Scott 'Thrilled' With Bulls' Big Additions During Early Signing Period
Bull Speed Ahead Signing Day Special
Talking roster management, the transfer portal, gray shirts, blue shirts and the great value of walk-ons in this special one-hour, in-depth podcast on Bulls Football recruiting.
USF Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly gets incredible insight on how USF football's 2021 signing class came together and how the Bulls are building for the future from head coach Jeff Scott and Director of Recruiting Mike Giglio in the latest edition of Bull Speed Ahead.
SIGNING DAY CENTRAL •
SIGNING DAY SHOW •
SIGNING DAY PRESS CONFERENCE
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, DEC. 18, 2020 – With a championship culture established in 2020, head coach
Jeff Scott's USF football program has made more huge strides in another essential area – talent acquisition – during the staff's first full recruiting cycle representing the green and gold.
There's no doubt the future looks bright for the Bulls with 22 student-athletes "from near and from afar" officially committing when the Early Signing Period began on Wednesday. The initial infusion of playmakers in Scott's second USF signing class includes 17 high school recruits and five Division I transfers who previously played for Power 6 schools.
"This is a very talented group. I really think that there's a lot of young men who are gonna be able to help us next year, and definitely in the years to come," said Scott on the latest edition of Bull Speed Ahead. "I truly am so excited about the type of young men that we're adding to our locker room."
The locker room will start getting filled up in January, when 14 of the 22 new signees hit the ground running with the program.Â
"They'll be here in a couple weeks, which is huge for really our first true offseason in the weight room and spring ball."
Horn Jr. a Huge Get for USF
While speaking to the media virtually for nearly an hour Wednesday afternoon, Scott had several reasons why he's "thrilled" with USF's 2021 signing class currently ranked third in the AAC by Rivals.com.
"Many of these young men had legitimate opportunities to play in the SEC, the ACC, the Big 12, different places, and they chose South Florida," he said. "… They can feel the energy and they can see what's coming here these next couple years at South Florida."
Energy from USF's coaching staff nearly blew the roof off the Lee Roy Selmon Athletics Center when the program inked a highly sought-after recruit in speedy receiver
Jimmy Horn Jr (Sanford, Fla.). Bulls followers kept that energy going by displaying their excitement on social media, especially after
@USFFootball's brilliant Twitter post.
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Yep, the Bulls beat out big-time programs Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Ole Miss with the late signing of a difference maker who averaged 17.5 yards per catch through 10 games this season. Another explosive performance could be in store for Horn, who will help lead Seminole High School (11-0) in the Class 8A state championship game on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. and Bulls fans can watch the Spectrum live stream
HERE.
"It became one of those wow moments watching his highlight tape. He has some highlights that look like Tyreek Hill in there," Scott said. "… When you watch Jimmy's tape, he's running in a different speed, different change in direction than everybody else on the field. He also reminded me and had some Sammy Watkins acceleration, change of direction and burst, that I saw."
Horn jumped on the radar of several Division I programs this year after missing most of last season with a wrist injury. He's got a lot of film now and Scott's staff won what he called a recruiting "battle" that took on a furious pace in the past two and a half weeks.
Now the Bulls have an incoming receiver their head coach thinks could be not just great, but legendary.
"I don't know what the record is for touchdowns and all that in our school history, but that's the type of potential that this young man has as a receiver and as a return man," Scott said. "I'm very excited about him."
Scott, a two-time Recruiter of the Year at powerhouse Clemson, really means it as evidenced by the many late night and early morning recent chats with Horn, which Scott alluded to during Wednesday's press conference.
Promising, Proven QBs Entering the Mix
In addition to receivers coach
Xavier Dye, another person who deserves much credit for Jimmy Horn Jr. officially running with the Bulls is his current quarterback.
Seminole High School superstar
Timmy McClain (Sanford, Fla.) can keep throwing passes to his top target after Saturday's state championship contest and this dual threat brings his own eye-opening, dynamic game to Tampa. Heading into Seminole's title test against Kissimmee Osceola, McClain's prep career stat line is up to 6,353 passing yards, nearly 1,000 rushing yards and 85 total touchdowns (68 passing).
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"He's just a winner – bottom line," Scott said. "…He's had an outstanding season. He might not have been quite as known at the beginning of the year, but I really believe he's developed into being the best quarterback in our state in this class."
