South Florida Bulls Football

The University of South Florida plans to open its new on-campus football stadium in 2027. And on Wednesday, USF released a new stadium rendering featuring a student section on the west side.

The stadium breaks ground on Oct. 18. The athletic department released more info on the student section in particular.

"All seats on the west side will be exclusively for students and will provide them with a unique experience. It will include its own dedicated entrance, restrooms, and concessions. The west side will accommodate more than 8,000 students and will feature the 'Iconic Bull U' logo, which USF has used for more than 20 years. The west side of the stadium will also include a landing for an in-game disc jockey to entertain South Florida fans."

In addition, there will be a field-level section on the north side for the school's athletic bands (the Herd of Thunder). The marching band will have a lower-level section so they can easily enter and exit the field for pregame and halftime shows. And then on the south side, season ticket holders will have seats with shade from the press box during daytime matchups.

USF looks like it will have a great stadium to play in later this decade. For now, the 2-1 Bulls have a massive home game at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to prepare for when No. 8 Miami rolls into town on Saturday.

Former University of South Florida tight end Teigan Martin has died at the age of 20 years old following a single-car crash near Hollywood Township, Minnesota.

Per Riley Moser of CBS Minnesota, the Carver County Sheriff's Office confirmed that deputies discovered a black 2013 BMW M5 crashed in the north ditch of County Road 122 shortly after 5 a.m on Wednesday. Authorities confirmed that the driver was Martin, who died at the scene. He was the vehicle's only occupant.

Moser added more information from authorities.

"Investigators believe Martin had been driving eastbound on County Road 122 at a high rate of speed when he crossed the center line, entered the ditch and rolled the vehicle.

"Martin had been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, authorities say. It is unknown if alcohol was a factor in the crash.

"The crash is under investigation."

Both USF and Mayer Lutheran High School confirmed the news and expressed their condolences.

USF head coach Alex Golesh made remarks as well.

Martin starred as a two-way player at Mayer Lutheran High School in Mayer, Minnesota, playing tight end and defensive tackle. He was an all-state player in 2021 and helped guide his team to the state championship.

Martin then left for Liberty University in 2022 but transferred to South Florida in 2023. Per Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times, Martin was no longer playing football for USF but remained a student at the school.

University of South Florida running back Michel Dukes was arrested on allegations of domestic battery over the weekend.

The Hillsborough (Florida) County Sherriff's office said Dukes was accused of strangling another person during a verbal argument. USF indefinitely suspended Dukes in the aftermath of his arrest.

"We have taken the immediate step of suspending him indefinitely from the team as we continue to gather more information and the proper authorities investigate the matter," the university said in a statement. "We will have no further statement at this time."

Dukes, who began his college career at Clemson, rushed for 188 yards and five touchdowns last season in his first year with South Florida. The senior was slated to compete for the Bulls' starting running back position in 2023.

"I applaud this victim for coming forward," Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a press release. "We do not tolerate domestic violence. There is never a reason or excuse for this type of behavior. Our Victim Advocates will ensure this individual gets connected with any and all resources."

The University of South Florida is finalizing a deal to make Tennessee offensive coordinator Alex Golesh its next head coach, per ESPN's Pete Thamel.

USF also pursued reportedly Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders for the vacancy before deciding to hire Golesh.

Golesh has spent the last two seasons as Tennessee's offensive coordinator under head coach Josh Heupel. He followed Heupel to Volunteer country from UCF, and also spent time as an assistant at Iowa State, Illinois, Toledo and Oklahoma State during his career.

As offensive coordinator of the Volunteers, Golesh led one of the most prolific offenses in the country this season, so it's no surprise USF pursued him for its head coaching vacancy.

Tennessee averaged 538.1 total yards and 47.3 points per game, which ranks first in the nation. The Vols had the country's third-best passing offense, averaging 332.3 yards per game, and they averaged 205.8 yards per game on the ground.

Because of his success running the Tennessee offense, Golesh is a finalist for the 2022 Broyles Award, which is given to the country's top assistant coach.

Golesh takes over a USF program that finished last in the American Athletic Conference this season with a 1-11 record. It was one of the worst seasons in team history, and Golesh will be tasked with rebuilding a Bulls program that hasn't posted a winning season since 2018.

USF fired Jeff Scott in November after he led the Bulls to a 4-26 record in his three seasons at the helm. He was replaced by Daniel Da Prato, who was named interim head coach for the remainder of the 2022 campaign.

