The need to succeed, 'specially in the case of USF

[WoolyBully]

 

The American Athletic Conference's inaugural football media day looked more like a convention of advertisers.

This reinvented Big East has a lot of image building to undertake, and it wouldn't hurt to learn from how the ACC pulled off the biggest heist since the Brinks robbery.

If it wasn't for the ACC, the Big East would still be the Big East and USF, Cincinnati and Connecticut would not feel as if they missed the last boat off the Titanic.

This is more than sour grapes. The NCAA goes to a playoff next season, and only five conferences will automatically be part of the new high-tier bowl arrangement.

We get it: The SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 deserve entry.

But before the ACC raided the Big East, you could argue in certain years it wasn't even as good.

The gap is so small that the ACC doesn't deserve automatic entry, while the sixth and final choice for the remaining bowl will come from the highest ranked team among the other leagues: AAC, Mountain West, Mid-American, Conference USA and Sun Belt.

There also is talk the NCAA might add a fourth division that will include only the five so-called power conferences.

One person not offended by college football's new hierarchy is new USF head coach WillieTaggart. He sounds like a party crasher.

"I see USF being one of the leaders in the country. But we're a program that really hasn't lived up to our potential," Taggart said. "Our program is a sleeping giant. But we can't rely on anybody else to say that for us. It's on us to go out and do it. There's not a lot of expectations other than the ones we have."

AAC Commissioner MikeAresco made it clear that he believes there should be six power conferences with his league part of it.

"The American Athletic Conference belongs in it. Not because we say we do, but because the empirical indices say we do," Aresco said. "Whatever the highest level of Division I is in the future we expect to be part of it."

The commissioner talks about big stadiums and revenues that are just as good as the ACC and about past successes of the AAC's current members.

He makes a case. Who has Duke ever scared on the football field?

Look at the bottom of the ACC football: Duke, Maryland, N.C. State, Wake Forest, Virginia and North Carolina all have losing records against league opponents for the past 10 years combined.

Miami is not the Miami it was and has a 38-34 ACC record in the past 10 years in a mediocre conference and is 20-17 overall the past three seasons. Clemson was 11-2 last season, but 16-11 the previous two years and lost a bowl game to USF.

The ACC will add Syracuse and Pittsburgh this season, but they are shadows of what they once were. The league gets Louisville in 2014, but before last year's 11-2 season, the Cards had back-to-back 7-6 seasons and were 4-8 and 5-7 prior to that. USF, Cincinnati and Connecticut are a combined 6-7 vs ACC teams during the past five years.

The AAC spawns some intense rivalries, but none bigger than USF-UCF. The last time the teams met in Tampa, the game drew nearly 66,000 fans, and their last meeting in Orlando at Bright House Networks Stadium drew 46,805, the second-largest crowd in stadium history.

Former USF head coach JimLeavitt beat UCF in all four of their meetings, but he didn't like the rivalry and stopped it.

Now it's different. The league needs this rivalry to build its image.

It also needs USF to become one of its better teams because of its TV market and location in the same state as Florida, FSU and Miami. For Leavitt, it was more about not losing to UCF than winning.

UCF head coach GeorgeO'Leary already chided Taggart for saying he is going to own the I-4 corridor when it comes to recruiting.

"We're on the I-4 corridor. I hope he understands that," O'Leary told an Orlando radio station.

In a response Taggart referred to his first press conference when he said, "We bow down to no man or no program here at South Florida."

 

http://www.bradenton.com/2013/08/01/4637651/commentary-american-athletic-conference.html

[WoolyBully]

and then this...

 

The South Florida Bulls went on a meteoric rise from nothingness to #2 in the AP Poll at a rapid descent. They pulled off upsets of top-notch programs that have been playing high level college football when the game was still being played in cow pastures with no helmets. They looked like a future juggernaut.

USF beat programs such as Auburn, Florida State, Miami, Notre Dame, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Clemson and Louisville. They pulled off these upsets with such regularity that soon they were not considered shocking anymore.

But when their only head coach, Jim Leavitt was let go following an investigation into player abuse, the program floundered. In Coach Skip Holtz three-year run, the Bulls went 16-21, getting worse in every season.

So the question, “Can they turn it around?†is yes, they can. But the bigger question is “WILL they turn it around?†We know the program has potential, they’ve shown it. We’ve seen them beat the “big boys†of college football. We’ve seen them win bowl games. They have everything in place.

USF plays in one of the most beautiful stadiums in college or pro football in Raymond James Stadium. I suppose there may be fancier stadiums such as Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas, but at some point, I think a stadium gets too luxurious. It becomes more about going to the venue than it does to see the game at some point and I think Raymond James Stadium stopped before it got to that point.

Also, USF is in one of the most fertile recruiting areas in the country. You can’t spit in any direction without hitting a handful of three, four and five star high school players. If USF can get a good lockdown on the Tampa Bay area, they will never run short on talent.

But, will they get it turned around? That may be a bit more difficult. New head coach Willie Taggart comes in to a team with decent talent, but not elite. USF has never had elite talent. The highest ranking Rivals.com has ever given one of their recruiting classes is #29. Most years you can find USF in the 40s or 50s among the team rankings. They have been #49 three years in a row.

Leavitt knew how to make the most of this talent, even if his methods came under scrutiny. Holtz did not. How will Taggart do? That is anybody’s guess.

Taggart did well at Western Kentucky. But, Holtz was a winner at East Carolina. Some coaches can make the transition from winning at a “mid-major†to winning at the top level and for whatever reason, some cannot. Hopefully, for Bulls fans and for fans of college football in Florida, Taggart is one who can. We shall see. But the potential is certainly there.

http://newcollegesports.com/can-the-usf-bulls-turn-things-around-in-the-new-aac/

[Skingraft]

The newspaper in Bradenton always seems to put out great articles on USF

[Brad]

Nice reads.

Wish I could spend some time around Coach Taggart to get to know him better. Seems like he's got what this program sorely needs. I look forward to seeing the changes an hopefully a return to a competitive team that believes they can win.

[Bull-by-Marriage]

I am really looking forward to hopefully meeting and listening to coach Taggart Saturday.

[370Bull]

Wow can't wait to start the season!!! I am sold on Coach T. I'd rather eat crow than to be pessimistic about our future. GO BULLS!!

[smazza]

the "sleeping giant"comment sounds silly

 

those days are long past

 

we are a dead giant

 

we will no longer compete for best recruits

 

we will simply compete with other non big 5 teams for scraps

[Apis Bull]

[NewEnglandBull]

the "sleeping giant"comment sounds silly

those days are long past

we are a dead giant

we will no longer compete for best recruits

we will simply compete with other non big 5 teams for scraps

Dude, I really don't give a **** what you think anymore. It is time you moved on to another board. When this team plays in one of the access bowls I really hope you don't bring your sorry ass back and comment on how great we are.

[cmhatter]

Nice reads.

Wish I could spend some time around Coach Taggart to get to know him better. Seems like he's got what this program sorely needs. I look forward to seeing the changes an hopefully a return to a competitive team that believes they can win.

 

taggart is the man