Inside USF Athletics With Mark Harlan

Inside USF Athletics With Mark Harlan




Harlan Podcast Talking Points
Learn about the topics Director of Athletics Mark Harlan is discussing in his fifth podcast below:
 
Part 1
Football Stadium Feasibility Study
The USF feasibility study exploring the possibility of an on-campus football stadium has entered its next phase with a broad survey of USF students, alumni, faculty and staff, Bulls Club members and football ticket buyers beginning earlier this week. Learn more HERE.

24773"The survey was sent to folks that are really important to us and folks that we want to engage with and get their opinions," Harlan said. "… It's very important to hear from everybody. We understand at the university, with the leaders here, this is a monumental task in undertaking and to make the best decisions, we have to have the data to support those decisions."
  • More than 5,000 people completed the survey within 24 hours since it was emailed out earlier this week.
  • Others are encouraged to check their emails and respond by April 25.
  • Compiling the survey data later this spring is the next step in the stadium feasibility study, which has also included identifying potential locations for an on-campus stadium, analysis of potential costs, and evaluating the financial feasibility and prospective philanthropic support for a stadium. The feasibility study will be completed this summer.


Spring Football
Head coach Charlie Strong's Bulls rewarded fans for packing Corbett Stadium by putting on a show on both sides of the ball in the USF Spring Game presented by the USF Federal Credit Union on April 14.

"It was a fun day with lots of folks here. What's really important for everyone to know is how much the students love this piece. They love playing in this environment and having the fans right by them, they really enjoy it."
  • 24758In the spring game, quarterbacks Brett Kean and Chris Oladokun both threw a pair of touchdown passes to lead the white team offense to a 56-55 victory over the green team defense.
  • This year's game awarded point totals for various achievements on offense and defense (including sacks, tackles for loss and turnovers) instead of splitting up teams.
  • The Bulls made great strides on offense and defense this spring, which marked the beginning of year two under Coach Strong and his staff following USF's 10-2 finish in 2017.
  • USF has already seen a football season ticket renewal rate of better than 80 percent following the Bulls' victory over Big 12 foe Texas Tech in the Birmingham Bowl, which was the program's third straight postseason trip.

USF Football Center
Harlan gives an update on plans for the USF Football Center, a state-of-the-art, 160,000-square foot facility dedicated to student-athlete excellence in all sports.
  • 21826The USF Football Center, which is estimated to cost $40 million and is a donor-driven project, will expand upon the Morsani Football Practice Complex and feature an 83,000-square foot indoor practice facility housing a 100-yard turf field. 
  • The development staff has shown the vision of the facility all over the Bay Area and beyond. Coach Strong has had multiple donor meetings to help with the project.
"We're right around the $9 million mark. That's between verbal and written pledges, and we're working on a lot of different possibilities to continue moving forward on that," Harlan said. "Overall with the project itself, we're in the design RFP (request for proposal) phase right now to begin to select an architect to come in and design not only the indoor facility, but also the operations center. We want the same architect to do both."


USF Pro Day
Harlan discusses USF Pro Day's growth in the past four years and the great feedback he's received from scouts regarding the performances by the Bulls' record-breaking 2017 class on March 26 at the Morsani Complex.  
 
Part 2
Bulls Having Great Success on Ball Fields
Harlan touches on USF's excellence this spring in baseball and softball. Both Bulls teams head into weekend conference series atop the league standings.
 
Baseball Notables
  • 24764Head coach Billy Mohl's baseball team (24-13, 7-5 in AAC) gained lots of momentum by taking two of three from then-No. 7 East Carolina last weekend in Greenville, N.C.
  • The Bulls have three victories over ranked teams this year, beating then-No. 6 UNC in the first game of the season in addition to the last two victories over then-No. 7 ECU.
  • USF will host War on I-4 rival UCF in a huge weekend three-game home series that begins 7 p.m. Friday. The USF Alumni Association will host an event during Friday's game. Baseball alumni also are welcomed back for Saturday's 6:30 p.m. game, which allows fans to bring their pets during "Bark With the Bulls" day at USF Baseball Stadium. Sunday's "Cut for the Cure" fundraiser game begins at 1 p.m. USF has once against partnered with the Vs. Cancer Society and fans can find out more about the cause HERE.
Softball Notables
  • 24550Head coach Ken Eriksen's team (31-16, 9-3 in AAC) has a one-game lead in the conference standings heading into the weekend series at East Carolina. USF is searching for its fifth straight series win and has been atop the conference standings the past five weeks.
  • USF is receiving votes in top 25 polls after winning 24 of its past 28 games.
  • USF's final two home series take place April 27-29 against UCF and May 4-6 against Wichita State.
  • USF also will be hosting the American Athletic Conference tournament May 10-12. Learn more HERE.
"You just look at both those teams right now and what they're doing this late in the season," Harlan said. "It's going to be really exciting to watch them."
 
Bulls Hosting Huge Track and Field Event in May
Harlan talks about the honor of USF Athletics hosting the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field East Preliminary, which is set for May 24-26 at USF Track & Field Stadium.
  • 24371More than 1,600 student-athletes will be competing in one of the largest track and field meets in the nation.
  • The Tampa Bay Sports Commission recently told Harlan it expects more than 7,000 hotel beds to be sold for the event, which mirrors the NHL All-Star Game impact on the Bay Area.
  • Find out how you can volunteer for the event and get ticket information HERE.
 
Another Big Class to Graduate in May
USF Athletics will honor another large graduating class that will take part in commencement ceremonies May 3-5 at the Sun Dome.

"We're going to have another 70-plus, I'm told, that are going to be going through ceremonies," Harlan said. "You combine that with the 20 or so that went through in the fall, it's another big number of people that did exactly what we wanted them to do – focus and get their degree."
  • 6This spring 2018 graduating class was the group Harlan came in with when he arrived at USF Athletics.
  • USF previously honored 106 student-athletes that earned their college degrees last school year.
  • USF Athletics is on a run of six straight semesters (three years) of posting a combined grade-point average of over a 3.0.
  • A total of 247 student-athletes posted a 3.0 GPA or higher in the fall semester and 239 of those Bulls met the criteria to be named to the USF Athletics Academic Honor Roll.
 
Part 3
Student-Athlete Profile: Ashley Wilson
Harlan spends his favorite part of the podcast interviewing a USF student-athlete. This edition features junior Ashley Wilson, who is a thrower on USF's track and field team.
  • 24793Wilson won the weight throw event during the indoor season at the Samford Invitational on Feb. 9.
  • Wilson is USF's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee co-president and is helping to lead the organization of the upcoming Stampede of Champions student-athlete awards show that's set for Wednesday, April 25.
  • Wilson recently attended the American Athletic Conference Academic Consortium and helped spread the word about mental health awareness with three other USF student-athletes in Orlando.
  • The Tampa native also was a key contributor in USF Athletics bringing an important subject to the forefront during the conference's mental health awareness initiative throughout October.
 
About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 19 varsity men's and women's teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls' athletic program celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, having begun with a men's soccer contest in 1965. Nearly 500 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls have claimed 13 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, including four in 2016-17, and own 110 conference championships overall. Ten USF programs reached national post-season competition in the 2016-17 season and nine were ranked in the Top 25 nationally. The Bulls posted a program-record 86 percent Graduation Success Rate in 2016, logged an annual department grade-point average over a 3.0 for the second straight year and saw 106 student-athletes earn their degree during the 2016-17 academic period.
 
Follow @USFAthletics on twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Athletic program.
- #GoBulls –
 
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