Burke Excited About OC Opportunity in Thursday's Gasparilla Bowl
TUESDAY PHOTO GALLERY
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, DEC. 19, 2018 – Thursday's Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl is a big opportunity for the Bulls to match a program postseason record with a coach that gets his first chance to call the shots on offense.
Second-year USF tight ends/special teams coach
Justin Burke is excited about being elevated to interim offensive coordinator for the Bulls' first-ever matchup against Marshall at Raymond James Stadium. Starting at 8 p.m. on Thursday, a national ESPN audience will watch USF attempt to tie the school record with its third straight bowl game victory.
"I'm just honored to have Coach (Charlie) Strong have trust in me and be able to go and basically continue to build on what Coach (Sterlin) Gilbert started," Burke said Tuesday. "We did some really good things over the past two years. I just want to end the bowl game (well) and have these seniors go out the right way and just give our guys the best opportunity to go and win."
With Gilbert becoming McNeese State's new head coach, Strong has put his play-calling trust in a coach he knows very well. Burke, 31, has been on Strong's coaching staffs since 2011 and played quarterback for USF's leading man at Louisville in 2010. At the end of that season, Burke threw two touchdown passes in the Cardinals' 31-28 victory over Southern Miss in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl that took place in St. Petersburg, Fla.
"I love the man. He changed my life," said Burke of Strong. "… He's given me opportunities to prove myself. He's made me earn it. He hasn't given me anything and he's really developed me."
Burke also credits all the coaches he worked with as a player, including five different quarterbacks coaches and five different offensive coordinators, that helped put him on the path to becoming a well-rounded football mind. From playing to coaching, Burke said he's "been pretty much taught everything but the triple option."
"I learned as a young coach just to soak in everything because there's a bunch of ways to do things," he said. "... At the end of the day, you've got to get your guys to execute. You've got to get your players to play well. As long as you have confidence, they'll buy in and go play really well for you."
Burke's OC opportunity opened up when Gilbert headed to McNeese State earlier this month and USF players have responded well to their new play-caller.
"He's doing a tremendous job with all the new stuff he's putting in and just keeping the team all together on offense," said junior running back
Jordan Cronkrite (Miami). "Hats off to him so far."
"He knows a lot. He knows concepts, he knows how to attack defenses, so it's going to be good," said redshirt freshman receiver
Randall St. Felix (Miami). "We're going to pull out some good stuff."
As for new stuff, Burke didn't divulge any details but said the Bulls will have some fresh options in their play-call arsenal.
"It's a bowl game, you're going to do that no matter what. You get an extra 15 practices, so there's wrinkles and there's those things," he said. "But in the end, we have a great offense that has been really successful here and at other places, and our guys have really responded to that offense."
Burke said the main objective is to "put points up" in the Bulls' fourth straight postseason appearance and his players are anxious to execute.
"We're all looking forward to coming out there on Thursday night," Cronkrite said. "We know what we're capable of."
Bulls Enjoy a Busy Tuesday in the Bay Area
An afternoon practice capped off another memorable day of bowl week activities for the Bulls.
It all started early Tuesday afternoon at Curtis Hixon Park, where USF players joined forces with Marshall to build 100 bikes for underserved children around the Bay area. The kids were pretty pumped up about the finished products.
"It feels good that we can put smiles on some of these kids' faces and make them happy," said
Mazzi Wilkins, a senior cornerback and Tampa native.
Coach Strong and the Bulls uplifted more individuals while making a special visit to St. Joseph's Hospital before hitting the field back on campus. Bowl game activities ramped up Sunday with the
Gasparilla Bowl Beach Invasion at Treasure Island and fun continued Monday afternoon at Busch Gardens.
"I was one of the select few to be able to feed the gorilla that was there,"
Jordan Cronkrite said. "I was pretty nervous at first. I didn't know how close we were going to be, but we weren't too close to it. It was a great experience. I learned a lot of things I did not have any clue about."
Bulls Bits
- SOLID FIRST SEASON FOR ST. FELIX: Randall St. Felix was a happy man when asked about his first season as a Bull that's been packed with production. In 10 games (nine starts), the redshirt freshman receiver from Miami has totaled 27 catches for 514 yards, good for second on the team, and two touchdowns. The Miami native leads all USF receivers with 19.0 yards per catch (15th nationally) and he's posted three 100-yard receiving games. "I'm very thankful for the coaches putting me in the position they have put me in and me just capitalizing," he said. "It's been very fun for me. I've had an amazing freshman year."
CRONK REFLECTS ON 1,000-YARD SEASON: Like St. Felix, Jordan Cronkrite has enjoyed a thrilling 2018 campaign as a Bull that has included numerous program milestones. The star junior back set USF and AAC records with 302 rushing yards (13.1 ypc) and three touchdowns at UMass in the midst of matching a school record with five straight 100-yard rushing games. The red-hot run helped the Miami native become the fifth player in USF history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. "Overall, it's been a great time for me," he said. "I sat out last year and I'm just happy to be out there with my guys."- PEP RALLY ON WEDNESDAY: Get geared up for Thursday's game by attending the Gasparilla Bowl pep rally that's set for Wednesday from 4-5 p.m. at Armature Works. Check out the entire list of bowl week events HERE.
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
In just its 22nd season of football, and 19th at the FBS level, the USF football program has earned 10 bowl appearances, including a current run of four straight, and owns a record of 6-3 in bowl games. The Bulls have appeared in the national top 25 rankings in each of the past three seasons, including a program record run of 20 straight weeks in the top 25, and in 2018 reached the program's 150th win faster than any FBS program in state of Florida history. USF has posted a pair of 10-plus win seasons in the last three years, including a program-record 11 wins (11-2) in 2016, and logged 15 winning seasons overall. Since first taking the field in 1997, the USF program has reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings (2007), seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and 29 earn first-team all-conference selection.
