USF aims to end its reputation as a coaching stepping stone

It wasn't so long ago that when a coach left USF, that person was clutching a severance check and a losing record.

Three of the four football coaches who led the Bulls after the departure of Jim Leavitt had involuntary separations from the program.

Only Willie Taggart left for greener pastures.

Skip Holtz, Charlie Strong, and Jeff Scott were all fired.

It was the same story in men's basketball.

Following Seth Greenberg's departure for Virginia Tech in 2004, the next four head coaches were told to clean out their offices. Robert McCullum, Stan Heath, Orlando Antigua, and Brian Gregory were all fired over a 10-year period.

Why bring this up?

Because there has been some pearl-clutching by USF fans over the bang-bang departures of football coach Alex Golesh and basketball coach Bryan Hodgson after their most recent seasons.

Golesh, of course, jumped to Auburn of the SEC. Hodgson saw a chance to upgrade conferences after going to Providence College of the Big East. They both made these moves after capturing national attention for their work at USF, making it seem like the Bulls had suffered the fate of a guppy fish in a pool of sharks.

At least that seemed to be the national perception.

However, I believe the guppy is growing shark fins, and that's going to be evident before too much longer.

In The Oracle, USF's student media outlet, CEO of Athletics Rob Higgins decried the notion that the Bulls will always be seen as a stepping stone to more prestigious and lucrative jobs.

“I think we’re ultra-focused on changing that narrative,” he said. “USF deserves to be a destination and not a pit stop.”

Of the coaches on the various USF teams, only football coach Brian Hartline figures to be on the wish list of larger programs -- and that's at least two or three years away. And if the tumblers roll right, the Bulls might be in a power conference by then.

Let's not get ahead of things, though.

New men's basketball coach Chris Mack isn't going anywhere. The same holds true for new women's hoops coach Kristy Curry.

Women's lacrosse coach Mindy McCord might catch the eye of some more traditional programs, but she founded this program and it is exploding. Coaches judge programs by two standards -- can you compete for a national championship, and will I have the resources (and paycheck) I need to be successful.

If the answer to both of those questions is yes, why leave?

USF doesn't have the tradition of many of the more established programs, of course. But there was a time when that school on Fowler Avenue was considered a fallback choice for a student that couldn't get into Florida or Florida State.

Now?

Relentless work changed that narrative and now USF is one of only two public universities in the state -- Florida is the other -- to be in the presigious Association of American Universities.

The same thing is happening with the athletic program. It's just that not everyone has caught on yet.

“We can’t control what other people think,” Higgins said. “We can’t control the narrative that they may have in their head, but we can work really hard to defeat that narrative.”

I like their chances.

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