South Florida Bulls football

South Florida Bulls football
2016 South Florida Bulls football team
First season	1997
Head coach	Willie Taggart 4th year, 14–23 (.378)
Stadium	Raymond James Stadium
Seating capacity	66,321 (41,441 lower bowl)
Field surface	Grass, Tifway Bermuda 419
Location	Tampa, Florida
Conference	The American
Division	East
All-time record	125–101 (.553)
Bowl record	4–3 (.571)
Colors	Green and Gold[1]
Fight song	Golden Brahman March
Marching band	Herd of Thunder
Rivals	UCF
Website	GoUSFBulls.com

The South Florida Bulls football team represents the University of South Florida in the sport of American football. The Bulls started playing in 1997 and currently compete in the American Athletic Conference (The American) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The team plays its home games in at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

History

Jim Leavitt era (1997–2009)

In 1997, Jim Leavitt, previously the Defensive Coordinator at Kansas State, was hired as the team's first Head Coach. Their first team meeting was held under a shade tree, as the school had no proper football facilities on campus

After competing their first four years as a Division I-AA (now Division I FCS) independent, the Bulls moved to Division I-A (now Division I FBS) in 2001, where they remained independent. They joined Conference USA in 2003, but only stayed until 2005, when they became a member of the Big East Conference (now the American Athletic Conference).

On December 23, 2006, USF won its first bowl game, the inaugural Papajohns.com Bowl, with a victory over former Conference USA rival, East Carolina. The previous year, USF lost to NC State in the Bulls' first-ever bowl appearance, the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Leavitt would lead the Bulls to 5 straight bowl games, with a record of 3–2.

South Florida received increased press coverage for their upsets of Top 25 ranked teams such as Louisville (2005), West Virginia (2006, 2007, 2009), Auburn (2007), Kansas (2008) and Florida State (2009). During Leavitt's tenure, the Bulls were 7–12 against opponents ranked in the Top 25.

The 2007 football season marked the first ascent into both the AP and BCS Polls for the Bulls.

Week 3 – #23 after defeating #17 Auburn 26–23

Week 4 – #18 after defeating North Carolina 37–10

Week 5 – #6 after defeating #5 West Virginia 21–13

Week 6 – #5 after defeating FAU 35–23

Week 7 – #2 after defeating UCF 64–12

The Bulls' high ranking was short lived, as South Florida lost its next 3 games, and tumbled out of the rankings. However, the Bulls rebounded towards the end of the season, finishing the regular season ranked #21 in the BCS Standings and #23 in the AP Poll. Following their final regular season game, they faced Oregon in the Brut Sun Bowl. Oregon defeated the Bulls by the score of 56–21, in which USF set a Sun Bowl record for most points allowed to an opponent. USF was dropped from the national rankings in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today polls following the loss.

Leavitt was fired on January 8, 2010 after an investigation revealed that, during halftime of a game against Louisville, he grabbed a player by the shoulder pads and struck him twice across the face. The investigation also claimed that Leavitt interfered with the investigation by telling several coaches and players to change their stories. Leavitt maintains he never struck the player, but was merely trying to console him, and after a wrongful termination suit against USF, the school eventually settled with Leavitt for $2.75 million. Leavitt went on to serve as LB Coach for the San Francisco 49ers, who, in his first season (2011), reached the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1997. He is now the Defensive Coordinator at the University of Colorado.

Skip Holtz era (2010–2012)

On January 14, 2010, Skip Holtz was hired away from East Carolina and named the team's second Head Coach.^[2] Although the Bulls did well in Holtz's first season, defeating #16 ranked Notre Dame in Week 1, and Clemson in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, USF steadily declined during Holtz's time with the team, going 5–7 and 3–9 in his last two seasons. During Holtz's tenure, the Bulls were 1–5 against teams ranked in the Top 25. His firing was announced by Doug Woolard on December 2, 2012.^[3] Holtz was subsequently hired by Louisiana Tech as its new Head Coach.

Willie Taggart era (2013–present)

On December 8, 2012, USF announced that Willie Taggart, who previously coached at Western Kentucky, would be the third Head Coach in USF football history. Due to roster turnover, and lack of recruiting depth by Skip Holtz, the Bulls struggled in Taggart's first year, posting a 2–10 record.

