CSNbbs

BULLS FOOTBALL

Bowl Game Provides USF Some 'Pop'
By BRETT McMURPHY bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com

Published: Jan 29, 2006


TAMPA - Coming off its inaugural season in the Big East and the first bowl game in program history, University of South Florida recruiting coordinator Carl Franks and Coach Jim Leavitt have noticed a difference while recruiting this season.

"There has been a change," said Franks, who is also USF's running backs coach. "Young men know they can stay in the state and recruits now know we are a national player. That we have a chance to win the Big East title every year and we're one of four BCS schools in the state. It puts us on a whole different platform than we have been in the past. We're not only talking about it, but showing we can do it.

"We were a [win] away from being in a BCS bowl and went to our first bowl game. And that's only the beginning - and young men want to be a part of that."

Added Leavitt: "We've gotten a little more 'pop' out there, especially outside of Tampa."

The "pop" likely will translate into the Bulls delivering more pop in future years on defense, with USF expected to sign its best group of defensive recruits.

Of the 26 players who have committed to USF and are expected to sign Wednesday, 13 play defense. Last year, USF signed nine defensive players and only six remain at USF, including one who has been moved to offense.

This year's commitments include five defensive linemen, six defensive ends or linebackers and two defensive backs.

That, Leavitt said, is no coincidence.

"Defensive end and linebackers have been an emphasis," Leavitt said. "Especially defensive end."

Another emphasis for USF continues to be the state of Florida, specifically the Tampa Bay area.

Nine of USF's commitments are from the Bay area, including Hillsborough defensive lineman Leslie Stirrups, Chamberlain receiver Edner Alcin, Robinson punter Delbert Alvarado and Gaither receiver Carlton Mitchell.

All 24 high school seniors committed to USF are from Florida, including seven of The Orlando Sentinel's top 100 state recruits.

The Big East Conference also has made recruiting Florida a priority. Last year there were 14 Floridians on the All-Big East first and second teams and every Big East team except Syracuse and Cincinnati had at least 14 Floridians on their respective rosters.

Leavitt takes a great deal of pride in recruiting his home state. Just last week he started one morning visiting recruits in the Miami area and by the end of the day had driven all the way to Jacksonville, stopping along the way, to visit more recruits.

"Recruiting is always fun, but it's been more fun this year because we're in on so many guys," Leavitt said. "We're trying to continue to build a foundation."

interesting the emphasis put on USF being one of 4 BCS programs in the state. That seems aimed directly at Orlando. I'm guessing that USF is using their BCS status as a huge advantage over UCF.

And the focus not just on the BCS status, but being one of 4 (and ONLY 4) in the state, would seem to indicate that USF would give little support to the idea of UCF ultimately joining the BE.

wvucrazed Wrote:And the focus not just on the BCS status, but being one of 4 (and ONLY 4) in the state, would seem to indicate that USF would give little support to the idea of UCF ultimately joining the BE.

You are correct my friend. In JMHO, USF would give NO help to ucf admission into the Big East..............

While I'm sure recruits go to bed thinking about the money they'll be making the school...We have a few of our own recruiting tools in Orlando that all go hand in hand with what the player is most worried about: THEM. From coaching, strength training and development to getting the skills that will get them drafted, we provide all of this plus a solid schedule each year that will include nationally televised games and bowl appearances as well as the opportunity to play close to home and in front of a large crowd. That is UCF Football. Performance - not promises. Bricks and mortar, not paper contracts. National Coach of the Year, not fire the coaches websites.

And Ty-Bull is right, USF should be praying each night that we don't get into the BCS - because then it is over.












Oh yeah, not to mention...we are in:



There's enough to get our own. It's all about what you do with them...and if last year was any indication...I think we're going to be okay, BCS or not.

"I feel like I'm at an advantage against all these guys from other schools because of the UCF program." - Brandon Marshall interviewed before the Aloha senior Bowl.

You know, I'm cool with USF but you can smell the BS out of Leavitt a mile away. UCONN beat them, they werent a win away from a BCS bid then either.

you sure got us, you proved it with your pictures that ucf is the best school in the nation, we can't hope to compete. it's funny how ucf fans desperately try so hard to make their school look good. you may promise "bricks and mortar" we promise 31-14 (and it wasn't even that close), no need to respond, end of discussion.

for what its worth it wasn't leavit it was one of his coaches that said that and he was misquoted. leavitt is actually a man of his word, petrino on the other hand...

Mike, if students play at USF to beat UCF...then you might have something.

Going back to my main point: They are looking out for #1. Playing time, facilities, schedule, coaching - why are those all important? Because they want to be in a position to get the most money as possible in 3-4 years.

So the bottom line - I don't think you can make a case to which you can clearly offer that in Tampa which we can't at UCF.

fair enough, for what its worth we don't recruit the same athletes, i don't think we went head to head for any recruits maybe mcqueen but i think it came down to us and south carolina.

If that was the case why do FSU,UF and UM load on players that will sit on their benches for two years while they can go and start at UCF or USF?
Yes players want playing time but the good ones want visibility and as long as USF is in a league with an automatic BCS bid and UCF does not, the Bulls will have a big advantage.

and they were two wins away from being able to go to a bcs game

they didn't beat lowly uconn and definately didn't beat wvu

st932253 Wrote:USF should be praying each night that we don't get into the BCS - because then it is over.

