It's not Leavitt who must go ...

I think many people felt the same way as David Weber, but at the same time, don’t we pay Jim Leavitt to make the necessary changes?

Does anyone really think that we were the No. 2 team in the country last year? Honestly, without bias, No. 2 in the country.

Does anyone really believe that we were a top 10 team this year? Come on now, no need to get personal or start throwing darts my way. Just answer the question honestly.

A top 30 offense? Well we should all just keep quiet and go with it. We should have a top 30 offense. It is not as if we're playing the best of the best. I have watched a lot of football this season, and I see a lot of offenses that make ours look much worse. I don’t want to bash USF at all, that is not my motive. I just wish people could show a bit more passion for our flaws. We must admit that change is needed, and it is not Leavitt who must go.

In my own opinion, USF has established themselves as a very nice program that should undoubtedly be in the top 25, but not at this moment. We have very good talent that is being misused. I expect Jim Leavitt to be the face of this program and continue to bring in very good athletes. You don’t build a perennial powerhouse in college football overnight. We must prove to the pollsters that we belong and a league championship will follow.

I feel as if I have the right to be disappointed in a season like this one. Last year was a year that put USF on the map. We were no longer the University of Southern Florida. We were no longer a surprise. This was the year that we were to step away from other schools within the Big East and show that we were the cream of the crop.

USF is not the 6-3 team that we are witnessing right now. I know that they are a better team, but it appears as if they are having a difficult time finding their identity. I know that it does not happen in sports very often, but it would be refreshing to hear Leavitt stand up in front of the media and admit that a change is needed. I hope it is not too much to ask for consistency each week that we show up.

I also would ask this question: Does anyone know of any young up-and-coming assistant coaches that would be a good fit?

It should be an interesting off season.

-- Brian Taylor

Fire Leavitt? Not so fast

So the chatter on the message boards and GA's blog is that people want coach Jim Leavitt fired.

Yes, the same man who built the program from scratch and into a consistent top-35 team.

BC, Clemson, Texas Tech, and Cal have all recently gone through stretches of continuous "very-goodness." Two of these teams made rash decisions with their coaches. BC appears to have gotten lucky with Jeff Jagodzinski (sorry for the spelling). Texas Tech and Cal have grumbled about their coach, despite being higher than they have ever been in the recent past (not so much this year for Cal, but last year). Many other more historical programs, like Minnesota, Illinois, Syracuse, Pitt, Nebraska, Miami, and Florida State have all been passed by USF in terms of on-field results.

Leavitt is making it in a system that promotes elitism and oligarchy. College football does not like the USFs and Boise States of the world. For USF to rise, an established program necessarily must fall. USF rose, many fell. Leavitt is the primary reason for that.

Leavitt is terrible at special teams and discipline (in the penalty sense. Our players have largely been staying out of trouble, which is more than programs like Penn State, Iowa, or Virginia can say). Leavitt is a pretty mediocre decision maker. Never goes for it when he should. Calls two timeouts in the third quarter while on defense. Hired Mike Simmonds. And Greg Gregory (and I would like to point out that the USF offense is still one of the 30 best in the nation).

Find me a coach without a flaw. Even USC, UF, and Oklahoma lose head-scratchers. Before yesterday, Mike Leach made some of the dumbest personnel and play-calling decisions in history.

USF was extremely lucky to get Leavitt and will be extremely lucky to retain him. This program was not supposed to rise so quickly (if at all). Does that make him immune from criticism? Absolutely not. Does one season of disappointment mean he should be fired (anyone who claims to have expected better than 9-4 last year can wash their mouth out with soap, because they're lying)? Absolutely not.

So the goals for this season have not been met. Let's use 2008 Texas Tech as an example of why fan bases shouldn't get too hot and bothered by stringing together 4 winning seasons. Eventually, things will click. Anyone expecting USF to turn into one of the major powerhouse programs on an annual basis needs to take a look at history. It ain't happening. But a Big East championship every few years is a reasonable goal. I thought this would be the first year. It wasn't. But Matt Grothe will be back, as will many other good players, coupled with the most sought-after recruits we've ever had.

Things are still looking up for USF. And a 10-win season is still possible (probable, though? No.).

Perspective people, perspective. Unless you want us to turn into UCF-west.

Jim Leavitt photo by Al Behrman | AP 

Who is responsible for all this disappointment?

I think I hear something over there in the corner of the room, but I can’t make it out. What in the world has gone on in this town. The Rays make it to the World Series and the Bulls may be the 2nd worst team in Florida (sorry UCF, but you still hold 1st place).