Scott also thinks very highly of talented transfer quarterback
Jarren Williams, a former four-star recruit who proved he can produce at Miami, who will join a quarterback room now bursting with talent in returning starter
Jordan McCloud (a sophomore) as well as sophomore
Cade Fortin and freshmen
Katravis Marsh and
Jordan Smith. In 2019, the Lawrenceville, Ga., native led the Hurricanes through the air with 2,187 yards and 19 touchdown passes. The competition this spring will be at a very high level.
"Jarren Williams is a young man I've been very familiar with for a long time. He came out of high school the same time that Trevor Lawrence did and from the same area. They both were in Elite 11. They both were Elite 11 finalists. They both played in the Army All-Star Game together," Scott said. "… To see what he was able to do at Miami, just in one year, I think his experience and his arm talent is something that we felt like would be a great addition."
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Bulls Bring Balance to the Force That Is the 2021 Class
USF coaches on both sides of the ball – and even on special teams – aren't complaining one bit about how the Early Signing Period turned out for the Bulls.
A total of 10 players are ready to roll in coordinator
Charlie Weis Jr.'s offense  – QB
Timmy McClain (Sanford, Fla.), former Miami Hurricane QB
Jarren Williams (Lawrenceville, Ga.), linemen
Cole Best (Winter Park, Fla.),
Drew Cornelius (Franklin, Ga.) and
Andrew Kilfoyl (Tampa), receivers Â
Jimmy Horn Jr. (Sanford, Fla.),Â
Cardrece Mobley (Clearwater) and
Nickolas Tshivualdi (Clearwater, Fla., via Canada), tight end
Gunner Greenwald (Satellite Beach, Fla.) and super productive running back
K'Wan Powell (Vernon, Fla).
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Eleven new Bulls will soon be working in coordinator
Glenn Spencer's aggressive defense. The talent includes defensive backs
Jaelen Herring (Tallahassee, Fla.),
Dequan Stanley (St. Augustine, Fla.),
Gabe Nealy (Miami, Fla.),
Jalen Stokes (Auburndale, Fla.),
Will Jones II (Mansfield, Texas),
Matthew Hill (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and
Christian Williams (Daphne, Ala.), linebackers
CJ Ross (Jacksonville, Fla.) and
Davon Hicks (Vero Beach, Fla.) along with ends
Jamari Stewart (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) and
Keeon Terrell (Fort Myers, Fla). Â
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Adding seven secondary players, including three Division I transfers – Hill (Auburn, safety), Williams (Miami/DB) and Jones (Kansas St./DB) – sure sounded good to Scott as he saw seniors
KJ Sails and
Mike Hampton enter NFL Draft consideration following the 2020 season.
"I really felt like we needed to add some depth and talent and length and everything to our secondary," he said. "I feel like we've addressed that very well in this class."
Also, special teams added another dynamic punter from the "Land Down Under" with the addition of Perth punter
Andrew Stokes. Fellow Australian punter
Trent Schneider, who has set numerous USF records to date, should be pretty pumped about that.
The Wide World of USF Football
In a Howard Cosell voice, let's congratulate 22 new Bulls joining the program from Florida (15), Georgia (3), Alabama (1), Texas (1), Australia (1) and Canada (1).
"We're from near and from far," Scott said. "It's a lot of fun to see guys from all over the world come together and share this experience they're gonna have these next four years together."
Scott really enjoyed watching his USF class take shape during several individual announcement ceremonies. Emotional moments like that have made each of his 15 signing days as a college coach truly great.
"I think signing day is special for a lot of reasons," he said. "Probably my favorite part of signing day is just seeing these young men, and their families, be able to reach one of their dreams and goals of going to college and having a chance to earn a college degree and also playing big-time college football. That never gets old."
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Scott Wants – and Gets - the Complete Recruiting Package
Coach Scott wants all the best talent USF can reel in, but that's only part of his wish list when it comes to recruits.
"Being a great player with talent, to be honest, that's just one of about six boxes that have to be checked for us to offer and accept the commitment and accept a signee," he said.
Other necessary qualities future Bulls must have are character, integrity, work ethic, a winning mentality, a love for football and a strong desire for academic success.
Incoming tight end is
Gunnar Greenwald, whom Scott believes has at least a 4.0 GPA and strives for the best in everything he does, is a prime example.
"I already know when he goes in the weight room, when he goes on the practice field, I know that's who he is," Scott said. "We want to add as many players like that, and we have many in this class, to our team. All the sudden you do that for a couple years, then you really get that differentiator in your locker room that really helps you have the on-field success that we are ultimately gonna have."
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Season tickets for the 2021 season may be renewed at USFBullstix.com or by calling/texting 1-800-GoBulls.
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