Summer break is over and football is in the air. Let the grazing begin.
Looking back
File this one under “really big deal”. USF softball coach, Ken Erikson has led the USA Softball team to a gold medal at the World Championship. In doing so, his team has qualified for the 2020 Olympics. How big of a deal is that? It has been 12 years since the USA Women’s Softball team has qualified. Erikson is 895-462-1 as a USF coach, with 12 appearances in the NCAA tournament.
USF head football coach, Charlie Strong, cited an instance of mistaken identity that many USF fans are probably familiar with. Traveling in Georgia, he was asked if he coached the team that went undefeated. He said, “no, we weren’t that team.” As a result, the program has placed the words “South Florida” prominently across their new Adidas uniforms. While the debate rages on the uniform changes and the geographical confusion of the university’s name, Bulls fans can take comfort in the fact that Strong knows he needs more than seven wins, this season.
Former USF linebacker, Sam Barrington, is replacing Mark Robinson in the radio booth. Barrington played for four different NFL teams before taking the gig with Jim Louk as the voices of the Bulls. Robinson and Louk have been the football announcing team since program inception.
Rivals' RunningTheBulls has post-practice interviews from Charlie Strong, Josh Black, Jordan Cronkrite, Mitchell Wilcox, Sterlin Gilbert, and Tyre McCants. Also, preseason primers on Elon, Georgia Tech, Illinois, ECU, UMass, Tulsa, and UConn. All of that content is free for now, but members can also read about USF football recruiting commits, Kelly Joiner, Xavier Weaver, Logan Berryhill, Tae'aviion Gray, Brian Dillard, and DaQuan Evans.
Looking forward
USF has a three-way battle for the quarterback position between Chris Oladokun, Brett Kean, and Blake Barnett. Kean had been the subject of conflicting media reports on his eligiblity to start the season. Some reports stated that he was under suspension, while others denied those reports. Whatever the case was, the NCAA has ruled him eligible.
Jacksonville's WJCT sat down with new Vice President of Athletics, Michael Kelly. Kelly discusses the stadium feasibiliy study and the conclusions drawn from it in addition to what he considers to be the department's top priority, the new football center.
Other stuff
The USF license plate is changing. Soon the plain white background with subtle bull-horns-U in green will be replaced with a plain green background with a larger subtle bull-horns-U in white. Apparently, the change comes as a way to increase purchases of USF tags, which remain at a shockingly low 15,000 per year. That number is so shocking, it will be the topic of an upcoming story on the blog.