When the USF Bulls began fall training camp on Monday morning, it was hot. That's not exactly a news flash. But one day after Tampa registered its first triple-digit temperature (100 degrees at Tampa International Airport mid-Sunday afternoon) since weather records began in 1890, there was a heightened awareness of conditioning, hydration, nutrition and common sense.
At 11 a.m., in the final stages of USF practice, the "feels-like'' temperature was at 113 degrees.
For USF, the heat will be on — literally and figuratively — when the Bulls open the season Aug. 28 at Raymond James Stadium against Boise State (5:30 p,m.), followed by trips to Florida (4:15 p.m.) and Miami (4:30 p.m.).
"It's a challenge for our guys to come out in the heat, so it's a matter of adding some water breaks to make sure the guys are safe,'' head coach Alex Golesh said. "We need to get the work in this heat. Our guys had elite summers in terms of prep, body weight and hydration. It showed up on Day One, which was awesome to see.
"We've got to prepare for those (regular-season) kickoffs. It's going to feel really warm and we've got to work through that heat. The guys who poured into their process all summer, it was like clockwork. The young guys who are still feeling their way out, trying to figure life out, those guys struggled. And that's going to be part of it. But it's a long season and you're going to need everybody. You've got to count on your veterans to play their best football here in 31 days.''
In the shadow of USF's air-conditioned Indoor Performance Facility, the Bulls went to work with their first attempts at building some sweat equity.
"It was a decent temperature today,'' linebacker Mac Harris said with a smile. "It may get hotter. It may not. But we're all enjoying it. We're just glad to be out here playing football, glad to be under the sun with our guys to go at it every single day.''
"Coach Geo (George Courides, USF's head strength and conditioning coach) has us prepared for this,'' cornerback De'Shawn Rucker said. "It wasn't bad at all. I saw a lot of guys flying around on offense, defense, even on special teams. I think Coach Geo got us right during the summer for these (conditions).''
Overall training-camp storylines?
There are a few — and a few more bound to emerge.
The Quarterbacks — Byrum Brown has returned fully healthy as the starting quarterback, but he's now without Bryce Archie, a starter in eight games last season, who signed a professional baseball contract with the Cincinnati Reds. Brown's new backup? It will come from a group that includes true freshman Locklan Hewlett, sophomore holdover Marcelis Tate, 6-foot-6 British import Sam Fenton and newly acquired Tennessee transfer Gaston Moore.
"I'm extremely excited for Bryce,'' Brown said. "It's a great opportunity. As soon as he told me he was going (to the Reds), I was like, 'Go kill it! Do you!' I can't wait to see what he does and I'll be tuned in, for sure.
"As for Lock, Marcelis, Sam and Gaston, I'll just continue to be the leader of that quarterback room as the only one who has played football here for USF. I'll give them all the information I've accumulated and try to be the same guy every day. Their process is right they're eager to learn. So, we'll be just fine.''
Golesh said Hewlett was the only freshman voted to USF's 12-player Leadership Council.
"Locklan was here in the spring with Byrum and Bryce, guys who have played a lot of ball,'' Golesh said. "You can kind of get in a comfort zone. And I keep telling him, 'You've got to be ready. One step away. You've got to be ready.' All of that (preparation) matters for all of them (backups).''
Level Of Consistency — After back-to-back 7-6 seasons, each with bowl victories, Golesh said taking the next step will depend upon USF's level of consistency.
"You want to be the best version of you,'' Golesh said. "Whatever that looks like in terms of wins and losses, we have to play through 13, 14, 15 weeks at a consistent level. We've spent the entire offseason talking about our identity, defining who we are. Whether you're a football expert or a random fan, you want to turn that TV off or leave Ray-Jay and say, 'Man, this team is physically and mentally really tough. The detail of this team is elite.' ''
Building Chemistry — USF has 54 new players, not a surprising development in the transfer-portal era.
"Some guys are going to be starters, some guys are going to be backups, some guys are going to be on special teams … but it's still 54 new guys,'' Golesh said. "So, the goal was 'You have your culture established … do these guys enhance the culture? Or are they going to negate.' If there was any chance they were going to negate (the culture), we didn't bring them in. The consistency piece and detail piece — combined with what we want our identity to be — is what you hope shows up in the form of wins and losses.''
The Running Backs — During spring ball, Golesh said he felt the Bulls felt a little thin in the running back room. Now he has confidence in the group, which figures to be led by Charlotte transfer Cartevious Norton and Oklahoma transfer Sam Franklin (who was an elite Football Championship Subdivision player at Tennessee-Martin).
There's also sophomore Alvon Isaac (5-9, 185), sophomore Nykahi Davenport (6-0, 216) and junior Jaylen Johnson (5-9, 195), along with true freshmen Tray Kinkle (5-11, 196) and Chase Garnett (5-9, 215).
"The running-back position is really, really interesting going into camp,'' Golesh said. "Cartevious and Sam have shown a lot of production (at previous stops). I told our offensive staff I'm seeing a level of maturity from Alvon Isaac and he looks like a really mature high-end football player who is really intelligent. Tray Kinkle has speed we haven't had, legit 10.3 (in the 100 meters), and Chase Garnett has played some big-time high-school football in Texas. So, a lot of cool things to watch there.''
"We have complete confidence in the running-back group,'' center Cole Best said. "I think great things are ahead.''
–#GoBulls–
