Old Friends Strong, Holliday Share Excitement for Gasparilla Bowl
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, DEC. 6, 2018 – Before postseason preparation ramps up next week, head coaches and old friends from USF and Marshall shared their excitement for what's to come in the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl.
Charlie Strong was joined by former University of Florida colleague Doc Holliday at the bowl game's Team Invasion media event held at Jackson's Bistro, overlooking the Tampa Riverwalk on Thursday afternoon.
The fun meeting between coaches took place two weeks before USF and Marshall meet for the first time on Thursday, Dec. 20 at Raymond James Stadium. USF's fourth straight postseason appearance (10
th overall) kicks off at 8 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN.
"You want to end on a good note because when you go into the offseason that gives you a chance now to get some energy into the program. It gives you energy into recruiting, but it makes the guys feel a lot better," Strong said. "… We're going to be the only game on that night. It gives us a chance to show our program."
Strong was happy to share the stage with a familiar face in Holliday, who has led a similarly young team to USF's to an 8-4 record this season. The head coaches spent three seasons together on Urban Meyer's Florida staff (2005-07) and shared memories of the Gators' 2006 national title game win over Ohio State.
"Probably the biggest memory I have with Charlie is we played Ohio State for the national championship," Holliday said. "Of course Charlie, myself and Chuck Heater, who was a coordinator for me for a while, we held Ohio State to 82 yards in that game in total offense. That was a great deal and to have an opportunity to win that national championship was special."
The coaches see the Gasparilla Bowl as a special opportunity for both programs. USF seeks its third straight bowl victory while Holliday is looking to go 6-0 in postseason games with Marshall. Strong will try to top his old friend's team with a special group of 18 seniors that have helped the program experience 36 wins, the Bulls' most in a four-year period.
"You go back to Senior Day. The seniors come out for the last time and they're thinking it's the last time they're going to be at Ray Jay. Now all the sudden we get us a bowl game here and we get to come back again," Strong said. "I always look at the bowl games where with the seniors, a lot of them may not have that opportunity to go ahead and move onto the next level. It gives them another chance to be around their teammates, to tell those stories and to have the fun that they need to have before they go play that last game."
After the Bulls get two practices in this weekend, bowl festivities begin with USF and Marshall taking part in fun Treasure Island beach competitions Sunday, Dec. 16. The teams get together again Tuesday, Dec. 18 for community service events in Tampa prior to the Battle of the Bands on Treasure Island from 2-4 p.m.
Fans can show their school pride next Wednesday, Dec. 19 at the bowl game pep rally from 4-5 p.m. at Armature Works in Tampa before the teams clash at Ray Jay on Thursday, Dec. 20. Learn more about the whole Gasparilla Bowl experience
HERE.
"It is great that USF is playing here at home in Tampa," Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan said to Strong. "I think for your players this is going to be more of a staycation, if you will. They'll have an opportunity for a few days to explore our community. There are a lot of tourists, but at the same time I know we're going to have a lot of fans and alums coming back to the area that are going to be wowed with all the changes here in Tampa Bay."
Bulls Bits
BOWL GAME OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR TBD: With former USF offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert heading to McNeese State, Strong has yet to determine who will be calling plays in the bowl game. "Our staff has been out recruiting, so we'll get back and meet on Friday, and then we're going to make a decision on who's going to do the play-calling," Strong said. "There's enough guys on offense. You can pick one and they can get it done. You just want to make sure we can get on track and get the preparation ready to go play the game."- BARNETT'S BOWL AVAILABILITY TBD: Blake Barnett missed the regular season finale with an injury and the Bulls are taking a wait-and-see approach with their starting quarterback in regards to his bowl game availability. "I think that we'll know here in the next few days," Strong said. "What we've been doing now is they've just been working out because we had final exams. I tried to get them through their finals and then they've been working out and running. We're going to get us a practice in on Saturday and then get us one in on Sunday. Then we'll get ready for bowl preparation, and then we'll see exactly where he is."
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.
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