On the origins of USF football

[Guest BasketBull.]

Recently, I watched the USF video "A Half Century of USF". In it President Borkowski said the Board of Regents, made up of mostly *ators and *oles, were against USF having football because of recruiting, etc.

Anyway, I found some interesting articles for your reading enjoyment.

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USF makes gains in football quest

St. Petersburg Times

July 7, 1995

Author: JAMES HARPER

The football juggernaut at the University of South Florida just keeps on rolling.

USF football boosters have finally cleared what may have been their biggest hurdle - a $5-million endowment required before they could formally ask to start a team.

""It's a significant milestone,'' USF Athletics Director Paul Griffin said Thursday. Fund-raisers passed the threshold in ""written, signed pledges'' over the past several weeks, he said.

Despite his obvious pleasure, Griffin said no major celebrations were planned.

""The big splash is when the Board of Regents says, "You guys have done some unique planning . . . You can go forward now and build a team.' Then we'll have a celebration.''

USF now plans for that to happen in September - and to begin varsity play in NCAA Division I-AA in fall 1997.

It's been a long campaign, full of delays and debate.

For a long time many at USF took pride that the school didn't have a football team. In their minds that meant USF had joined the ranks of those few major colleges that put academics ahead of athletics.

But as USF grew, so did the number of students and alumni who thirsted for football. Some university leaders also came to believe that football would draw public attention and help USF shed its commuter school image.

In the late 1980s, then-president Frank Borkowski put off the football question until a major academic fund-raising campaign could be completed. Then, in 1991, he appointed a community task force, with a smattering of campus representatives, to study the feasibility of football. To the surprise of almost no one, they endorsed it.

Faculty sentiment, however, ran strongly against it. Professors feared that resources would be drained from the classroom, even with the highly touted endowment that is supposed to make the program self-supporting. Others feared a change in campus character. A poll conducted by the Faculty Senate showed a majority did not want football under any circumstances.

But several generations of student and alumni leaders had lobbied hard for it. And in December 1992,

with two professors dissenting, the school's governing Athletics Council endorsed football.

Since then, football supporters have endured two changes in presidents and an endowment campaign that was more difficult than expected, despite the hiring of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers hero Lee Roy Selmon as an associate athletics director and chief fund-raiser. But patiently, three yards and a cloud of dust at a time, they ground their way on.

It seems like it took ""forever,'' Griffin said Thursday. ""I hope people see that as an asset. It's not like this is something that somebody just thought of last spring and said, "Let's do it.' ''

The $5-million endowment was proposed by football boosters themselves, after a consultant recommended it. The idea is that scholarships, equipment, travel and other costs can be supported by interest on the endowment, and by student fees, during the early years when ticket revenues are relatively small. Boosters hope eventually to raise $10-million, the amount they feel necessary to move up to big-time competition, in Division I-A.

But last year, faced with some frustrating delays, Griffin compressed another consultant recommendation. Instead of building a team through two years of intrasquad scrimmaging and non-varsity club play, while student fees and other income accumulate, USF will begin regular competition after just one year of scrimmaging. Griffin says the additional expense will be offset by increased fan interest.

USF President Betty Castor said Thursday that the team will play in the soccer stadium on campus, not in Tampa Stadium.

She also said she is satisfied that questions of financial support for football and equality of opportunity for male and female athletes have been addressed.

Students have already approved a fee increase of 50 cents per credit hour - for a full-time student, $15 a year - to support football, although the increase has been held in abeyance until regents actually approve the program.

Later this month, USF will ask the regents to implement the fee, even though the regents' staff will not have time to fully evaluate the program before September. Griffin says the fee decision is needed now, so that collections can start with the fall semester.

What if regents turn down the football plan in September?

""My first answer is, that's not going to happen,'' Griffin said. But in case it did, he will put the football fees in escrow so that student leaders could redistribute the money as they wished. ""But it's not going to happen.''

