USF Athletics

Scott's Bulls Building 'Championship Culture'

June 24, 2020

By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, JUNE 24, 2020 – Moments of brilliance have made the story of USF football quite intriguing through the first 23 chapters of its history.

For the next act, new head coach Jeff Scott has been tapped to take a Bulls program brimming with potential to the promised land. He's using encyclopedias of inner excellence from his past program as a reference.

The former Clemson co-offensive coordinator is creating his own "United from Start 2 Finish" culture with things he's learned from the Tigers' "All-In" manual that's had at least 12 installments updated annually. Since the first thick binder was produced, Clemson has won six ACC championships, two national titles and made five straight College Football Playoff appearances (2015-19).

With those pages of past excellence in mind, Scott is crafting his own set of guidelines and core values to mold a program in his own image. Despite social distancing during the pandemic, the Bulls have been learning, growing and contributing to the new championship culture being built as they focus on reaching new levels of team unity.

"I think for us to take the next step as a program, we need to be competing for championships," Scott said. "In my opinion, in my experience, the way that you do that is you have a championship culture within your locker room and within your program. I think in order to have a championship program, you have to have a championship culture that is really focused on five things."

Through virtual meetings, Scott has instilled his cultural philosophy during the pandemic. Now it's time to take those lessons and apply them in workouts and on the field. Let's take a deep dive into Scott's foundation pillars that the Bulls embraced during a spring like no other.

• Communication

It sounds very simple, but it's becoming very complex in today's world of technology at your fingertips, especially for college players.

"A lot of 17- to 22-year-old males, they don't like to talk a lot," Scott said. "They like to tweet, or text, or whatever, so it's getting them to open up and get to know their teammates, to develop relationships with their teammates, to be able to communicate with their coaches."

In an effort of "Taking a Challenge to a Championship," USF has done a lot of the above through Microsoft Teams and Zoom meetings during the COVID-19 crisis. This spring, the Bulls frequently talked as a team, as position groups, and even delved into each other's personalities in offensive, defensive and special teams group chats.

"It's easy to sit in your comfort zone. We all like to do that," offensive line coach/assistant coach Allen Mogridge said. "That's the one thing this coronavirus is making a bunch of us do is figure out how to live outside our comfort zones."

Constant connection also involved coaches constantly checking in on the well-being of Bulls and their loved ones and Coach Scott hosting a Zoom call with Bulls parents to discuss social justice and the inclusive environment of the Bulls program.

"We're really making sure our players are doing well and everybody is safe, everybody is doing OK," offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. said. "That's probably the biggest thing."

Scott added "great communications within our channels" must carry over to the classroom and community for the Bulls to really be #US2F.

"I think that also goes outside of our football team," he said. "I think it goes to communicating our message with our fans and donors and students and everybody, former players who are part of the support of our program."

Scott's Bulls did a great job of communicating this spring. Read all about it HERE.

• Common Purpose

It's very clear that Scott doesn't want a cookie-cutter culture at USF. Bulls are encouraged to be themselves but keep team success at the forefront of priorities.

"I want our players to have individual goals," Scott said. "I think players and coaches all have individual goals, but in order to have that championship culture and championship mindset, we have to have a common purpose that's greater than all those individual goals combined."

The Bulls are using pillar No. 1 – communication – to define their collective vision as the debut season of the Scott era approaches.

"Why are we doing what we're doing? What is our common purpose that we can all kind of rally around?" Scott said. "I think that's part of the team kind of figuring that out and discussing that."  

Once foundational goals for the greater good are in place, sustained excellence can happen.

Wide receivers coach Xavier Dye sure knows about that. The former Clemson player-turned-coach learned from Tiger's head coach Dabo Swinney about what constantly being "All In" can do for a focused program.

"It's hard as heck to beat a team when everybody is on the same page," said Dye, a Tigers receiver from 2007-10 who went on to win two ACC titles and a national championship as a grad assistant for the Tigers (2017-18).

Time away from the field this spring didn't stop the Bulls from dialing into the winning ideas, according to safeties coach Wes Neighbors.

"We're all in it together as a team, as a unit," he said. "To me, it's making us stronger, so when we go out there we all know that we have the same purpose and the same goal and the same mindset."
 

• Family

Throughout its editions, Clemson's "All-In" manual likely has a lot to say about this subject because it means everything to Swinney, as it does to Jeff Scott.

"I think it's important that our guys feel like they're a part of a family unit right here on campus and within the walls of our football complex," he said. "I want them to look forward to coming to spend time with their teammates and their coaches."

Creating that close-knit environment also involves players forming bonds with coaches' own loved ones who are always welcome at practices.

"At the end of the day, our program and our players, we're a family," special teams coordinator Daniel Da Prato said. "We're as tight knit as a group as it comes."

Offseason conditioning and USF's one and only spring session on the field certainly showed players that coaches' wives and children associated are there to support and inspire them.

"At the end of the day, when they finish and when they graduate, they're gonna be better men, fathers and husbands because they've been in your culture," defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer said.

• Genuine Appreciation for Each Other

While members of the program are open with each other and working toward common goals as a close group, every Bull is essential in the big picture.

"There's no entitlement. There's no coach or player who is larger than the program," Scott said. "Everybody has a role within our football team and within our football program. Each role is critical to our success, so really having an appreciation for each other I think is critical."

For this foundational pillar to stand strong, egos have to be checked at the door. Even a former Clemson great like Da'Quan Bowers has proven he has no problem with that.

Following his pro playing career, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer gladly started from scratch in a grad assistant role on Swinney's staff. Bowers was dedicated to his job – no matter how big or small the task – while contributing to Tigers teams that won the 2018 national title and returned to the CFP championship game last season.

Now empowered as a full-time defensive line coach, humble Bowers isn't playing favorites with his players, because they're all important.

"I don't care if it's a five-star or if it's a two-star, I'm gonna coach them all the same and I'm gonna try to get the best out of each individual," he said.

•  Trust and Respect

"I think it's hard to have a championship culture and championship program if it's not based on trust and respect from the players and coaches," Scott said. "That just comes from developing the relationships. Again, you have to have the communication that's involved in developing that."

As you can see, all five of Scott's program pillars are tied together and this one has been incredibly important during social distancing.

Throughout the spring, trust and respect were essential for the program to push forward with members all working in separate places. Coaches had to rely on players consistently making virtual team meetings, staying on track with school commitments and remaining dedicated to physical fitness when no one could keep track.

At spring's end, Scott said "95 percent" of players hit all the marks in being where they were supposed to be as the Scott and the staff continue to see strong buy-in to the new "best is the standard" program approach. 

"I don't think you can be excellent as an individual, as a team, or as a business, if you don't have an internal standard you try to meet in every area of your life," he said. "It really takes that level of consistency to a high standard to really be able to reach the championship level that we all want for our players and for our program."
 
About USF Football
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 23^rd season (20^th at the FBS level) in 2019. The Bulls have posted 15 winning seasons, earned 14 All-America selections and 29 first-team all-conference selections and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft. USF has made 10 bowl games appearances (going 6-4 in those games) and posted a program record six straight appearances from 2005-2010. The Bulls most recently made four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18 and posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016 while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during the 2007 season.
                                                                                
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