This has been a horrific season for our team and our fans. At this point of the season, I still don’t know who to point the finger at. We are being subjected to horrible football. This is not the type of production that we have come to expect and deserve. The community has shown that they are willing and able to support this Bulls team and the team has taken one huge step backwards.

It would be understandable if we were being beat by better teams. I don’t know of anyone that would argue that point, but this has been a season of disappointment, after disappointment, after disappointment.

Who is responsible for all of this? Is it Coach Leavitt? Is it Doug Woolard? Is Wally Burnham? Is it Greg Gregory?

I have been disappointed in two areas of this team. First, I have to say that Wally Burnham and Troy Douglas have done a below average job with our cornerbacks. They continue to get humiliated out there on the field. How can the CB’s argue calls when they are practically tacking the WR’s across from them.

The second area of concern is the play calling. Our offense has become very vanilla. I don’t believe that our talent level is so poor that we need to resort to what we all have been watching.

It would be great if Jim Leavitt made a difficult but necessary firing. Sometimes a change is needed and this would be a great time for it. If not now, this off-season. Don’t look now, but 09 is going to be difficult, this was a year that set up perfectly for the perfect storm.

I hate to say it, but that sound in the corner just may be the fat lady singing. It is hard to swallow in the first week of November, but this season will be hard one to turn around.

Enjoy your last two tailgates everyone..

-- Brian Taylor

Do we have worst special teams in top 25?

I can’t stress it enough, and if Coach Leavitt is listening, I hope he makes the most of this bye week. It is still hard to swallow the fact that we lost to Pittsburgh, but as I said before, it is time to move on and make this a great season when it’s all said and done.

This is a week to correct a lot of the wrongs. I don’t care if Leavitt needs to go get students from campus to throw deep passes down the sideline over and over again. We need to find an answer at the cornerback position. If our corners can’t be trusted to play, man, it really puts a lot of stress on all the other talent that our defense has. It won’t take long for other teams to realize that all they need to do is a five- or seven-step drop and just heave it up in the air, kind of the way Gino Torretta won a Heisman Trophy.

Am I wrong with this thinking? Am I alone? I know it is hard to come down on these players, but when I can point out a complete weakness it can’t be good. I am just a season ticket holder.

Do we have the worst special teams in the top 25? I have not looked into the numbers, but I would guess that we are pretty close to the worst in the top 25. I feel horrible as a fan, due to the fact we continue to lose games because of our special teams. How many times can you continue having a defender come around the edge and block a punt? Again, I am not a coach, but how does this not get corrected. It is not enough to say that we work on it everyday in practice. We have talented players, I have to look at the coaches. This is completely unacceptable, and until it is corrected we will continue to lose important games.

Well I hope that a week off will fix some of our problems, because if they don’t we can kiss our season goodBYE, goodBYE, goodBYE.

-- Brian Taylor

Photo by Daniel Wallace | Times

Bulls to feast on Panthers Saturday

F.I. Who? Well I can say it, but I hope that Jim Leavitt really does have this team ready to play Saturday. There is a not a bone in my body that thinks the Bulls will struggle with Florida International University, but I never thought we would go to overtime with the Knights either.

These are the games that we are supposed to take care of and end up with nothing more than a 10 -second recap on ESPN. If they are talking about our game against FIU on ESPN, then nothing good came from it. If we blow them out, it barely makes a dent in their programming. But if we struggle and have a hard time, then all the critics will come out and talk about how weak the Big East is and that USF does not deserve to be where they are.

The reality of the situation is this: Win big and take care of the game in hand. Go out there and do all of the small things correctly and USF will not be beat. There is no one that can honestly tell me that they have FIU winning this game.

***

It was a little disheartening to read some of the stories about our fans during the Kansas game. We need to understand that as our team gains popularity around the country, our fans do too. We don’t want to gain a reputation of losers and a stigma that we are rude and disrespectful. It is one thing to taunt the opposing team and remind them who has the better team. It is another thing to get into their faces and become a cursing fool, attempting to start a fight. I believe it was an isolated incident and that we will come across better in the future.

I expect nothing but the best from USF Satuday afternoon. I expect a lot of points from our offense. I expect to see our true freshman BJ Daniels in the game by the 4th quarter. I expect our fans to show their support with class as this season continues. I expect the BULLS to continue their quest at capturing the Big East Title.

GO BULLS..

-- Brian Taylor

It's a great time to be a USF Bull

Blogger Brian Taylor giving a squeeze to Little Jay.
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I’m not sure if this is what I purchased my season tickets for or not, but I must admit we are in for one hell of a ride.   The Kansas  game put me and 58,000 other people through an emotional roller coaster. It was by far the most intense game I have ever attended and it will be a tough task to top. 