USF had the top recruiting class in the American Conference heading into the 2014 season, and the Bulls showed improvement in Taggart's second year, finishing with a 4–8 record. During the home opener against Western Carolina, freshman Marlon Mack tied the USF single-game rushing record, with 275 yards. He would also tally a 5 yard reception to claim the USF record for all-purpose yards in a single game, with 280 yards.

In Taggart's third season, after once again having the top recruiting class in the American Conference, the Bulls finished with an 8–5 record. After a 1–3 start, losing games to FSU, Maryland, and Memphis, USF would finish the regular season with seven wins in eight games, including a 44–23 upset of #22 Temple, a 65–27 victory over Cincinnati, and a 44–3 victory over rival UCF, earning a bid to the Miami Beach Bowl against Taggart's former team, Western Kentucky. The Bulls would lose their bowl game by a score of 45–35, however, during the game, multiple school records would be set, including single season rushing yards, and 100-yard rushing games, by Marlon Mack, and single season receiving yards by Rodney Adams.

Season-by-season results

NCAA Division I champions

Conference Champions

Division Champions

Bowl Eligible

Undefeated Season

Year	NCAA Division	Conference	Conference Division	Overall					Conference						Coach	Highest Ranking
				Games	Win	Loss	Tie	Pct.	Games	Win	Loss	Tie	Pct.	Standing
1997	I-AA	Division I-AA Independent	N/A	11	5	6	0	.455	0	0	0	0	.000	N/A	Jim Leavitt	–
1998	I-AA	Division I-AA Independent	N/A	11	8	3	0	.727	0	0	0	0	.000	N/A	Jim Leavitt	–
1999	I-AA	Division I-AA Independent	N/A	11	7	4	0	.636	0	0	0	0	.000	N/A	Jim Leavitt	–
2000	I-AA	Division I-AA Independent	N/A	11	7	4	0	.636	0	0	0	0	.000	N/A	Jim Leavitt	–
2001	I-A	Independent	N/A	11	8	3	0	.727	0	0	0	0	.000	N/A	Jim Leavitt	–
2002	I-A	Independent	N/A	11	9	2	0	.818	0	0	0	0	.000	N/A	Jim Leavitt	–
2003	I-A	C-USA	N/A	11	7	4	0	.636	8	5	3	0	.625	T-3rd	Jim Leavitt	–
2004	I-A	C-USA	N/A	11	4	7	0	.364	8	3	5	0	.375	T-6th	Jim Leavitt	–
2005	I-A	Big East	N/A	12	6	6	0	.500	7	4	3	0	.571	T-3rd	Jim Leavitt	-
2006	FBS	Big East	N/A	13	9	4	0	.692	7	4	3	0	.571	T-4th	Jim Leavitt	-
2007	FBS	Big East	N/A	13	9	4	0	.692	7	4	3	0	.571	T-3rd	Jim Leavitt	#2 (Week 7)
2008	FBS	Big East	N/A	13	8	5	0	.615	7	2	5	0	.286	6th	Jim Leavitt	#10 (Week 5)
2009	FBS	Big East	N/A	13	8	5	0	.615	7	3	4	0	.429	T-4th	Jim Leavitt	#21 (Week 7)
2010	FBS	Big East	N/A	13	8	5	0	.615	7	3	4	0	.429	T-5th	Skip Holtz	-
2011	FBS	Big East	N/A	12	5	7	0	.417	7	1	6	0	.143	T-7th	Skip Holtz	#16 (Week 5)
2012	FBS	Big East	N/A	12	3	9	0	.250	7	1	6	0	.143	8th	Skip Holtz	–
2013	FBS	The American	N/A	12	2	10	0	.167	8	2	6	0	.250	8th	Willie Taggart	–
2014	FBS	The American	N/A	12	4	8	0	.363	8	3	5	0	.428	7th	Willie Taggart	–
2015	FBS	The American	East	13	8	5	0	.615	8	6	2	0	.750	2nd East	Willie Taggart	-
Total				226	125	101	0	.553	96	41	55	0	.427

Bowl games

Year	Date	Bowl	Opponent	Result	PF	PA	Coach	Notes
2005	December 31, 2005	Meineke Car Care Bowl	NC State	L	0	14	Jim Leavitt	notes
2006	December 23, 2006	PapaJohns.com Bowl	East Carolina	W	24	7	Jim Leavitt	notes
2007	December 31, 2007	Sun Bowl	Oregon	L	21	56	Jim Leavitt	notes
2008	December 20, 2008	St. Petersburg Bowl	Memphis	W	41	14	Jim Leavitt	notes
2009	January 2, 2010	International Bowl	Northern Illinois	W	27	3	Jim Leavitt	notes
2010	December 31, 2010	Meineke Car Care Bowl	Clemson	W	31	26	Skip Holtz	notes
2015	December 21, 2015	Miami Beach Bowl	Western Kentucky	L	35	45	Willie Taggart	notes
Total				4–3

