Following an emotional weekend that saw the dismissal of USF football head coach Jeff Scott, Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly on Tuesday praised Scott for laying strong foundational elements that have made USF "a highly attractive job,'' while interim head coach Daniel Da Prato and staff continued preparing the team for the seasons remaining three games starting with Saturday's noon kickoff in Raymond James Stadium against SMU.
Kelly said Scott, almost immediately after being hired from Clemson, instituted a series of athlete-first initiatives that "opened our eyes'' and helped set up USF football to operate in the modern collegiate landscape. Scott's off-field efforts also were instrumental in the building of the $22-million Indoor Performance Facility, which could be utilized for the first time this week, and driving fundraising momentum for a $3 million locker room upgrade last year and an on-campus stadium, which is projected for 2026.
"When you look to the future of USF football, it's a bright one and the next head coach will certainly be the beneficiary of all the work that Coach Scott did,'' Kelly said. "Unfortunately, the (on-field) results were not timing out in the right way with some of the other progress that had been made.''
Following Saturday's 54-28 defeat at Temple, which dropped the Bulls to 1-8 (0-5 in the American Athletic Conference), Kelly made the decision to dismiss Scott with three games remaining in his third USF season.
"I think it was a matter of tough timing in this day and age of modern college sports,'' Kelly said. "There were some things completely out of Jeff's control. Everybody went through COVID, but for it to happen in his first year, there were so many adjustments. It was a tough, unfortunate way for him to start his tenure here.
"At the same time, he did a great job of helping to identify things we could be better for our players, things that weren't provided before, like increased cost of attendance, better nutrition, different places to live, a new locker room, all these things that put the players first, helped to open our eyes and make for a much better program.''
Despite Kelly's core belief in maintaining continuity and showing patience, USF's on-field progress was not keeping pace. When Kelly informed Scott of his decision to make the change, it was a "difficult conversation'' but Scott was professional and understanding. As his final act, Scott addressed the team.
"We just weren't winning,'' Kelly said. "We couldn't sustain the lack of winning while keeping the right perspective and optimism while keeping hope alive. So, it was really just a matter of timing and circumstance for Jeff, in my opinion. In the future, when you look at the history of USF football, you're going to look at this time frame of Jeff getting us focused on tools to help the student-athletes and it's going to benefit us for a long, long time. It's going to be of great benefit to whoever comes in to take the baton from here.''
Kelly said even in the first few days, he has been overwhelmed by the interest in the USF job and "the phone is ringing off the hook.'' He is not surprised by the reaction.
"We're America's fastest rising university in America's fastest-growing region,'' Kelly sad. "We know we haven't had some success in recent times. But, when you go back and look at things that have been achieved in the different parts of our 26 year history, when you look at the things that we're now investing in, when you see the kind of support we're getting from the Board of Trustees to President (Rhea) Law, you realize there are some pretty attractive things here that some of our previous coaches didn't have.
"I think you see a great commitment and people are realizing that, 'Hey, people are serious about this at USF. Tools are being put in place to have a successful program.' We are making major investments that we've never done before. There's urgency (to get a new head coach), but we have to see what's out there, do our research, then move appropriately. And that's what we're going to do over the next two-and-a-half weeks.''
Kelly said he will have "an open mind'' while conducting the search. He has a short list of coaches he admires, but is not yet zeroing in on specific candidates. Head-coaching experience is preferred, but not mandatory. Recruiting prowess — particularly in Florida and the Tampa Bay region — is an obvious advantage.
Through it all, Kelly said he wants to maintain what he called "an elite student-athlete experience at USF.''
Ideally, Kelly said USF will have a new head coach in place by early December. The transfer portal opens on Dec. 5 and the early signing period begins Dec. 21.
Meantime, Kelly said the top priority is helping the current players finish the season in the right way. The Bulls will be challenged by the Mustangs (5-4, 3-2), who are coming off a record-setting 77-63 victory against the Houston Cougars.
Da Prato, the special teams coordinator, was named interim head coach because his unique job has allowed him to connect with the most players on the team, outside of the head coach. First-year defensive coordinator Bob Shoop also was dismissed, so co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Ernie Sims will now assume all defensive coordinator responsibilities.
Da Prato, a high-energy son of a California high-school and junior-college football coach, was a quarterback at Louisiana-Monroe from 2002-03. He worked on the staffs at ULM, Sacramento State, Montana State, Colorado and Arkansas.
"I have the ultimate respect and confidence in Coach Da Prato because he has great energy and leadership skills,'' Kelly said.
Da Prato said he will always be grateful to Scott for bringing him to Tampa and knows he has "poured every ounce of myself into this program.'' His current priority is making sure USF players have the "absolute best experience they can with the 25 percent of our season remaining.''
"We're locked into this with the understanding we're taking this one day at a time,'' Da Prato said. "We're going to move forward, have some fun and get these kids ready to play.
"It has been a very emotional time for us all. But our main focus is working with these young men and giving them every opportunity to succeed on the field. We're going to focus on us, doing the things we do well.''
Da Prato said he's confident the Bulls will give a good account of themselves against SMU, at Tulsa (Nov. 18) and vs. UCF (Nov. 26).
"For all of you who have been here the past three years, our kids show up,'' Da Prato said. "I have zero reservations about our kids' fight, drive and resilience through adversity. They have been through a lot.
"But our kids showed up this morning. We had great meetings. We had a good practice. They're still striving to get better. From the bottom of my heart, I truly believe we're moving in the right direction as a program. They're a resilient group that is ready to showcase their talents and get ready for an opportunity to play on Saturday.''
Da Prato said he's only "worrying about what we can control.'' Amid the backdrop of an emotional weekend, when coaches had to "talk to their families who have moved here, look their little kids in the eyes and sent them off to school,'' Da Prato said he's continuing to emphasize the main priority.
"It's not about us (coaches), it's about the young men,'' Da Prato said. "It's about giving them everything we have for their experience that we all signed up for. And our coaching staff has done an incredible job with that. I got into coaching to work with young men. We'll continue to coach and love up on these kids during a very difficult time. I get to help mentor young people and football is a vehicle that allows me to do that.
"We don't control adverse situations, but we control how we respond to them. That's a choice. That's something, as we mentor young men, that we've got to teach them in life. We have to look at these next three games as an opportunity, a chance to grow. I truly believe, from the bottom of my heart, that it's always a great day to be a USF Bull. I love it here. It's an incredible place. I'm going to work my tail off to give these guys the best experience over these next three weeks.''
– Go Bulls –