As anyone that attended the game fully knows, it was absolutely blistering when it came to the heat pre-game. It definitely did not affect our tailgating party, as we began just after the gates opened up. As I drove up to the stadium, I could see that it was going to be a special game, as the crowd was obvious at 3:45pm . 

This must by what college football is about. We may not have the national media attention as a powerhouse like UF or USC, but we are doing exactly what needs to be done to include ourselves in talk as the cream of the crop in the Big East. 

It is a disappointment that the Big East is taking such a pounding early in this college football year, but the USF Bulls need to keep their minds off all the media outlets and learn from mistakes made last year. As last year unfolded, we learned that a single loss would end all hopes of the national limelight. 

This year is no different.  USF is not afforded the opportunity to lose a single game, much less a game that is on the remaining schedule.   For USF to continue making headlines, and continue getting respect, they must attack each game individually and take care of business. 

I can’t wait for the next home game. There are no better days for the City of Tampa than game days.   Who would have thought that in September, USF would be a top 20 team and the Rays would be 4 games up on the hated Redsox for the Division Title. Sorry SOX fans, but I had to throw that in.   Soak it up Tampa Bay , as this is a great time to be a USF BULL. 

Welcome to NCAA Football Bonani, you have made one heck of an impression on the fans.   It is enjoyable to watch Matt Grothe grow up as a QB right before our eyes.  Jim Leavitt allowed Grothe to win a game with his arm, and use a little bit less of his legs. Grothe really took a big step forward in the Kansas game, by adjusting and trusting his abilities. 

Sit back and enjoy this season everyone. The USF BULLS have a lot of pressure on their shoulders right now. Not only are they playing for the University of South Florida , but they may be the only thing going right now to keep the Big East Conference from losing everyone’s confidence.  We owe it to them to pack the stands and support this team to the end. Oh, my this is going to be one hell of a ride,

-- Brian Taylor

I was eating my fingernails for dinner

If I could only remember the quote that quote from  Matt Grothe last year... Something to the effect of, "We did not run the score up on UCF, we are just that much better than them." 

Well, that almost came back and bit us all in the rear end. After Gustov attempted to wash out the home opener just over a week ago, I found myself eating my fingernails for dinner.  As I attempted to sit on my couch watching the game this week I found out that this could be a very difficult season for fans. 

It appeared as if we were the better team, but WOW, we showed little desire to pound UCF into the dirt.  Now I am not complaining when I say this, but it is difficult to watch a team when you expect nothing short of a victory. 

This is a year in which the Bulls must take control and separate themselves as The Team in the Big East.  They must learn from teams in the past, such as the team they have opened the door up to while slamming the door shut on UCF.  That would be Miami.  The Hurricanes made a name for themselves by being the team in the Big East many years ago, and it is now time for USF to step up and grab the BULL by the horns.

Three things that I took from the game:

FIRST:  Can we please give up on the Alvarado project.  I hate to take things out on college players, as they are amateurs and not paid (well at least we like to believe that), but he needs to be benched as the our field goal kicker.  There must be someone else to shank all the kicks.  I don't care what the excuses are anymore, Coach Leavitt has proven over the years that he is faithful to his players and will stay with them as long as they are showing progress, but this Alvarado continues to get worse.  I can't imagine one person out there who feels confident that he is going to make any kick.  Please Jim Leavitt, go with another kicker.  I would hate for people to start turning on the team over a kicker, and if we happen to lose to Kansas due to our kicking, that is exactly what will occur.

SECOND:  Please allow Grothe to use the pocket and his arm a bit more.  We still minimized the playbook due to the Kansas game coming up, but Grothe needs to show that he can throw the chain-moving passes.  I think that Grothe has all the ability to do it, but the play-calling needs to change a little bit.  I would be surprised if Kansas does not allow very many runs by Grothe if he attempts that fake handoff and run in the middle.  TRUST the kid; he is a third year starter at QB, not RB. 

THIRD:  I hope someone took notes about how to build, or how not to build a stadium.  If anyone paid attention to the UM/UF game on ESPN you would have seen what I was talking about.  The UF game had 90,000 people in attendance and the camera did not move an inch.  The UCF game had 45,000 people and parts of the game were almost impossible to watch due to the cameras shaking so badly.  Another issue was the lighting.  The UF game had almost no shadows visible on the field, while the UCF game had shadows all over the field.  It looked like a high school game on TV.  I hope that people were paying attention to these details, because if USF ever gets the mindset to build a stadium, I really want them to spend the extra money to do it right the first time.

-- Brian Taylor