Six days after Brian Hartline was announced as USF's new head football coach, he made the first hire on his staff. It was defensive coordinator Josh Aldridge from East Carolina.
The Pirates had the best defense in the American Conference last season, so the hire made total sense. Aldridge had the experience Hartline was looking for after previous stops at Auburn and Liberty before coming to the Bulls. And his familiarity with the conference was a plus.
"My focus off the jump was, listen, offensively we'll be okay. We'll figure that out. I think we got some pieces. But what are we doing defensively? First, I was looking for the right personality. And that's really important," Hartline said at the conference media kickoff.
"I think that players embody their personality of their coaches, their coordinators, their head coach, and their position coaches. So I wanted to make sure that the personality was right from a defensive coordinator standpoint. So talked to a lot of guys. He definitely checked that box. You know, I'm really proud to say that. The guys love him."
Aldridge's defense led the American in seven categories last year, including scoring defense (20.3 points per game) and rushing defense (120 ypg). That's welcomed news for Bulls fans, who saw USF's conference title hopes evaporate after late-season defensive collapses at Memphis and Navy,
"The one thing he's most passionate about is just putting guys in position to be successful and understanding that's his responsibility. He wants to do a great job being clean, clear, and concise in his coaching," Hartline said.
"He wants to make sure the guys understand fully what that job description is and what their job entails on every particular play, but then also the mentality of attacking it. If a guy doesn't make a play, he tries to blame himself -- I could done this better, done that better, which I appreciate. And that was very evident through the recruiting process of Josh Aldridge. And to this point, he's been very, all of those things, he's been very clear, very concise, and full of passion day in and day out. It was also very important, frankly, to make sure that I had somebody that understood the conference."
As much as everyone tends to focus on Hartline's prowess on offense, USF's problems during the Alex Golesh were frequently on the defensive side. In his three years here, the Bulls gave up 40 or more points 10 times.
The rush defense often faltered at inopportune times -- particularly last year in the fourth quarter at Navy. The Midshipmen rushed for 103 yards in those final 15 minutes.
With only one defensive starter returning, Hartline and Aldridge turned to the Transfer Portal to plug those holes. They brought in defensive tackles Major Dillard (330 pounds) from Norfolk State, Asani Redwood (300 pounds) from West Virginia, and Terry Simmons, Jr. (325 pounds) from Duke.
Linebackers Grayson Howard (Florida), Sam Robinson (Rutgers), and former 5-star linebacker/edge C.J. Hicks from Ohio State will be key players.
It will be up to Aldridge and the defensive staff to put this all together and make it work. The first big test should be in Week 2 when the Bulls travel to Army to face the Black Knights' roadgrader running attack. For what it's worth, his East Carolina defense prevailed 28-6 over Army last season, although it rushed for 257 yards on 53 attempts.
Army threw only six times in that game.
"I think it's very well noted to make sure you understand that the (service) academies are different. It's just the reality of it, both, personality-wise and schematically how they do things. I wanted to make sure I had a defensive coordinator that understood that. And I think that was really, really important. So he fit that mold as well," Hartline said.
"And he kept checking boxes the more we talked. In the end, I went with my gut and I was happy I did."
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