We know Brian Hartline's reputation as a fierce recruiter and there is little doubt he will bring significant talent to USF. Actually, judging by the decisions by 247Sports and On3,com to rank the Bulls' Class of 2027 first among American Conference teams, he already has.
However, as USF prepares for its 30th season of football, we can look back on a lot of excellent players who wore the green and gold. Let's take a look at some of the top recruits from bygone years. Notice that I'm not saying the top "players" per se.
After all, the recruiting message boards didn't melt down in joyous celebration when USF signed quarterback Byrum Brown. And, my goodness, the head coach at USF then was Jeff Scott. Brown developed into a lethal weapon under Alex Golesh.
And USF's career sacks leader, George Selvie, was largely overlooked after high school. The Bulls took a chance and hit big time. He started as an offensive lineman before the coaching staff moved him to defensive end. He went on to become a consensus All-American, the Big East Defensive Player of the Year.
For the sake of argument, I'll rank what in my judgment are the top five USF recruits ever.
5. TE Sean Price (2012-2015). He was a 4-star tight end at Citra North Marion High School and had offers from Florida, Arkansas, Duke, Miami, and Tennessee among many others before signing with the Bulls.
He was ranked as the fourth-best TE in the nation and he had a solid career that, unfortunately for him, coincided mostly with the last year of the Skip Holtz train wreck and the first two years of Willie Taggart's seemingly clueless reign.
USF was 9-27 during the first three years of Price's career before rebounding to 8-5 in his senior year.
Price played 45 games as a Bull and had 75 catches for 897 yards and six touchdowns. Five of those TDs came in his final season.
4. DE Ryne Giddins (2009-2013). A local lad from Seffner's Armwood High School, Giddins was on the radars of multiple power teams, including Florida State, USC, Louisville and Kentucky. Coming out of high school, he was the CSTV National Defensive Player of the Year and USA Today and Parade Magazine first-team All-America honors following his senior year.
He stayed home, though, and fought through injuries to have a productive career.
He finished his career with 19.5 sacks to rank among USF's career leaders in that department.
3. TE Jonathan Echols (2024-2025). He originally committed to Tennessee out of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, but he flipped to USF when Golesh -- who recruited him to Tennessee -- left to take the Bulls job.
It just never quite happened for him at USF, at least not in relation to the hype that accompanied his signing. Programs like Alabama, Ohio State, Florida, Florida State and Notre Dame pursued him.
Injuries short-circuited his first season iin green and gold but he did get into 10 games last season. He had nine catches for 109 yards and three touchdowns.
When Golesh left for Auburn, Echols followed.
2. QB Quinton Flowers (2014-2017). I will die on this hill if need be -- Flowers is the best player in USF history. And it's true he was a highly sought recruit coming out of Miami Jackson High School as several big-time programs saw his incredible athletic ability.
They just didn't see him as a quarterback.
Alabama wanted him as a wide receiver. Miami recruited him to play running back. South Carolina saw him as a defensive back.
Only Taggart offered him a shot at quarterback.
The rest is history.
From 2015 through 2017, he threw for more than 8,000 yards and 71 touchdowns. He had 41 rushing touchdowns.
He also helped put millions of dollars in Taggart's pocket, helping him land head coaching jobs at Oregon and Florida State.
1. DE Jason Pierre-Paul (2009). Hardly anyone wanted JPP coming out of high school in Deerfield Beach. He signed with UCF but never played there as he transferred to a pair of junior colleges. As he grew into an imposing physical presence, interest in him skyrocketed.
Florida, Florida State, Miami, Nebraska, and Oklahoma State were among the many programs that wanted his disruptive presence, but he settled on USF. He was an absolute beast in his lone season with the Bulls.
He had 16.5 tackles for losses and 6.5 sacks. He was first-team All-America by Pro Football Weekly and was also first-team All Big East.
He declared for the NFL draft
The New York Giants took him the first round in 2010, starting him on a 15-year career that included stops in Tampa, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Miami. He is currently unsigned but has been vocal about wanting to play another season -- especially with the Giants.
He has also been part of two Super Bowl championship teams -- the Giants in 2012 and the Buccaneers in 2021.
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