Normally, the only time Green, Gold and Bold would reference the Florida Gators is when they meet USF on the athletic field.
However, the melodrama playing out at the state’s flagship university – or, these days, the flagging university – reminds us of the importance of stable leadership.
Right now, USF has that and Florida doesn’t. That will be true even if USF Vice President for Athletics Michael Kelly moves on to the Naval Academy as the athletic director.
The leadership team, under President Rhea Law and Trustee Chairman Will Weatherford, is well-equipped to move forward if necessary. Change is inevitable, but chaos is not.
You probably saw that UF’s Board of Governors rejected the recommendation to confirm Santa Ono as the school’s next president, leaving interim president Ken Fuchs as the reluctant occupant of the seat.
What does that have to do with sports?
A lot.
As Benjamin Henderson (yeah, he’s my son) reported for Hail Florida Hail, “The problem with not having a full-time president is that the world of college athletics is constantly shifting, and Florida needs someone in place to make the big, macro-level decisions that will position the Gators moving forward. There is also the backdrop of The Swamp getting renovations.”
He then brought up a sore subject of how Judy Genshaft, who was USF’s president at the time, likely was the reason the Bulls were left behind when the Big 12 expanded and took UCF.
It’s well known that Genshaft fought hard with the Big East to keep UCF out. ESPN offered the conference a lucrative new TV deal, but it was contingent on adding UCF.
It has been reported that Genshaft garnered enough support to block that, ultimately leading to the conference's eventual breakup.
UCF joined the new American Athletic Conference with USF, and the two schools celebrated a grand and heated rivalry. But as USF’s football fortunes floundered, UCF was rising like an Atlas rocket.
We know what happened next.
Contrast that turmoil to what USF has now. Its leadership has never been better, and things are getting done in athletics that once seemed impossible.
There is an on-campus football stadium on the way. Kelly oversees 21 sports, including the new women’s lacrosse program.
Funding for athletics is at an all-time high. Everything is in place for USF to join a power conference the next time realignment occurs.
I started covering this program in 1979, and there is a genuine buzz around USF athletics, the likes of which I haven’t seen before.
It’s all about leadership.
And as Gator Nation may unfortunately learn, bad things can happen when you don't have that.