Today’s Holtzism

H/T to the eagle eyes at The Bulls Pen for finding this one.

“You don’t win games in February. I’ve had five stars that couldn’t play dead in a Western, and two stars that played as hard as anyone.”

The original story can be found here.

Mike Ford Dismissed From Football Team

Based on his time at East Carolina, Skip Holtz seems to prefer a feature back in his offense instead of a running back by committee. Things are looking good for rising senior Mike Ford! He just has to show up to spring practice ready to roll with his head on straight, and there’s no way Holtz can resist making him the starter with his speed and power!

The USF football program dismissed senior running back Mike Ford for violation of team rules on Wednesday afternoon.

Thus ends the Mike Ford era, and you’d be hard-pressed not to call it disappointing. Ford arrived at USF in 2007 after signing with Alabama two years earlier, but failing to qualify. After a stint in junior college, Ford became eligible and turned into (I think) the first five-star recruit the Bulls ever had. He scored 13 touchdowns in 2007, mostly in short yardage running, and was likely one of the targets of a truly ridiculous tirade from Alabama coach/dark lord Nick Saban about partial qualifiers at USF, which turned out to be bogus.

Ford had other bursts of productivity. In last year’s International Bowl he rushed for 207 yards, mostly in the second half when the Bulls stopped screwing around and ran it down Northern Illinois’ collective throat. Still, he never really lived up to his potential. Because he could never be depended on in blitz protection or blocking schemes, it was tough to keep him on the field for every down despite the shrill pleas of a very loud minority of fans. His hard running style didn’t always fit into USF’s previous spread offense, which needed running backs who can catch passes. Former running backs coach Carl Franks used a rigid and sometimes bizarre rotation at the position, which affected Ford’s reps. He suffered some injuries, and off the field there was a litany of issues. I’ll let Greg Auman run them all down:

Ford has been suspended twice before, for one game in 2007 for missing classes and for the first two games of 2009 for a violation of team rules. He has also been arrested twice on driving-related infractions, turning himself in to Sarasota police in 2007 after missing a court date for driving without a valid license and registration, then getting arrested on campus in December for driving a moped on campus without a valid license.

(And you thought the Athens, Georgia, police were the only ones who busted people on mopeds.)

With his prior history, Ford didn’t have a lot of goodwill built up that would let him get away with another screwup. There are nine or ten running backs expected to be on scholarship next season and a new position coach coming in, so the time may have finally been right to cut ties with him. It’s not the biggest flameout story we’ve seen at USF (I’d still give that one to Carlton Hill), but it might be the most high-profile one. It sounds like Ford is committed to making the best of this situation, though, and we join in with Holtz with wishing him good luck.

Bulls Recon: Chris from IBBW talks Nova Hoops

Chris from the outstanding Villanova blog I Bleed Blue and White was nice enough to answer a few questions about the game with USF tonight. I answered a few questions for Chris as well, and you can check them out here. Visit his site anytime, even during football season. They have a pretty good thing going at the FCS level.

1. You guys have not lost a step after the Wildcats’ Final Four trip last year, and most think (myself included) that you have a better team this season. How has Coach Wright done it?

He changed the attitude in the program. He made it a place that top high school players want to come play. We weren’t terrible before him, but we were certainly underachieving since Kerry Kittles graduated. He’s recruited extremely well. That was step 1.

Step 2 was getting the players to buy into a team environment and a program. We don’t have a lot of 1 or 2-and-done players. It’s truly a rarity. The players love playing with each other and that type of atmosphere has led to a lot of success and a lot of happy fans.

2. Can you give everyone a brief overview of what Nova likes to do on offense and defense?

On offense we obviously have great guards so we run a lot of ball screens where we look to drive and take it to the hoop or kick it out for a jump shot. When we hit the skids on offense, we’ll look to feed Antonio Pena in the post, who has been surprisingly very good down there this year. He’s made a big leap. Recently our shooting has been abysmal, which has been a big reason for losing 2 straight.

On defense we press a lot because of our depth, so we usually have a lot of fresh bodies on the floor. We never play zone, and instead will play straight man and trap if the opportunity arises on the sideline. If a team can remain calm, they’ll find success, much to the displeasure of our fans, who believe we shouldn’t be pressing. I agree with that.

