Be where your feet are planted.
Take them one at a time.
Don't look past the next game.
These are familiar commands from USF's football coaches. All of them make sense. All of them still apply.
But sometimes, the mind can wander. Sometimes, it's downright impossible not to ponder USF's football future. On a daily basis, as players hit the practice field, the future is constantly in their faces.
USF's $375-million football complex — the on-campus stadium and operations center — is rising before our very eyes. First, there was the clearing of land and the scattering of dirt. Next, there was the procession of trucks bringing materials for the fenced-in construction site. And now there are steel beams emerging from the ground.
As the Bulls (5-1, 2-0 American Conference) prepare for Saturday night's Homecoming game against the Florida Atlantic Owls (3-3, 2-1) at Raymond James Stadium, it's not long before future events will be held on USF's campus. If you use your imagination, you can visualize a stadium, maybe even hear the roar of a crowd. It's real.
The countdown is on. There are only nine guaranteed USF football games remaining at Ray-Jay.
Tick…tick…tick.
You can feel it.
You can certainly see it. And on a typical day at the practice field, you can also hear it.
"We hear a lot of clinging and clanging and banging going on over there,'' sophomore cornerback James Chenault said. "I normally don't get too distracted. But when I look over there, I definitely get some jitters. I think about being part of something new, being one of the first players to step out there and make a play in that stadium. It's definitely very exciting.''
"When I was being recruited to USF, that stadium was definitely part of the conversation,'' sophomore safety Fred Gaskin said. "There were other factors, of course, but it's pretty amazing to think about being in that shiny new stadium one day, just being part of that. It's coming. All of us know it's coming. Whether you're here already or you're coming to USF, it's a really cool thing to think about.''
It's a cool thing for USF coaches to think about as well.
"For the longest time, it seemed like there was just a crane sitting there,'' offensive coordinator Joel Gordon said. "When they finally hit the switch, a lot started happening. It's awesome to look over there now.
"The recruits can see it. So can our own players. It's energizing to think that pretty soon, we're going to have our own spot, our own home-field advantage, our own stadium. This community and this campus is going to thrive. It can't happen soon enough. But even now, it has created so much energy with everyone.''
Long Time In Coming
USF softball coach Ken Eriksen first arrived on campus in the late 1970s to play for the Robin Roberts-led baseball program.
"I remember being around the intramural fields and there was always a stand there with somebody raising money so USF could start a football program,'' Eriksen said. "Eventually, I saw football become a reality at the Old Sombrero (Tampa Stadium), then Ray-Jay. And now we're building our own on-campus stadium? It blows my mind.'
Betty Castor was USF president when the football program was approved by the State Board of Regents in 1995.
"I remember us working with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Tampa Sports Authority to begin playing in the old stadium and that was great at the time,'' Castor said. "To have our own place? To see all the vans and travel trailers coming to campus and creating that game-day atmosphere on our USF campus? It's really hard to imagine. But I think it's so awesome.''
Jeremy Lees, USF's assistant athletic director for equipment operations, joined the football staff in 2002 as the program began its sixth season.
"I remember walking the fields with (head coach) Jim Leavitt when the staff was in trailers and he had these dreams and aspirations of where it could go, an indoor facility that we now have, maybe even a stadium one day,'' Lees said. "I find myself thinking about the madness we're going to have around here in such a good way, the tailgating, the campus environment, the home-field advantage. I also think about the surrounding community, the places that will benefit by charging to park cars, the local businesses. It will be great.''
Lee Roy Selmon Jr., son of the former Bucs' Pro Football Hall of Famer and the USF football program patriarch, was a Bulls' defensive lineman from 1999-2004.
"Every time I'm on campus, I get flashbacks of what it used to be and I'm constantly amazed by what's coming,'' Selmon said. "This USF football program isn't that old (in its 29th season). We loved running out of those Raymond James Stadium tunnels, the same ones the Bucs use. But it's even better to have a home base because it sets the trend for our future.''
Sam Barrington was a USF linebacker from 2009-12 before playing in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers. He's now president of Sky Limit Crane and Rigging, a company that is helping to build USF's on-campus stadium.
"It's like I'm having two different experiences,'' Barrington said. "On one end, I'm an alum who was told 16 years ago on a recruiting visit that we're going to have a stadium here. But I'm also a contractor who has a unique opportunity to service this project.
"I understand how exciting this is from a player's perspective and I can't wait to see that first ball kicked off. But I also know how this will empower the local economy. I understand how it will help recruiting. I know how it will help fan morale and loyalty. USF is already one of the top universities for academics and athletics. This stadium will further submit our place in that conversation.''
A Place Of Our Own
Head coach Alex Golesh said it's a great time to be at USF.
"In these modern times, when you look around the country, you see various schools looking for ways to cut,'' Golesh said. "At USF, we are looking for ways to invest. I'm so grateful to people like Will Weatherford and Mike Griffin (from the Board of Trustees), their vision and how they're allowing us to pour into our student-athletes.
"In some ways, it's still a little surreal. I don't know a lot about the particulars, but I know there's a difference between showing it on a PowerPoint and actually seeing metal poles in the ground. I talk to our seniors and former players and kid with them about, 'Man, wouldn't it be sweet to play on campus?' They're probably a little jealous. But it's going to be a point of pride for all of us. This place will have the spirit of college football that you see everywhere. We'll get to have a place of our own.''
Golesh is especially enthused about the football operations center, which will be adjacent to the stadium. That will be home base for USF football, complete with offices, locker rooms, training facilities and meeting space.
"It's going to be the nicest football complex in the entire country,'' Golesh said. "I give Jay Stroman (vice president for advancement and CEO of the USF Foundation) a ton of credit. They allowed us to take the time to do it right and go see places around the country that are the standard.
"I'd sit in these planning meetings and get asked a ton of questions, but I've never been involved in building a building. But as a football coach, if you don't know something, you watch other people do it, then you take those ideas and make it fit what you need. Jay gave us the ability to get on a plane and go see the last six buildings that got built. So, we arrived at all the things that made sense. They spared no expense. We're going to have a building that is the new standard, a complete first-class environment. We took the best out of everything we saw and put together the plans for a building that will be absolutely awesome.''
The whole package will be a "campus game-changer,'' according to Lelo Prado, USF's senior deputy director of athletics.
"There are still people who are asking me, 'Is this stadium really going to happen?' '' Prado said with a laugh. "I just say, 'Drive by and see for yourself.' This whole deal is going to change this university in so many ways that people can't even imagine.
"I saw what it did at the University of Louisville (Prado was Louisville's baseball coach when that school built football and baseball facilities). It's going to do the same here. I'm hoping for absolute craziness, the student body coming out, tailgating all over the place. More people will come onto our campus and experience everything USF has to offer, even more than football. It's going to change this institution forever.''
–#GoBulls–