As for Tennessee, Heupel will now have to replace Golesh in Rocky Top. It will be interesting to see how quickly he fills the position, with the early signing period for prospective student-athletes set to begin on Dec. 21.

Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders has reportedly "been in discussions with power-brokers" to potentially fill vacancies at Colorado or South Florida, according to Carl Reed of 247Sports.

Auburn also has an opening, although the school is expected to go in a different direction and has not had contact with Sanders.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer is in his third year with Jackson State, leading the HBCU team to an 11-0 record this season for the first time in school history.

The Tigers went 11-1 during the 2021 regular season, helping Sanders win the Eddie Robinson award as the top head coach in the FCS level.

Recruiting has also been a strength for Sanders, who landed last year's No. 1 overall recruit in cornerback Travis Hunter.

The 55-year-old was a contender for several openings last year, including TCU and Colorado State, according to Chris Hummer of 247Sports.

Sanders now has a chance to land another FBS job with multiple teams reaching out. On the other hand, both situations will require major rebuilds.

Colorado is just 1-10 this season and fired Karl Dorrell after an 0-5 start. The Buffaloes haven't won more than five games in a year since 2016, although they did go to a bowl game during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.

South Florida is also 1-10 and fired Jeff Scott after he produced a 4-26 record across two-plus seasons.

Though Colorado could provide major-conference experience in the Pac-12, South Florida would be closer to home for the Florida State alum and already have built-in recruiting ties.

The NCAA announced Friday that USF will be on three years probation and fined $10,000 for failing to monitor the football program under Charlie Strong, per Brett McMurphy of the Action Network. 

Strong, who is now an assistant for the Jacksonville Jaguars, will also face a one-game suspension if he returns to college football. 

The university was reported to have seven then-noncoaching football staff participate in on- and off-field instruction during practices over a period of three years. By doing so, USF was beyond the allowed number of countable coaches. 

"In one case, a then-noncoaching football staff member provided skills instruction to student-athletes and led film assessments and instruction," a press release stated. 

The NCAA also said the USF compliance department learned of the football violations and educated the football staff, including Strong, on the matter, but nothing changed.

The USF football program continued to allow the seven noncoaching football staff to instruct. They even had equipment managers use headsets to "alert noncoaching staff members when compliance staff were attending football practices, so the additional violations of countable coaches rules were not discovered."

The women's basketball program also exceeded the allowable number of coaches and is accused of exceeding the allowed number of hours per week for athletic activities. 

Here are all of the penalties the school is facing:

• Three years probation
• A $10,000 fine and 0.5 percent of both the football and women's basketball program's budgets
• Initial football scholarships for 2022-2023 will be reduced by two
• A one-game suspension for Strong if he should return to coaching at the collegiate level
• A one-year "show-cause" for the women's basketball coach that includes a 15-hour suspension from regular-season practices

Strong coached the football program from 2017 to '19, going 21-16 in that span. The Bulls' best season under Strong came in his first year as head coach when they finished 10-2 and won the Birmingham Bowl. 

Jeff Scott has been USF's head coach since 2020. He previously served as Clemson's co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach from 2015 to '19.  

South Florida has fired head coach Charlie Strong, the school announced Sunday.

"I would like to thank Coach Strong and his staff for their hard work and contributions to our program," USF Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly said in a statement. "I have tremendous respect for Coach Strong and his dedication to recruiting and developing young men of talent and character and leading them with integrity. He has represented USF with dignity and class and we wish Coach and his family the very best."

Strong wrapped up his third season as the Bulls' coach with a 34-7 loss to UCF on Friday. They went 21-16 under his watch but finished 4-8 in 2019.

The Strong era started off brightly as USF won 10 games, beat Texas Tech in the Birmingham Bowl and finished 21st in the AP Top 25 and Coaches polls.

Things quickly took a turn for the worse. Alabama transfer Blake Barnett struggled as the starting quarterback after succeeding Quinton Flowers. Barnett threw for 2,705 yards, 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2018 and then made four appearances in 2019 before undergoing season-ending ankle surgery.

The USF defense was also a mess despite Strong initially building his reputation as a defensive coordinator. The Bulls finished last year 80th in Football Outsiders' S&P+ defense rating. They entered Week 14 sitting in 51st in SP+ defense, per ESPN's Bill Connelly.

Hiring Strong appeared to be a smart move, but few can argue with USF's decision on Sunday.

