originally gave a verbal to USF but his teammate Barfield (below) convinced him to switch to Neb) 

JC    Shukree Barfield

(Garden City)

Garden City, KS    6-4/310  None  Yes  Committed to Nebraska 

83    Jeremiah Warren

(Bay Senior HS)

Panama City, FL   6-3/290  Verbal  Yes  Committed to South Florida 

84    Corian Garrison

(Bradford HS)

Starke, FL   6-4/290  Verbal  Yes  Committed to South Florida (but did not qualify.)

http://southflorida.scout.com/a.z?s=359&p=9&c=4&pid=22&yr=2007

2008

66    Cory Grissom

(Troup County HS)

LaGrange, GA    6-2/275  Verbal  Yes  Committed to South Florida 

PG    Jatavious Jackson

(Glades Central HS)

Belle Glade, FL   6-4/280  Verbal  Yes  Committed to South Florida

2009

20    Arthur Jeffery

(Booker HS)

Sarasota, FL    6-4/285/4.90  None  Yes  Committed to Tennessee (Gave a verbal to USF then switched to Tenn when Kiffin was hired) 

 

JC    Leslie Stirrups

(East Mississippi)

Scooba, MS    6-3/280/4.90  Verbal  Yes  Committed to South Florida 

PG    Anthony Hill

(Pensacola HS)

Pensacola, FL    6-4/290/5.10  Verbal  Yes  Committed to South Florida (originally an FSU signee who switched to USF) 

PG    Kyrhi Thornton

(Hargrave Military Academy)

Chatham, VA   6-3/300  Verbal  Yes  Committed to South Florida (supposedly qualified under NCAA rules, but didn't get by our academic committee.) 

http://southflorida.scout.com/a.z?s=359&p=9&c=4&pid=22&yr=2007

[Stier]

20    Arthur Jeffery

(Booker HS)

Sarasota, FL    6-4/285/4.90  None  Yes  Committed to Tennessee (Gave a verbal to USF then switched to Tenn when Kiffin was hired) 

 

Karma!  ;D

[smazza]

usf had terrible coaching in the past

it is now a brand new ball game

prior coaching staff had the same problems for 10 years

they may have recognized it or not but in any event they certainly didnt fix it

you are what your record says you are

[Big_Hairy_Bull]

usf had terrible coaching in the past

it is now a brand new ball game

prior coaching staff had the same problems for 10 years

they may have recognized it or not but in any event they certainly didnt fix it

you are what your record says you are

Yep. USC sucked last year. Their record says they did.

[E.T.]

...

you are what your record says you are

0-0

[Who'sYourData?]

Didn't we know that already?