Yeah, because when we were both recruiting players while neither of us was in a BCS conference you guys were CLEARLY getting better players...

lmfao

USFFan

st932253 Wrote:From coaching, strength training and development to getting the skills that will get them drafted, we provide all of this plus a solid schedule each year that will include nationally televised games and bowl appearances as well as the opportunity to play close to home and in front of a large crowd. That is UCF Football. Performance - not promises. Bricks and mortar, not paper contracts. National Coach of the Year, not fire the coaches websites.

I am sure parents of recruits with real Division I-A options are lining up to send their kids to a coach who beats up his players, gets his University on probation and lies on his resume.

Performance?

0-11?
31-17?
winless against good teams?

Bricks and mortar?
Since when did they start using bricks and mortar for erector set stadiums?

Start practicing your excuses for next September...

st932253 Wrote:There's enough to get our own. It's all about what you do with them...and if last year was any indication...I think we're going to be okay, BCS or not.

Indication of what, that you can beat the gutter teams from CDOA?

smoke and mirrors....

How long before O'Liar does something stupid.....AGAIN?

USFMike Wrote:fair enough, for what its worth we don't recruit the same athletes, i don't think we went head to head for any recruits maybe mcqueen but i think it came down to us and south carolina.

Let's put it this way: if it comes down between USF and UCF, 99.9% of the time it's going to be USF.

Cuban, you're crazy!

- Going from last years class it's looking like when both schools put an offer in...we both took 1. So 50%...we'll see on Wednesday though.

- USFfan's comment about USF getting better players when we were both non-BCS...since that time we have a national coach of the year, IPF, stadium on the way and a conference championship and bowl birth.

- Bricks and Mortar will be involved in every capital project we have, including the stadium. Just ask Louisville. Meanwhile, there's a white surrender flag at midfield for every USF homegame. Go Bucs.

- 0-11 got us Kevin Smith, LJ Anderson and Joe Burnett. I can't wait to see what 8-5 will do.

- You avoided my main points and countered with O'Leary beats up his players. Nicely done.

- Cuban - you try to associate yourself with FSU/UF/Miami. Three national powers...just because you're in the BCS. You just don't get it. The piece of paper doesn't come with years of tradition or the realistic ability to contend for a national championship.

BTW - congrats on the big coaching pickup you guys got today. Rod Smith's boys versus the Jefferson High School defense.

ba-da-da-da-da - I'm lovin' it.

st932253 Wrote:Cuban, you're crazy!

- Going from last years class it's looking like when both schools put an offer in...we both took 1. So 50%...we'll see on Wednesday though.

- USFfan's comment about USF getting better players when we were both non-BCS...since that time we have a national coach of the year, IPF, stadium on the way and a conference championship and bowl birth.

- Bricks and Mortar will be involved in every capital project we have, including the stadium. Just ask Louisville. Meanwhile, there's a white surrender flag at midfield for every USF homegame. Go Bucs.

- 0-11 got us Kevin Smith, LJ Anderson and Joe Burnett. I can't wait to see what 8-5 will do.

- You avoided my main points and countered with O'Leary beats up his players. Nicely done.

- Cuban - you try to associate yourself with FSU/UF/Miami. Three national powers...just because you're in the BCS. You just don't get it. The piece of paper doesn't come with years of tradition or the realistic ability to contend for a national championship.

BTW - congrats on the big coaching pickup you guys got today. Rod Smith's boys versus the Jefferson High School defense.

ba-da-da-da-da - I'm lovin' it.

In case you forgot: YOU GOT YOUR ASS KICKED LAST YEAR....

What does O'Liar winning coach of the year at Tech have to do with UCF?

John Robinson won a couple national championships at USC....what did that do for UNLV?

Furthermore, Georgia Tech's records for most of O'Liar's good years were erased b/c he cheated ......imagine that....and played with ineligible players. So wouldn't that mean that he loses his coach of the year trophy?

Let us know when you win a game that means something....

st932253 Wrote:- USFfan's comment about USF getting better players when we were both non-BCS...since that time we have a national coach of the year, IPF, stadium on the way and a conference championship and bowl birth.

I'm sure Tulsa is surprised to hear about this.

I assure you, USF isn't worried about UCF in any way. However, given that we're the only Florida school in the Big East, you can bet your bottom dollar that we will fight tooth and nail to remain that way. It makes for a better bargaining chip when talking about broadcast rights in the state of Florida and makes it more likely that opposing fans will come here. If we're just one of a couple of schools in the state who can make that claim, it dilutes the value.

Oh, and mods, since this has once again dissolved into a smack thread, could you guys please move it to the appropriate board?

USFFan

L-yes Wrote:You know, I'm cool with USF but you can smell the BS out of Leavitt a mile away. UCONN beat them, they werent a win away from a BCS bid then either.

Oh sure....and Petrino is such an upstanding citizen.

RING........Coach Petrino it's Auburn President on line one. ;^)


OH BTW, Franks was misquoted: what he was trying to say was that USF was one game away from PLAYING for a BCS bid, and if not for something called VOODOO 5 it would have happened.

lay off the ucf fan, he's just passionate about his school, they can say what they want about us, they don't really impact our recruiting and we were by far the better team last year. they can continue to hijack usf threads and hurl insults but its hard to take any of it seriously. they're only shot is to get into the big east (which they have continually bashed) but if usf has its say that won't happen.

ucf's recruiting has gotten better this year but i can't remember a single player that we really wanted that went to ucf in the past 3 years. aside from a few sleepers we usually compete with the nc state, ga tech, and ole miss' of the world. i do like playing them just to see their fanbase meltdown if we win.

Usffan - I meant a championship birth and bowl birth - good catch.

Cyber - O'Leary was named the 2005 coach fo the year by CBS and Sports Illustrated.