Eight Bulls Named to Phil Steele Preseason All-Conference Team
TAMPA, July 20, 2020 – Eight USF student-athletes have been named to Phil Steele's Preseason All-AAC Team, as the respected national publication was distributed this week.
Heading the list of Bulls selected was Tampa native
KJ Sails, who earned second-team recognition at cornerback and fourth-team accolades at punt returner after earning first-team honors from Athlon Sports earlier this year. Heading into his senior campaign, and second at USF after transferring from North Carolina, the cornerback earned second team all-conference postseason honors last year, as he led the Bulls with five takeaways and three interceptions while finishing 15
th in the conference with nine passes defended along with tallying 42 tackles and returning 12 punts for 117 yards.
Earning third-team honors from Phil Steele were senior punter
Trent Schneider (Sydney, Australia), who earned the first-ever Academic All-America honor in program history last year, and junior linebacker
Dwayne Boyles (Miami). Schneider set program records with a 46.0-yard punting average last season and a 52.8-yard game average vs. BYU, and he's expected to be a strong Ray Guy Award candidate again. Boyles led the Bulls with 75 tackles and 12.5 tackles for loss last year.
Meanwhile, fourth-team honors were garnered by transfer tight end
Mitchell Brinkman (Council Bluffs, Iowa), junior center
Brad Cecil (Jacksonville), junior left tackle
Donovan Jennings (Tampa), senior defensive tackle
Blake Green (Bradenton) and junior long snapper
Ian Deneen (Winter Garden).
Brinkman, who transferred for his final season after graduating from Northern Illinois, posted 34 catches for 445 yards and three touchdowns last season for the Huskies. Cecil has started 19 straight games at center for the Bulls, while Jennings has made 12 starts over the last two seasons on the left side, including four as a true freshman in 2018. Green, who transferred to USF from Northwest Missouri State in 2018, made six starts and saw action in 11 games in his first year on the field in 2019 and posted 23 tackles and a tackle for loss. Deneen has handled long snapping duties in 24 games over the last two seasons for the Bulls.
The Bulls are slated to open the 2020 campaign at preseason top 15 ranked Texas on Sept. 5. If preseason rankings hold, it will mark the highest ranked opening opponent in program history. The Bulls opened the 2019 campaign by falling to No. 19/17 Wisconsin in Tampa and won, 23-20, at No. 16/18 Notre Dame to open the 2011 season in the two others times USF has started a season versus a ranked foe.
About USF Football
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 23rd season (20th 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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