3. I know you are going to enjoy your last six weeks with Scottie Reynolds. What would you give for him to have another year of eligibility?

5,000 dollas. My stereo. My TV. My car. My house. I’d give you anything. My motorcylce. My first-born kid.

In all seriousness, it’s been a great ride with him. He’s carried this program over the past 4 years and turned us into what looks like a perennial Top-10 program. 5 years ago, I’m not sure you could see this coming, especially after Ray, Foye and Lowry left all in one year. It’s going to be a tough adjustment without him next year. I’ll probably start drinking a lot more.

4. Give me a little bit of hope tomorrow. What can USF do to keep this game close and possibly have the Bulls pull off the upset?

Dominique Jones will probably have to have a pretty big game I’d imagine. He’ll face a steady dose of Reggie Redding, Corey Stokes and Dominic Cheek, who won’t make it easy on him. The other thing that is prudent for USF to do is have Gilchrist and Famous get Pena in foul trouble. He’s the only proven player for Villanova down low, and we’ve struggled without his presence. Oh yeah, and shoot the lights out. When teams do that, they handle us with ease.

5. I’d like to throw a football question at you. Would you like to see the team try to move up to 1A and experience a couple of lean years and compete in the Big East, or stay down at 1AA and continue to dominate.

I want to move up. One of the biggest things missing from my college experience was big-time football and I feel robbed. I realize money and stadium size is a big issue, but I think we would have the fanbase to support it every weekend if we made the move. Just the legitimacy of being FBS is huge from a support standpoint.

I get both sides of the argument though. We’re doing great in FCS.

6. Lastly, who is Jay Wright’s tailor, and where can I get one of his suits?

If I told you I’d have to kill you. Only those in the elite society are privy to such information. You’ll have to keep settling for Men’s Wearhouse. But hey, you’ll like the way you look. Just not love it.

Thanks to Chris for once again answering these questions, and if you haven’t visited his blog yet, GO!

Holtzism of the Day

Coach Holtz has already made a name for himself down here for being media friendly. He knows that you that you have to make friends with people who buy ink by the barrel, something that Coach Leavitt never really embraced. Everyone can remember some of the battles Leavitt had with the press, and I’m sure some of that led to his downfall.

Holtz throws out a saying once in a while that will make you wonder when Dr. Lou told Skip these quips, and I’ve decided to call them Holtzisms. Today’s Holtzism comes from Coach’s visit with the 1010 Morning Show this morning.

Recruiting is like shaving. You have to do it everyday or else you’ll look like a bum.

Enjoy your Monday everyone! There will be an announcement about the future of Voodoo 5 up in the next day or so.

Jason Pierre-Paul and the NFL Draft Hype Machine

Jason Pierre-Paul’s coming-out party was held in Tallahassee last September. He and the rest of the Bulls’ defensive line tormented Christian Ponder and the Florida State offensive line in a 17-7 win at Doak. In his only season of DIVISION ONE FOOTBALL (copyright Dan Hawkins), he ended up with 45 tackles and 6.5 sacks. He was a good collegiate defensive end, and he has outstanding speed and measurables. So when he decided to go into the NFL Draft, most people had him projected as a top-end pick.

Then somewhere along the line, with no new information on the table, Pierre-Paul’s stock went up. He became a first-round pick on nearly everyone’s board. He started creeping up towards the middle of the first round, passing Mike Jenkins’s mark as the highest-drafted Bull to date (25th in 2008). And in the last couple of weeks, things have gone totally crazy. Most Bulls fans have heard about Todd McShay’s mock draft that had the Bucs taking Pierre-Paul with the third overall pick. (McShay has been way out in front of the JPP parade – he had him pegged as a first-rounder even before Christmas.) He’s not the only one who has Pierre-Paul that high. Bucky Brooks at NFL.com also has him as the third pick, and so does Pro Football Weekly in their last mock draft. This might be a reflection of the Bucs being run by a bunch of dumbasses, but still. Third overall.

