A few football tidbits ...

-- There's been a lot of talk about senior left tackle Thed Watson, a preseason all-Big East selection, possibly redshirting this fall. Talked with Thed this week, and he said he has been able to do the things he needed to do this summer academically where he will not redshirt this fall. "I want to play this year. This can be a great team," Watson said. Watson wanting to play and being able to play still doesn't mean Leavitt can't redshirt him, but it sounds like some issues have been resolved. I still hear great things about junior Jared Carnes, who is healthy and measured at 6-8, 310 pounds last week.

-- Biggest difference between when players leave USF and when personnel leave? The staff goes to bigger schools. Aside from maybe Pat Carter, I can't remember another football player leaving for even a comparable university, but there's been a steady trickle of staff moving on to big programs this summer. The latest is Robb Duncanson, who had been USF's assistant athletic trainer for football since 2002 and was moved up to associate trainer this summer. He left for that same position at Tennessee. It's the second loss in a month for the training staff, which saw Lisa Osterbrook, who worked with men's basketball, also leave this summer.

-- We've written plenty about former USF receiver Johnny Peyton, who was dismissed from the team this spring and still hasn't landed anywhere. More bad news for him that makes the not-going-to-Akron thing awfully trivial: his younger brother, Jonaey, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of attempted murder, accused by police of being involved in a double shooting that had a 31-year-old woman shot in the chest and her father shot in the face. Just like his brother, Jonaey played receiver at Pasco High the last two seasons.

-- Football is approaching fast, with players reporting Sunday, starting practice Monday and meeting with the media on Tuesday. I'm planning on doing a New Bull of the Day each day during preseason practice, a chance for you to get to know some of the new freshmen and transfers and so on. By the way, USF has announced that Fan Appreciation Day will be Aug. 26 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the football practice fields north of the Sun Dome on campus.

-- In the next day or two, this blog will be changing addresses, moving to a new home at blogs.tampabay.com/usf, and I'm told that all the old posts can migrate over, and the old site should be able to redirect you over there. Don't want to lose anybody in the changeover ...

Comments

[E.T.]

"I'm planning on doing a New Bull of the Day each day during preseason practice"Just do it ! Would love this feature Greg!Great info today ... can't wait to read the blog next week ... shold be busy.Go BULLS !!!

[Anonymous]

Greg: Sounds like Watson will be back, if he is correct in his estimation of his grades. There are a lot of guys who are sophomores and juniors on the line, so looks good for '07.Two Questions: As Carnes was injured last year and missed several games, can he get another red-shirt (medical year) effectively giving him another year beyond his senior year? And, can you shed light on the new "grading system" the NCAA will use to measure graduation and other factors? How long do they give a player to graduate? Is it only during teir eligibility or is there a extended period, or what? I think it is a good idea, but vey few will really graduate withing a limit of four years. There must be an extended time period available.