In the days after he was hired as USF's head football coach, Brian Hartline and his staff faced a tremendous challenge.
The Transfer Portal was open and the early signing three-day window for high school players had just opened. Many Bulls headed out the door to either follow Alex Golesh to Auburn or other places.
Oh, and Hartline had promised to stay at Ohio State as the offensive coordinator while the Buckeyes prepared for the Big Ten championship game and the College Football Playoff. For nearly a month he was juggling two jobs.
The search for replacements was on. Hartline later likened it to "speed dating" -- a deep dive into film study and background research.
But Hartline and the staff he was assembling knew the type of player they wanted. He was looking at traits like coachability more than the number of stars on a player's recruiting profile.
Being a good and supportive teammate was a must because, as the saying today goes, the name on the front of the jersey has to take priority over the name on the back.
And perhaps most important in today's NIL world of college football, did that player really want to be a USF Bull, and why?
Once those boxes were checked, it was time to get to work.
"I want us to be tough. Tough means we are executing based on the circumstances and we are problem-solving. We want us to be resilient because frankly, when we get hit in the mouth, how do we respond? The best teams do that at a high level," he said.
"I think that's where consistency falls in, so that's really, really important. I want us to be disciplined. I feel like we've done a really good job assembling a roster."
While they might have mentioned that these recruits would get to play in the new stadium USF will open in 2027, it wasn't a big selling point.
"I mean, we are not recruiting guys that just like shiny things," he said. "That's not the kind of guys we like. We like guys that love ball. We love guys that appreciate the meticulousness of the things we put in the operations center" that is under construction as well.
"We shared the vision of where we are, where we're going."
That vision appealed to 41 new Bulls who entered through the portal.
Hartline often stresses that nothing was promised to the newcomers, other than the opportunity to compete. It's understood that playing time is earned.
And how do they do that?
It starts with being a great teammate. He used the example of quarterbacks Michael Bennett, Jr. and Luke Kromenhoek who transferred from LSU and Mississippi State respectively.
Only one of them can play at a time, while the other guy stands on the sideline and waits his turn.
Is there competition between them? Of course.
Does that competition breed animosity? No way.
"I think the biggest praise for them is that we have that because they've both been doing a really good job. They've both been great teammates to each other. They're helping each other out as they go," Hartline said.
"They pushing each other. They can't have a bad day; they know that. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to see if one of these guys really separate themselves, right?"
But, he added, "We're going to need both of these guys."
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