Mel Kiper had him down as the 11th overall pick a couple weeks ago, and in his latest mock draft Pierre-Paul has moved up to 8th, although that would doom him to a prison term with the Raiders. Mike Mayock of NFL Network says he’s the #1 rated defensive end in the draft. Scouts.com projects him as the fifth-best player in the draft. Everyone is going crazy about his size, speed, agility, athleticism, and most importantly, his potential. A “combine creation” has been born, and we haven’t even made it to the damn combine yet.

Of course, as all of these things go, Pierre-Paul started out underrated and became so underrated that eventually he moved up to properly rated, and now he’s moved straight on to overrated. Isn’t that right, Matt Hayes?

“One season in Division I football resulted in 45 tackles and 6.5 sacks. And he could be the first end taken because he runs a 4.6 40 and has ‘upside.’ See the lunacy yet?”

And then the most hilarious 180 of the draft hype process so far comes from the same Todd McShay who had Pierre-Paul third overall, and still does for all I know. (Like I’m going to pay ESPN $6.95 to double-check.)

“The importance of mental agility is starting to sink in. … Here’s a good test for this season’s GMs. Watch where South Florida DE Jason Pierre-Paul goes in comparison to Georgia Tech DE Derrick Morgan. Pierre-Paul is a physical freak, and a team may get flak for passing him by to get to Morgan. But what that team will know is that Morgan is far more versatile and game aware than his counterpart, who hasn’t shown much more than pure pass-rushing ability.”

We’ve never had a player from USF that was so thoroughly dissected and tossed around the draft board like a rag doll. Dr. Saturday explored this topic as well, but he framed it as the age-old “potential vs. production” question rather than looking at the net effect for everyone involved.

I think Pierre-Paul is in a bad position now because the hype and the fallout is far beyond his control. He’ll either be drafted very high (whether he deserves to be or not) and then be expected to live up to possibly unreasonable expectations. Or he’ll start sliding down the mountain, losing millions in guaranteed money and having all kinds of “what’s wrong with him?” articles written. That’s the kind of draft death spiral that’s hard to get out of, the one where people find more and more things to nitpick. At this point, if he doesn’t take the field in the NFL and come out like gangbusters, he will be immediately labeled a bust, which might stain his career. Imagine him going to the Bucs with their cheap owners, crappy coaching, and brain-dead front office, and having to live up to what he did playing in the same stadium in college. It totally sucks.

On the other hand, I’m having a hard time seeing the downside for USF. Let’s face it, the elite high school talent wants to go somewhere that will help get them into the NFL. If Pierre-Paul stays up at the top of the draft board, no matter what happens to him in the pros, Skip Holtz can point to that in recruits’ living rooms and tell them that USF can turn out the best of the best. (“And he was only at USF for one year! Imagine what you could do if you’re there for four years!”) They can get drafted early, get on national TV holding the hat and jersey while shaking hands with Roger Goodell, and most importantly, get paid. It’s a domino effect after that. Eventually you beat some big names for recruits and it becomes easier to get where you want to go as a program.

If USF takes another step up in their recruiting quality over the next couple years, we’ll probably all have Jason Pierre-Paul to thank.

Tapping Into a Pipeline?

Interesting tidbit in a Scott Carter Tampa Tribune article about do-it-all women’s basketball star Jessica Lawson, and it had nothing to do with Lawson. (No offense to her, she’s awesome.) The very last item in the story says:

[Skip] Holtz’s oldest son, Trey, a 10th-grader, enrolled at Plant High this week and plans to join the football team as a quarterback when spring practice starts.

Located in Tampa, Plant’s football team has won three state championships in the last four years – two in Class 4A, and another in Class 5A. It’s become one of the best public-school programs in Florida, and thanks to some fairly liberal interpretations of Hillsborough County’s special-assignment rules, it’s a magnet for high-level football talent. During their four-year championship run, Plant has produced nine D-I signees, including Robert Marve, Orson Charles, Aaron Murray, and Eric Dungy. Earlier in the 2000s they sent Mike Williams to USC and Stephen Reaves to Michigan State. And this year everyone will be looking at James Wilder, Jr., who will likely end up as a 4 or 5-star recruit and already has offers from some of the big boys – Florida, Miami, and USC.

USF has only signed one Plant football player in the last 10 years – Donte Spires in 2005. Wilder might be out of the Bulls’ reach, but as long as Plant is turning out D-I talent, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

You know, as long as Skip doesn’t recruit his son to play for USF, then pull a Dan and Cody Hawkins and go down with the ship together.