In Griffin's mind, success is so close he can taste it. If the campaign for football was a long, grueling race, he said, ""We can see the tape at the finish line. Thanks to the generous help of our supporters and staff, we're at the front of this race, and we're gonna win it.'' USF's path to the gridiron

Fall 1991: Then-president Frank Borkowski appoints a task force of community leaders to discuss whether intercollegiate football at USF would be feasible. In January 1992, the task force says yes.

December 1992: After a year of emotional campus debate, the university's Athletics Council approves a football plan. Boosters plan to raise a $5-million endowment within a year.

December 1993: Fund-raising goes slower than expected. Interim president Bob Bryan says $5-million may not be enough; he suggests $10-million, mostly in cash, before seeking state approval. But athletics director Paul Griffin remains confident that he can still field a team by fall 1997 as planned.

September 1994: President Betty Castor asks for a review of football finances, including the costs of maintaining gender equity in campus athletics. Fund-raisers have missed several self-imposed deadlines, but Griffin says a streamlining of the original plan can still bring a team by 1997.

June 1995: Boosters finally collect $5-million in signed pledges. USF's gender equity committee endorses football. Castor says she'll ask for Board of Regents approval in September.

Still to come...

Later this month: Regents will be asked to approve an increased student fee for football, starting this fall.

September: Regents approve USF football.

Winter-Spring 1996: With a new coach on board, USF recruits first batch of players.

Fall 1996: Intra-squad games, held in various cities to drum up interest.

Fall 1997: Varsity competition begins.

USF BID FOR FOOTBALL TEAM STALLED BY BOARD OF REGENTS

Sun-Sentinel

July 21, 1995

Author: ARDEN MOORE Staff Writer

The University of South Florida's four-year bid for a football team faced unexpected resistence Thursday from the Board of Regents, which questioned its cost, need and impact on women's sports programs.

The regents' finance committee approved USF to collect $300,000 in student fees this fall, but members made it clear that they need more answers before they allow creation of a Division I-AA football team by the fall of 1997.

The regents will decide whether to allow football at the Tampa university at their September meeting.

"So we wait a year, so what?" said regent Steven Uhlfelder, a Tallahassee attorney. "With our limited access problems we have, football just doesn't seem that important to me."

Regent Welcom Watson said studies show the Tampa Bay community supports USF adding football. USF recently raised $5 million in donations to establish an endowment for football scholarships. No other university has raised this much money before establishing a football program in the country, said USF Athletic Director Paul Griffin.

"I think we'll have a public relations disaster if we made them wait a year," said Watson, a Fort Lauderdale attorney.

Uhlfelder objected to a precedent-setting move by the regents to allow USF to collect student fees for a sport not yet approved. A state review on how football will impact federal gender discrimination laws and the financial stability of the Tampa campus will not be ready until September.

A recent NCAA report indicated 95 percent of all Division I-AA football programs lose money.

State Chancellor Charles Reed assured Uhlfelder that he will not recommend for or against football until those reviews are completed.

Reed said it was "a judgment call on my part" to seek collecting 50 cents per credit-hour in student athletic fees at Thursday's meeting. It would be too late to authorize those fees at the regents' September meeting because classes begin in late August.

After the debate, Griffin remained optimistic that concerns expressed by the regents will be resolved by September so he can hire a football head coach by the end of the year and begin recruiting players.

"When [the regents) get our report, they will feel comfortable with what we're doing," Griffin said. "We don't intend to wait any longer."

USF football gets boost as Regents approve fee hike

The Tampa Tribune

July 21, 1995

Author: JIM KENYON; Tribune Staff Writer

TALLAHASSEE -- The University of South Florida, facing minimal opposition, inched closer Thursday toward fielding a football team in 1997.

The Florida Board of Regents' finance committee, in a 5-1 vote, approved an immediate 50-cent per credit hour increase in the fee paid by students to support athletics. A full-time student taking 15 credit hours per semester will pay an additional $15 annually.