Stadium

#5 West Virgina vs. #18 USF – Raymond James Stadium

The Bulls played at Houlihan's Stadium in 1997. Raymond James Stadium is a $168.5 million facility, which opened September 20, 1998 with a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game against the Chicago Bears. Two weeks later, the Bulls debuted in their new home with a 45–6 win over The Citadel in front of 32,598 fans.^[4] From 1998 to 2007, only the lower half of the stadium has been typically opened for USF games, allowing for a capacity of 41,441,^[5] although the upper deck has been opened numerous times to accommodate crowds in excess of what the lower bowl can handle. However, as of 2008, USF has opened the upper deck for every home game and is selling season tickets in the upper deck as well. The largest crowd to see the Bulls play a home game came on September 28, 2007 against then #5 ranked West Virginia, when 67,012 saw the #18 Bulls win.^[6]

The Bulls have enjoyed a winning edge in Raymond James, building a 80–41 (.661) record since 1998,^[7] including one streak of 21 straight victories at home (11/6/1999 – 10/10/2003). The Bulls are 13–1 in Week 1 games played at Raymond James, with their only loss coming in 2013 at the hands of McNeese State.

Current professional players

National Football League (13)

• Mike Jenkins – Cornerback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Nate Allen – Safety, Oakland Raiders
• Jason Pierre-Paul – Defensive End, New York Giants
• George Selvie – Defensive End, New York Giants
• Terrell McClain – Defensive Tackle, Dallas Cowboys
• Sam Barrington – Linebacker, Green Bay Packers
• Kayvon Webster – Cornerback, Denver Broncos
• B.J. Daniels – Wide Receiver, Seattle Seahawks
• Aaron Lynch – Linebacker, San Francisco 49ers
• Jeremiah Warren – Center, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Austin Reiter – Center, Washington Redskins
• Reshard Cliett – Linebacker, Houston Texans
• Darrell Williams – Offensive Tackle, St. Louis Rams

Arena Football League (3)

• Richard Clebert – Defensive Line, Tampa Bay Storm
• Amarri Jackson – Wide Receiver, Cleveland Gladiators
• Julius Forte – Defensive End, Tampa Bay Storm

Canadian Football League (1)

• S. J. Green – Wide Receiver, Montreal Alouettes

Media

USF football games currently air on the radio on Sports Radio 98.7 The Fan WBRN-FM. Play-by-play man Jim Louk is teamed with color analyst, and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Mark Robinson for the broadcasts. Due to USF's affiliation in the American Athletic Conference, many of the televised games air locally on ESPN3/WatchESPN, while some replays can be seen on Bright House Sports Network.

Rivals

As a young program that has grown rapidly, and shifted conferences several times, USF has developed few lasting rivalries. The most noteworthy has been the South Florida-UCF football rivalry against in-state opponent, the University of Central Florida Knights. The matchup had been the subject of much discussion and fan enthusiasm since the 1990s, but it was not until 2005 that games were scheduled. The two schools met in a four-year, home-and-away series through 2008. USF won all four games, which drew substantial crowds, but declined to schedule any further games.^[8][9] However, the series resumed as an annual conference game when UCF joined the American in 2013.^[10]

Before major conference realignment in the early 2010s, USF had many competitive games with Louisville (5–6 overall record), West Virginia (3–4 overall record; 3–3 when opponent ranked in Top 25), and Cincinnati (0–3 when USF ranked in Top 25). USF also began a 6-year Thanksgiving weekend series in 2008 with Miami, with the last four games (2010–2013) being televised by one of the ESPN networks.^[11] West Virginia left the Big East conference before the 2012 season to join the Big 12, while Louisville left the American Athletic Conference after the 2013 season for the ACC.

Florida opponents

Opponent	Wins	Losses	Win Pct.	Year(s)
UCF	5	2	0.714	2005 – 2008, 2013 – Present
Florida A&M	3	0	1.000	2005, 2011, 2015
Florida Atlantic	3	1	0.750	2002, 2007, 2010, 2013
Florida International	2	0	1.000	2006, 2008
Florida State	1	2	0.333	2009, 2012, 2015
Miami	1	5	0.167	2008–2013
Florida	0	1	0.000	2010
Total	14	11	0.560

Ranked opponents

USF has played many ranked opponents in their short history, earning several marquee victories.

