They are the last lines of defense — literally. They are fueled by enough swagger and mental toughness to withstand the weekly assault from modern college football's pass-happy attacks.

In USF's secondary rooms, there are 24 of them in all — a fleet of cornerbacks, safeties and nickel backs, a cavalcade of varying sizes, speeds, experience levels and temperaments.

There's an obvious common characteristic.

 All 24 of them are from Florida high schools.

And that's not a coincidence.

"It brings a bunch of high-school pride because those guys are always talking about their high-school days, when they played against each other,'' said cornerbacks coach DeMarcus Van Dyke, a six-year NFL player and product of Miami's Monsignor Pace High School, who played at the University of Miami. "I just think the competitive spirit these kids bring from Florida is (incredible). I'm a little biased, being from Florida myself. We have the best athletes. These guys are familiar with every technique and every coverage you give them because they've been doing it for so long.''

"We shouldn't have to leave the state to find good defensive backs,'' said James Rowe, the safeties coach and defensive pass-game coordinator who played at Cocoa High School. "Some of the best safeties and corners in the history of football have come from the state of Florida. We've got a lot of connections in Florida. We want to keep signing Florida kids. We want guys to take pride in wearing our logo and representing our home state.''

Pride.

It's a word that typifies USF's secondary, which is preparing to face some experienced quarterbacks with early season games against Boise State (Aug, 28), Florida (Sept. 6) and Miami (Sept. 13).

"We (are) dogs,'' said nickel back Kajuan Banks (Tallahassee). "All of us have that dog mentality. We're all trying to make a play. We're trying to work for our brothers. That's who we are. That's how we came up in this game.''

Banks, safety Tavin Ward (Fort Myers), cornerback De'Shawn Rucker (Tallahassee), nickel back Jarvis Lee (Jacksonville), safety Jaelen Stokes (Auburndale) and cornerback Ben Knox (DeLand) have the most experience.

Safety Fred Gaskin (Ocala) and cornerback James Chenault (Orlando), who each had huge moments as freshmen, are poised to make a big jump.

Izaiah Guy (Ocala/Georgia State), Jonas Duclona (Naples/Wisconsin) and Boogsie Silvera (Pembroke Pines/McNeese State) figure to be impact transfers.

Rowe and Van Dyke said young players such as Jermaine Dalias (Coconut Creek), Gavin Jenkins (Lake Butler), Jeremiah Jones (Riverview), Herlin Perry (Miami) and Jabari Smith (Orlando) are coming along nicely.

"With all the Florida guys, it's very competitive in our room,'' Gaskin said. "Everybody is here to compete every day, trying to get better, keeping each other to the standard of a Florida guy. A lot of people come down here and say, 'Oh, it's so hot!' Like, we've been here our whole life. You can't make that excuse. You come out here to work hard every day. We hold each other to that standard.''

"We've got a lot of guys who have played a lot of college football,'' Lee said. "We can rotate at any time and not miss anything. We have a lot of depth. It's just a bunch of guys who have been doing this forever, playing football all the time, playing all the sports, running in the street with no shoes on, being fast. That's just what we're used to in this state.''

USF's Florida-based secondary is carrying on a successful tradition. The four USF defensive backs to make first-team all-conference — Mike Jenkins (Bradenton), J.R. Reed (Tampa), Deatrick Nichols (Miami) and Trae Williams (Plant City) — were from Florida high schools. So was inaugural team player Anthony Henry (Estero), a member of USF's Athletic Hall of Fame.

"There's something about those Florida players,'' Van Dyke said. "There has always been good qualities, winning qualities.''

 The Bulls hope to exploit those qualities this season with a deep, talented secondary — exclusively from the Sunshine State.

–#GoBulls–