Football: Building something special at USF II

[Flowers4Heisman]

I'm starting to feel it again. [i had completely lost "that feeling" for the last three years.]

 

We have the facilities, the location, the funding and now the coaching staff to do something special.

 

I truly feel that we are back on track for USF-awesomeness II.

 

Yes, we really rocked the college football scene with the first phase, from the trailers and walk-ons to #2 in the polls in some short years, that was really something.

 

Now, it's phase II. And I think we are right on the cusp of taking off again!

 

Sure, the conference thing is a bleeding wound. But we do have the money that will fund us for about five years. So, in essence, we have the time to get phase II soaring.

 

And to be honest, Leavitt and company had a more challenging task with starting from scratch in phase I.

 

Now, in phase II, it's just a matter of recruiting and winning on the field -and running a clean program.

 

I really, really think we have the right head coach in place.

 

Succeed in phase II and USF will be in a power conference within the next five years.

 

I Bullieve! GO BULLS!

[dabull80]

Sure hope you are right.

[Jihme]

i feel like we were saying all of the same things when holtz was hired

[GaUSFBull]

Hem? Is that you?

[snarling Bull]

i feel like we were saying all of the same things when holtz was hired

Agreed

[Triple B]

i feel like we were saying all of the same things when holtz was hired

We had reasons to be optimistic then and CWT has given some reasons to be optimistic now .... hopefully he can deliver.

[Brad]

I'm a "window of opportunity" guy and I think we slammed that window shut not knowing we'd shut ourselves out.

 

We got greedy as fans, donors and administrators and felt like the tremendous start we had in football wasn't enough.

 

We trashed it.

 

Now, we look forward to being good.  I think we will be good.  I'm not sure how much it will matter.  But I hope we will be good.

[Who'sYourData?]

We've experienced growing pains, as was to be expected.  But the opportunities are still there in front of us if we can take advantage.

[usfgrad84]

Good start on the recruiting front. Re-visit this sentiment after we see this coaching staff's game management ability.

Like Bulliever, I also believe in windows of opportunity. The next, and perhaps last, window of opportunity begins in 2014 and will be open for about 2 to 3 years.

Once the new BCS lineup goes into effect we should still have the lingering benefits of recruiting BCS level talent and not be hurt by the effects of the lame bowl lineup. We will have about a 2 to 3 year period to make a splash at the highest levels nationally and show we belong in a P5 conference. After that, if we don't compete at a high level we will slip into a deep and inescapable cavern of mediocrity and true irrelevance in football.

If that happens the recruits and even the coaching staff will see that once the program is on the outside looking in, there will be no way to get in.

I believe that the 2014 to 2016 years will be the most important years for the future of USF football.

So far Willie T has generated some excitement in preseason by getting commitments from top players. If he can't manage a game any better than Skip did that buzz will die quickly.

[Ricky the Bull]

The frustrating thing about us being successful in our current situation is that we won't be able to keep CWT from being lured away by a major program if it comes down to a matter of money.  I don't think that coaching for his "local team" will trump a package that a power 5 program will throw at him.  I certainly hope I'm wrong...

 

I know that xCSH seemed like a can't-miss choice at the time, but I can't help but wonder where we would be if CWT had been at the helm for the last few years.