USF plans to use some of the $300,000 produced by the fee increase in its initial year to hire a coaching staff and recruit players. Without the money, starting the Division I-AA program would have been delayed until 1998, Athletic Director Paul Griffin said.

The full 14-member board of regents, which governs the state's nine public universities, is expected to approve the fee increase today. A final board vote on whether USF should become the state's fifth public university to play football is scheduled for September.

Thursday's vote was a sign to USF officials that they are close to capping a drive that began more than five years ago.

"This sets the tone and gives us momentum heading into the September meeting," Griffin said.

USF student government president David Quilleon said he thinks "a majority of students are very excited about a football program and the visibility it will bring to our university."

USF's student senate endorsed the fee increase by a 45-3 margin in 1992. This week, student leaders were telephoning regents "to let them know we're behind the football effort," Quilleon said.

Tallahassee lawyer Steven Uhlfelder was the only regent who voiced opposition to USF having a team, Quilleon said.

The same was true Thursday.

"Football isn't that important to me," Uhlfelder said.

He questioned why the athletic fee increase needed to be imposed this year when the regents still haven't given final permission to field a team.

"If we wait a year [before USF begins playing], so what?" he asked.

USF President Betty Castor said there is "substantial support on the campus as well as the community" for the program to begin in 1997.

"I think we'd have a public relations disaster in Tampa if we made that community wait another year," said regent Welcom Watson of Fort Lauderdale.

After the meeting, Uhlfelder said he won't be a "thorn in USF's side and if the students, faculty and community want football, they should get it. But I certainly can ask some questions."

With studies showing a majority of college football programs are losing money, Uhlfelder wants USF to prove it can fund the sport without damaging other student activities. He also wants USF to show it has fan support in a city that already has major professional sports.

The support already exists, Griffin said, citing the $5 million in private money that has been raised to start the program. The school hopes to raise an additional $5 million before playing its first game.

USF football gets favorable response

The Tampa Tribune

August 27, 1995

Author: RON KASPRISKE; Tribune Staff Writer

TAMPA -- Earl Garcia is heading into his 23rd year as a high school football coach in Hillsborough County.

He remembers what the University of Tampa's football team meant to this community and sees the University of South Florida's push for an intercollegiate program as the best thing to happen to the area since Busch Gardens opened.

USF's request for a Division I-AA football program will be decided by the State Board of Regents on Sept. 15.

"I've been following this thing very closely," said Garcia, head coach at Hillsborough High. "There's no question in my mind that USF football will be a success."

Garcia is not alone.

High school and college coaches from around the state are particularly fond of the idea of adding another college football program in Florida.

On the college level, coaches see the Bulls as a team they may one day schedule and a possible place to work. And there's plenty of high school football talent to go around.

"There's enough for all of us, no question about that," said Cy McClairen, head coach at Bethune-Cookman College. "Ever since I heard about South Florida adding football, I've been all for it. As long as they have the money, they'll be just fine. This state loves football."

Longtime University of Miami assistant coach Art Kehoe said pride is at stake when hundreds of high school football players sign scholarships outside of Florida each year.

"USF football is a good option," Kehoe said. "Players from the state who might go to teams in the Big Eight or the Big East Conference might say, "To hell with that, I'm going to stay home.' "

According to Chamberlain High School coach Billy Turner and Jefferson High coach Darlee Nelson, response from their peers around the state has been overwhelmingly in favor of USF football. And Turner and Nelson know all about having an intercollegiate team in Tampa as both played for UT.

"You'd be surprised how many people tell me they miss Tampa football," Turner said. "People in this town used to drive to Gainesville for a University of Florida game on Saturday afternoon and then drive back to Tampa Saturday night and watch us play at old Phillips Field.

"If you don't think people want college football in this area, then how come USF has been able to raise all that money [$5 million]?"