Bringing Strong aboard was a signal of intent by the program. He had just come off stints at Louisville and Texas, and he was the 16th highest-paid coach in FBS ($5 million), per USA Today.

The Athletic's Bruce Feldman and Tampa Bay Times' Joey Knight speculated Willie Taggart might be a target:

Florida State fired Taggart midway through this year after he had compiled a 9-12 record.

Taggart was responsible for laying the groundwork that Strong would later benefit from, however. Taggart took over at USF in 2013. The team saw its record improve over each of the next three seasons, culminating in an 11-2 campaign in 2016.

The South Florida Bulls reportedly found a potential replacement at quarterback for the departed Quinton Flowers.

According to JP Peterson of 620 WDAE in Tampa Bay, Florida, former Alabama signal-caller Blake Barnett will transfer from Arizona State to South Florida. Peterson noted Barnett has two years of eligibility remaining and will be able to play immediately.

Matt Zenitz of AL.com noted Barnett left Alabama in 2016 for Arizona State but left the Sun Devils in April after serving as their backup.    

Barnett attempted just 19 passes in 2016 with the Crimson Tide and five passes last season for the Sun Devils and has yet to establish himself as a reliable playmaker at the collegiate level. He transferred from Alabama after Jalen Hurts took over the starting job and left Arizona State as someone who was battling for a backup position behind Manny Wilkins.

While he hasn't lived up to the billing, Barnett was once a highly regarded recruit who committed to Notre Dame before decommitting and joining the Crimson Tide.

According to 247Sports' composite rankings, he was a 5-star prospect and the No. 2 pro-style quarterback in the 2015 class.

If he delivers on the talent that warranted his ranking, this will be a major pickup for the Bulls after Flowers finished his collegiate career with 2,911 passing yards, 1,078 rushing yards and 36 total touchdowns in 2017.

A Tyre McCants touchdown catch with 16 seconds left allowed South Florida to emerge from a seesaw battle with a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech on Saturday afternoon in the 2017 Birmingham Bowl at Legion Field in Alabama.

Quinton Flowers put together another terrific performance for the Bulls, who scored a 46-39 win over South Carolina in the same bowl game last year. The USF quarterback threw for 311 yards and four touchdowns and added 106 yards on 14 carries while finding the end zone once on the ground.

His counterpart, Nic Shimonek, also shined for the Red Raiders despite the loss. He connected on 32 of his 59 attempts for 416 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Keke Coutee caught 11 of those passes for 187 yards and a TD.

The expected shootout between teams that combined to average 72.6 points during the regular season didn't develop in a first half that finished 10-10.

After the sides exchanged field goals in the early going, the first touchdown was finally scored late in the opening quarter by Texas Tech.

Shimonek led an impressive 10-play, 81-yard drive that he capped with a five-yard strike to Coutee, who made a key 20-yard grab on third down earlier in the drive, for the Red Raiders' score:

South Florida got back even shortly before halftime. A Texas Tech three-and-out that burned just 24 seconds off the clock gave the Bulls an extra possession, and they capitalized.

A 15-yard punt by Dominic Panazzolo gave USF terrific field position at the TTU 25. Two plays later, they were in the end zone as Flowers connected with McCants for a 21-yard TD.

USF Football‏ noted the touchdown pass allowed Flowers to set a new school record:

The offenses came alive after the break as the teams put up more points in the third quarter (21) than they did in the entire first half.

Texas Tech grabbed a 24-17 lead late in the period with a four-yard touchdown run by Tre King, but Flowers matched that with a five-yard scamper of his own with just under 10 minutes left in the contest to tie the game for the fourth time.

The Bulls' offense stole the show in the fourth. They scored three touchdowns, two through the air and one on the ground, and Flowers was involved in all of them.

After the Red Raiders grabbed a 34-31 lead with 1:31 to play on a touchdown grab by T.J. Vasher, USF responded by covering 75 yards in 75 seconds for the winning score.

ESPN College Football highlighted McCants' bowl-winning TD:

The teams overcame a sluggish start to put up 1,110 yards of offense in the thriller.

Looking ahead, each program will be tasked with replacing its senior quarterback before next season. McLane Carter is in line to become the next leader of Texas Tech's high-powered attack, while USF could see a competition between Chris Oladokun and Brett Kean in the spring.

Both of the departing QBs have a chance to get selected in the latter stages of the 2018 NFL draft. Landing in the right system will be crucial for their development with Shimonek operating as a traditional pocket passer and Flowers bringing a dual-threat skill set to the table.