Home					Away
Year	Opponent	AP Rank	Result	Score	Year	Opponent	AP Rank	Result	Score
2003	TCU	17	L	13–10	2000	Southern Miss	17	L	41–7
2004	Pittsburgh	21	L	43–14	2002	Oklahoma	2	L	31–14
2005	Louisville	9	W	45 – 14	2004	Louisville	18	L	41–9
2005	West Virginia	12	L	28–13	2005	Miami	9	L	27–7
2006	Rutgers	23	L	22–20	2006	Louisville	10	L	31–8
2007	West Virginia	5	W	21 – 13	2006	West Virginia	7	W	24 – 19
2008	Kansas	13	W	37 – 34	2007	Auburn	17	W	26 – 23 (OT)
2009	Cincinnati	8	L	34–17	2009	Florida State	18	W	17 – 7
2009	West Virginia	20	W	30 – 19	2009	Pittsburgh	19	L	41–14
2009	Miami	19	L	31–10	2010	Florida	8	L	38–14
2011	West Virginia	23	L	30–27	2010	West Virginia	25	L	20–6
2012	Florida State	4	L	30–17	2011	Notre Dame	16	W	23 – 20
2013	Miami	15	L	49–21	2012	Louisville	14	L	27–25
2013	Louisville	18	L	34–3	2013	UCF	17	L	23–20
2014	East Carolina	19	L	28–17	2014	Wisconsin	19	L	27–10
2015	Temple	21	W	44–23	2015	Florida State	10	L	34–14
					2015	Western Kentucky	25	L	45–35
Total			5 – 11					4 – 13

Statistics & rankings

• The Bulls received their first ever Preseason Top 25 ranking on August 1, 2007, as they were ranked #21 in the Coaches Poll.^[12]
• Bill Gramatica holds the record for the longest field goal in school history – 63 yards.^[13]
• USF was ranked for the first time exactly 10 years and 10 days after its inaugural game against Kentucky Wesleyan in 1997.^[14]
• USF earned an AP Poll ranking only 104 polls after becoming a full-time, bowl eligible FBS member in 2001. Boise State had the previous record, getting ranked after 115 AP Polls.^[14]
• USF became the fastest team in the modern era of college football to go from an upstart NCAA FBS school to a Top 10 ranking, which took 106 AP Polls and 112 Coaches Polls.^[14]
• USF became the fastest team in the modern era of college football to go from an upstart NCAA FBS school to a Top 5 ranking, which took them 107 weeks to achieve.^[14]

Future out of conference opponents

Announced schedules as of August 19, 2015

2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
vs Towson	vs Stony Brook	vs Elon	vs Wisconsin	at Texas	at Georgia Tech	vs Texas	at Western Kentucky	vs Western Kentucky
vs Northern Illinois	vs Illinois	at Illinois		vs Nevada	vs BYU	vs Georgia Tech		at Texas
at Syracuse	vs UMass	at UMass		at Florida Atlantic		vs Florida Atlantic
vs Florida State	at Northern Illinois					at BYU

^[15]

References

1. Color Palettes – University Communications. University of South Florida. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
2. "South Florida Hires Skip Holtz". ncaafootball.fanhouse.com. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
3. McMurphy, Brett (December 2, 2012). "USF fires Skip Holtz, sources say". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
4. University of South Florida Bulls 2006 Football Media Guide (pdf file) page 12
5. University of South Florida Bulls 2006 Football Media Guide (pdf file) page 10, sixth paragraph.
6. 67,018
7. http://www.GoUSFBulls.com
8. Greg Auman (September 6, 2008). "Should USF play UCF every year?". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
9. Greg Auman (April 29, 2011). "USF says no contracts proposed for football with UCF". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
10. Mike Bianchi (December 7, 2011). "Finally, Big East gives UCF some much-needed good news". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
11. Sports: USF adds statement series with Hurricanes
12. http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/5471317/
13. Bill Gramatica – ArenaFootball.com — The Official Web site of the Arena Football League AFL
14. Game Preview: UCF at No. 5 USF – GoUSFBulls.com—Official Athletics Web Site of the University of South Florida
15. http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=611637

External links

• Official website