Can this be our best recruiting class ever?

As of now this is our third best recruiting classes ever at USF (according to ESPN). The best recruiting class we ever had (and it's not hard to tell) is 2009. This is when we got a boat load of recruits and   the best JUCO transfer USF has ever had - Pierre Paul. If you forgot about how great this class was just click this link to ESPN to see for your self.

The second best class is 2010 and it is probably not going to be the second best by the end of this year. We got some really good steals in Todd Chandler and Terrence Mitchell. And the rest of the players are close to being starters or are 2nd on the depth chart this year.

Class of 2012- still pending as of now, but I feel like this is going to be a big year for USF recruiting and it might move up this class to the second best class if we get a couple of key recruits. The only thing that is holding this class from getting number one is the lack of scholarships USF has this year. As of now they only have 7 scholarships open. So I think USF is going to be very picky from now on. These last six scholarships are probably gonna be saved until after fall. This is for they can evaluate all the potential recruits after there last season of High school football. We are probably going to take either an QB or a couple WRs with the last couple of scholarships. 

Sorry for the Lack of commitment

I haven't wrote an article in a while and it's all due to my internet connection. It has been not working properly for the last week or so and it has been holding me back. But I promise when I get a better connection I will update more frequently.

When will USF be considered in the BIG 4?

After we beat FSU and Miami, USF has considered themselves in the Big 4. But the problem is that the other schools that are in the Big 3 still doesn't consider us in the Big 4. And it makes sense why they wouldn't give us respect, they have all won national championships in not just football but in other sports. USF needs to step up not just it's football program, but we need to step it up in every sport. Like in previous post I stated that UF won the national championship in indoor track this year. FSU came in second in outdoor national championship. UF also has a great baseball,softball and basketball teams. Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't FSU win the baseball National Championship last year?Also FSU happened to squeeze their basketball team in the bracket this year and go pretty far. We are in the Big East and still couldn't get into the bracket.

How to fix this

I think the biggest thing USF needs to do is just hire new coaches in some sports. For example, baseball and basketball are the sports that are constantly losing year in and year out. And I want to blame the AD department for not firing these coaches. It's a shame that we are in the Big East and not being competitive in basketball. Espn always highlights Big East teams during basketball season and we need to capitalize on this to get some national exposure. Remember when we beat Villonova in the Big East tournament this year? Well Espn did, because right after we beat Nova we were on the front page of the Espn website. 

We need to build on the programs that we are competitive in. For example, I think we are doing wonders in soccer right now both men's and women's. We just built that stadium for them and USF is putting a lot of emphasis on the program right now. Also the men's program just got a lot of great JUCO transfers for this fall. We got four transfers from a juco college that hasn't lost a game in two years! 

Then there is football, USF needs to keep building on this program no matter the cost. This is the best and easiest way to get USF to be a household name. And right now I think they are doing everything right. Skip Holtz is a great coach that has a history of turning bad programs into conference champions ( not that USF was bad before). It also seems the athletic department is trying to make our program into a national caliber team with all the new improvements in the facilities. USF just needs to try to be in the top 25 for as long as they can for they can be familiar with the nation and more importantly the recruits.  

Why doesn't USF have a great Track Program?

I have been wondering why USF has not been dominating the Big East Track and Field Championships like I thought a Florida School would be. For crying out loud USF is in FLORIDA one( or probably the best) of the best Track and Field States. Just look at the other schools in the State and see how they taken advantage of the athletes in the state. First look at FSU they have always had a great track program and just came in second place in the NCAA championships,but they do recruit heavily from other countries. Now look at UF,that has been recruiting heavily in Florida for the past couple years. They won the Indoor national championship this year and won the Outdoor national championship last year. UF also loves having big High school meets on their campus to get the better recruits to "tour" their campus.

