USF Athletics

Return of the King

October 19, 2017

By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, OCT. 19, 2017 – USF is getting ready to fly out for its next conference test and Shaun King will soon be whisked away to a place where he made lots of magic happen.

USF's running backs coach will make his return to New Orleans for the Bulls' battle with Tulane that's set for Saturday at 7 p.m. (TV: ESPN2). Before he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, King started at quarterback for the Green Wave from 1995-98 and led his team to a 12-0 record as a senior.

That same, incredible season, King earned his second straight Conference USA Player of the Year honor and wound up finishing 10^th on the Heisman Trophy ballot. King still owns Tulane's school records for touchdown in a season (36, 1998), total offense in a season (3,764 yards, 1998), total career offense (9,468 yards) and passing efficiency (130.37).

"You keep living and hopefully you'll have some special moments," King said. "Those moments are never going to change, what we accomplished during my tenure at Tulane. It's something everybody that was a part of it is always going to have."

King, a St. Petersburg native, got to come home when he was picked in the second round by the Bucs in 1999, but he'll always have a special place in his heart for his home away from home.

"New Orleans is a really, really cool and amazing city," he said. "If I didn't live in Florida, I probably would live in New Orleans."

It won't be a surprise if Tulane fans show their appreciation for King on Saturday, nearly 20 years after he set the NCAA passer rating record (183.3) and finished first nationally in total touchdowns (49), third in passing touchdowns and fifth in total yards (4,149) as a senior.

"The Saints weren't very good at that point, so the city really rallied around Tulane," he said. "It was a real cool time to be there."

Putting up videogame numbers during the undefeated run in 1998, King helped lead to Tulane to its first conference title since 1949 that season. Now in his second year with the Bulls, King is a part of another undefeated team and wants USF (6-0, 3-0) to achieve greatness like Tulane once did.

"We're trying to do the same thing here. We've never won any conference championship at this university in football," he said. "That's a tremendous honor we're chasing and something I want these guys to experience and have with them the rest of their lives."

King knows for that to eventually happen, USF has to keep winning and he's declared his homecoming game at Tulane a "business trip."

"Not a lot of times in life, you get to be a part of something truly great," he said. "That's what's in front of us and Tulane is the next potential roadblock we've got to figure out how to get past. That's what it's going to be about Saturday and nothing else."

Learn more about King's record-breaking career at Tulane and his memorable career with the Bucs HERE.

Meet Coach Strong at the USF Football Radio Show
Join head coach Charlie Strong at the next USF Football Radio Show that's set for Thursday from 6-7 p.m. at World of Beer on East Fowler Ave. (near USF campus).

During his break between segments, Strong will sign autographs and take photos with fans. There will be food and drink specials for attendees wearing Bulls gear. Sporting the USF logo also will get you a free pretzel.

Catch the show on the radio on the USF Radio Network (820-AM locally) or online at GoUSFBulls.com. Get more info HERE.
 
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
USF finished the 2016 season ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press poll with a school-record 11 wins following the program's fifth-ever bowl victory in the Birmingham Bowl. The Bulls' 11-2 record marked the fifth-best winning percentage in FBS football in 2016 and one of just 11 teams to reach 11 wins. USF set nearly 40 team and individual records in 2016, including team records for total yards (6,650), rushing yards (3,714), touchdowns (77) and scoring (569). Junior quarterback Quinton Flowers was named the American Conference Offensive Player of the Year and led a school-record 10 players named to the all-conference team, six of which, including Flowers, will return in 2017. 

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