USF’s season ended Saturday with a loss to East Carolina in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference baseball tournament.
If we learned one thing about this season, though, it’s that the five-year decline in this program is over. New head coach Mitch Hannahs and his staff led the Bulls to a 31-25 record that included a school-record 16 AAC wins.
Included was a 7-1 win at Florida, which is always sweet.
“I think we have a lot of momentum, but I mean, obviously, take the core group of guys that really led this team, and you add guys in with them, and really get back to work in the fall,” Hannahs said in his post-game news conference.
“I think that's the biggest thing. I think the biggest lesson for these guys is that champions are made in the fall. They're not made in May, not made in June. It happens in the fall.”
Just a year ago, the Bulls had 16 AAC losses and suffered a third consecutive losing season. The Bulls were in freefall. Their only winning season in the last five years was in 2021, and that was just 31-30.
And let’s not forget that USF was 6-11 when COVID-19 shut the program down in 2020.
That simply should never happen here.
If there is one sport where USF should excel every year, it’s baseball.
The Bulls sit on a gold mine of talent in the Tampa Bay region and throughout the state. That’s one reason Hannahs found this job appealing enough that he agreed to leave his alma mater, Indiana State, to come here.
Well, that and a five-year, $1.6 million contract that is the largest ever given to a USF baseball coach.
This year was a solid return on that investment. The future looks even better.
He can build a conference champion and never have to leave the area. I suspect it won’t be long before we see that play out with this program.
His two recruiting classes were ranked 21st and 32nd nationally by Perfect Game. Both classes were ranked at the top in the AAC.
That’s as it should be, and it will get better as Hannahs continues to build the Bulls.
“Like we explained to our guys all the time, those people that walk into our stadium are going to make a decision on whether or not they want to come back based on the brand of baseball they watch, based on how much fight and effort guys give,” he said.
“And, I think in recruiting, it's kind of the same thing. People are going to decide on programs that they see has a future. They see guys fighting for more than just being average. So I'm really pleased with the beginning point, but certainly we're nowhere close to where we want to be.”