So what wrong with USF Track and Field? Well the big problem is that some of their best athletes are on the football team. Don't get me wrong I understand why they need to be on the team for their unique talents. But I wish they would recruit just Track specific athletes that won't skip a Track season to prepare for football (Terrence Mitchell, Lindsey Lamar).  We should also be dominating the sprinting events because USF is located in Florida ( nations top sprinting factory). Thus also giving us some points in some field events like long jump and triple jump, because most sprinters do both. I can understand why we do poor in the long distance events, because the long distance power house states are either up north or out west. But we should at least be competitive in those events.

In this years Big East Championship we came in fourth and that is respectable. But I think USF can do a lot better than that, especially since its located in a great location and not just Florida but Tampa as well. For crying out loud we lost the 4x100 relay to UConn. I feel we should be winning that title year in and year out.

How to fix it

The biggest thing USF can do is just host Big Track meets for the states best athletes. This is probably the most effective way to get recruits on campus. By big meets, I mean try to get to host the Florida runners prime time meet like they did in Charlotte high school. This is when they invite the best high school athletes in the state of  Florida to go to head to head. Also by trying to host smaller track meets that are Tampa specific can  also help both Football and Track recruiting and help Holtz "Build a Fence around Tampa. Its just simple logic the more the run at USF the more comfortable they get, thus staying here. Also recruiting in Jamaica and the other Island nations can't hurt since we already have a large Caribbean population on campus.

I know I've been really negative about the Track program, but I do not want to seem that way. I just feel that we can do a lot better in the location that we are in. Also I kinda feel bad that we are falling behind other Florida track programs and I just want to see some changes for my alma mater.

USF links

I like how ESPN does links of the day for the Big East. So I am going to take that idea and make it USF specific.

1. I like how great WR prospect D'Vario Montgomery is talking about USF. And also was caught talking to Chris Dunkley about the recruiting process.


2. USF got a new High Jump recruit in Chase Meyers that has barely done the event for one year. He will also be joined by Richard Jean-Baptiste a hurdler. 


3. Is Darrell Scott Ready for next season? 

CB Vernon Hargreaves II is a must get for USF

 This 2013 prospect is must get not just because he is a shut-down corner, but  because we would lose a lot of respect from other potential recruits if we don't. This is because his father happens to be USF's Defensive ends coach Vernon Hargreaves Sr. I feel like we would lose a lot of of respect from other recruits because if his son doesn't want to play for USF why should they? And if he does commit somewhere else just imagine the backlash from it. He should be our number one priority for 2013 because we have so much to lose if we don't get him.

Professional Athletes that train at USF

Because of our pristine location Professional athletes flock to USF to do their training and conditioning.

1.  Walter Dix 100m (Bronze Medalist)-The first on our list came to a surprise to me because he is an FSU alumni. But he trains here on campus working on his 100m before he gets ready for the U.S Track and Field trails. I recently found out that his coach lives here in Tampa so it made sense why he trains here. Also USF is one of the few places (or only place) in Tampa that has a mondo track (the same they used in the Olympics) and one these tracks can set one back a couple million dollars. So it kinda makes sense why he trains here.

2. Angelo Taylor 400mH ( Three time Olympic Medalist)- I found out he trains at USF via his twitter oddly enough. He trains at USF regularly and you can check for yourself that he does on his twitter account: http://twitter.com/#!/Angelo_Taylor.

3. LB Tyrone Mckenzie (Buccaneers)- He is a former USF alumni that is trying to organize some team practices for the Bucs at his alma mater. I have read that he is even helping the LB on the USF team get better for the upcoming season while he is trains at USF. Hopefully with his tips USF can have another strong defense like years before.

4. QB Josh Freeman- This one got me the most excited because he is trying do the same thing that Mckenzie is doing by training at USF. But from what I hear, he is also practicing with our WRs. I read that he and A.J love practice together all the time and I hope the other WR take suite.

5. John Gruden- Well he is not a professional athlete, but I think he counts. From what I hear he loves USF and all the new improvements they have done with football. He even picked USF to be the place where he host his QB camp he does every year with ESPN. And from videos I seen him in I heard him use WE a lot of times when he mentioned USF. Hopefully he can give Holtz a couple tips here and there.