The Jeff Scott era of USF football is best forgotten, but he also didn't catch any breaks

If you mention the name of Jeff Scott to the average USF football fan, you’ll likely receive a disdainful stare followed by a few words you can’t say in church.

Scott was 4-26 in a career that lasted less than three seasons after he arrived in Tampa. To most fans, Scott and the era he represented are best forgotten – and leave us never speak of it again.

Except, well, here at GreenGoldandBold, we’re going to speak of it again.

Why?

Alex Golesh, the man hired to replace Scott, has brought a new era of hope and optimism to USF. Golesh immediately returned the Bulls to respectability in his first season, and big things are expected going forward.

But had a few close games gone the other way for Scott, he might have survived past 30 games, gotten the program moving again, and we never would have heard of Alex Golesh.

Maybe Scott just wasn’t good enough to make his own breaks. Maybe he was just unlucky.

What’s not in question is that Scott inherited an unholy mess when he arrived in Tampa after an attention-grabbing career as co-offensive coordinator at Clemson. Athletic director Michael Kelly was widely praised for the hiring, which seemed like a great move at the time.

However, the cards were already stacked against Scott in ways that couldn’t be anticipated but only experienced. He didn’t have near the facilities that Golesh enjoys now, and the program’s budget was only beginning to get bigger.

Then came COVID-19. Scott had one spring practice with his new team before the coronavirus shut down all activity. It’s not like he inherited a juggernaut. Previous coach Charlie Strong had the program in a nosedive before Scott arrived, so the 1-8 finish was probably predictable given the obstacles.

But the Bulls might have had something to build on that year had Scott’s teams not developed a maddening tendency to tease, tetter, and then collapse. They led Temple 31-20 late in the third, but fell behind, and finally surrendered 39-37 when a 2-point conversion attempt fell short with 1:02 left.

USF led Memphis 33-20 with 4:36 to play but lost 34-33.

Win those two games and 1-8 becomes 3-6 – not great, but something to build on considering the challenges.

A year later, USF outscored BYU 27-14 over the last three quarters on the road. Alas, it wasn’t enough to make up a 21-point deficit in the first quarter, but it seemed, maybe, the team had a little spunk.

But no.

The Bulls led Tulsa 31-20 late in the third but lost 32-31.

At UCF to close the season, the Bulls had first-and-goal at the Knights’ 3-yard-line in the closing seconds but couldn’t score and lost 17-13.

That’s three winnable games that would have turned a 2-10 record into 5-7 – again, not great, but it would have shown progress, and beating UCF would definitely gone over well with the alumni.

But things never changed.

They were driving with a chance to beat Florida in 2022 at The Swamp before a fumble and subsequent missed field goal led to a 31-28 loss. Do you think a win over the Gators would have rejuvenated the program?

Later, they led 24th-ranked Cincinnati by three in the fourth quarter on the road but lost 28-24.

As the losses piled up, it became harder and finally impossible to see things working out under Scott. And, it’s also fair to say no one thinks he got a raw deal – Scott included.

If Golesh eventually takes USF to the expanded playoffs, all the misery of the Scott years will be forgotten like a bad prom date. Maybe it already has been. But if a few things had gone his way at the right time, the Jeff Scott era might have had a different ending.

At least USF fans wouldn’t have stuck all those pins in their Jeff Scott dolls.