(P.S. I went to Plant and they won a total of 12 games in my four years there. No, I’m not bitter. OK, a little bitter. Actually, I’m very bitter. In fact I’m downright pissed.)

Snow Day Reading Material

I just measured 5″ of snow outside my front door and it’s still coming down hard. We don’t have plows or salt trucks or road-treating chemicals or snow shovels or any of that where I live, which means I’m going absolutely nowhere today. So if you have some free time like I do, I recommend this feature story from SI’s Andy Staples about the challenge of Skip Holtz putting together a recruiting class in three weeks.

SI: How Skip Holtz, South Florida Bulls Saved 2010 Recruiting Class

(I could have done without the “sleeping giant”/Seth Greenberg flashback line at the very end, but other than that it’s a fantastic story. As much as I loved me some Jim Leavitt, I can’t imagine he would have ever allowed this kind of access to the program’s inner workings.)

2010 Football Schedule

Knee-jerk reaction: A WEDNESDAY GAME??? ARE YOU SERIOUS??? WHAT IS THIS, THE FREAKIN’ SUN BELT!!?!??

At first I thought that the Rutgers game might have been moved from Thursday so it wouldn’t conflict with the World Series. But it looks like Game 6 (if there is one) would be held on November 3. So basically I agree with the knee-jerk reaction. It’s the only game like it on any Big East team’s schedule, it’s bush league, and it makes everyone involved look bad.

Otherwise the schedule is about as good as you could have hoped for, especially for dodging cold/crappy weather. I think you can partly attribute two recent losses – West Virginia in 2008 and UConn last year – to the cold and snowy weather. Not because the Bulls were distracted or unfocused because of the snow, but because the team didn’t adjust their game plan to fit the conditions. (The same thing happened against Rutgers last year, but that game was such a butt-kicking that the windy, rainy weather really wasn’t a factor.)

I don’t like having to play West Virginia on a short week, but if you made me pick a bowl-quality team to face on a short week I would probably pick them. USF has long since figured out how to slow that team down.

Here’s the entire schedule, with my guesses about when the game might be and where it might be on TV. I figured somewhere around 7-5/8-4 was the ceiling for this team, and I don’t see any reason to change that after seeing it all on paper.

Skip Holtz: Fine Human Being

Wanted to share this before it slips away. Greg Auman had this quote from Skip Holtz’s signing day Q&A session. Someone asked him if they had thought about trying to take some of their East Carolina recruits with him (like a certain mealy-mouthed a-hole and his deep-fried consigliere). Skip’s answer:

“It was easy because it was the right decision,” Holtz said. “East Carolina paid all of our recruiting expenses when we were at East Carolina, for us to develop a lot of these relationships with these young men. When you look at some of the (coaching) changes going on in recruiting, a lot of people just took the class with them or tried to take the class with them. I felt like those young men committed to East Carolina … I in no way, shape or form want to harm East Carolina.”

Imagine that, a football coach with scruples. Something tells me that even if Skip Holtz ends up Kragthorpe-ing this thing, we’re still going to feel bad that it didn’t work out.

National Signing Day Give-Up Post

Today is National Signing Day. I hope you’re not looking for any insight on our newest Bulls from me because I absolutely SUCK at keeping up with this topic. It gives me tired head and I prefer to wait until they show up on campus and start practicing. You just can’t form opinions on high schoolers when they’re going all Charles Jefferson on tape, wreaking havoc on some shell-shocked team.

So instead, here are some different places you can keep up with the commits:

– You can always get your news straight from the horse’s mouth at GoUSFBulls.com.

– The local newspaper blogs will kill it as always – Greg Auman’s St. Petersburg Times blog and Scott Carter’s Tampa Tribune blog.

– If you prefer one of the premium sites, you can visit USFNation.com or USFBullsEye.com.

– While Brian Bennett has eight different teams to worry about, his Big East blog on ESPN.com should be worth reading if you want to compare everyone’s classes.

– And if you want to laugh, cry, bitch, and/or moan about USF’s recruiting class, you can visit TheBullsPen.com and discuss it with a few hundred of your closest USF friends.