Nelson said the opportunities for good Tampa Bay area players to stay in the state have been limited. Unless players are among the elite 200 in the nation and are good enough to be recruited by Florida, Florida State or Miami, the chances of ending up at Central Florida, Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman are limited.

"You're throwing another 20-25 scholarships in Florida into the mix," Nelson said. "And I know most coaches would rather see their players stay close to home."

Garcia said his junior quarterback, Jeremy Earl, already has expressed an interest in going to USF. Turner said Jeff Odemat, 6-foot-3, 290-pound offensive lineman, also has mentioned playing for the Bulls.

The list of local blue-chip athletes who could go to USF is very long, said former Lakeland Kathleen linebacker Ray Lewis, now a standout with the Hurricanes.

"It will open up a lot of options," Lewis said. "If you're a homebody, you could go there."

USF Athletic Director Paul Griffin said the statewide response to the Bulls' football program has been noted and won't go unrewarded.

"We have a commitment to recruiting high school athletes in this state," Griffin said. "And I believe there is ample talent in Florida."

(Chart) USF calendar

[] Tuesday: State Board of Regents members visit USF and talk about the

intercollegiate football proposal with school officials.

[] Sept. 15: Regents meet at the University of Central Florida in Orlando

and vote on USF's request for a Division I-AA football program.

If program is approved

[] Sept. 16: Re'sume's are accepted for the head football coach and

assistant football coaching positions.

[] October: USF search committee, led by Associate Athletic Director Lee

Roy Selmon, begins narrowing down the list of candidates for the head

coaching job based on a predetermined list of criteria compiled by the

university.

[] Early November: The list is narrowed to a small group the search

committee recommends be interviewed by Athletic Director Paul Griffin and

President Betty Castor.

[] Late November/early December: USF hires head football coach. Based on

recommendations from the new coach, two assistants are hired.

[] Jan. 1: New coaching staff begins work on recruiting.

[] Early February: Bulls sign their first class of football players using

approximately 10-15 of their 65 allotted scholarships.

[] March: Conduct formal spring practice for recruits and walk-ons.

[] 1996-97: Hire remainder of coaching staff, sign second class of

recruits, scrimmage on various USF campus sites (Sarasota, St. Pete,

Tampa, etc).

[] 1997: Play full Division I-AA football schedule.

Football scores high in USF report

St. Petersburg Times

August 29, 1995

Author: JAMES HARPER

The University of South Florida thinks it can field a football team that costs less but earns more money than its two most comparable in-state rivals, a new analysis for the state Board of Regents shows.

The report was given to regents in preparation for their meeting in Tampa today on whether USF should be given permission to start a team.

Does the report mean that USF's plan is overly optimistic?

""We didn't draw any conclusions,'' said Bob Henker, the regents' budget director, who helped prepare the analysis.

Henker's boss, state Chancellor Charles Reed, said Monday that he prefers that regents interpret the facts for themselves. Reed said he would wait for the regents' discussion before making any recommendations.

Today's meeting is the culmination of years of waiting and planning by USF football boosters, who say the sport would satisfy student and alumni demand, make USF more visible to the world and earn a profit that could be spent on other intercollegiate athletics.

Others, including a majority of USF professors, have said football would inevitably drain money and attention from academics.

The boosters have invited between 50 and 75 local politicians and dignitaries, including state Sen. John Grant, state Rep. Les Miller and Monsignor Laurence Higgins, to speak during a public comment session at 2 p.m.

The meeting itself begins at 10 a.m., in the second-floor ballroom of the Phyllis P. Marshall Center on USF's Tampa campus. Regents plan to discuss the proposal after listening to everyone's comments, but a formal vote is not scheduled until the regents' next regular meeting in Orlando, on Sept. 15. Technically, today's meeting involves only the regents' athletics committee, but most of the 14-member board, including members of the finance and access/equity committees, also are expected to attend.

USF athletics director Paul Griffin said Monday that he agrees with most of the facts presented in the regents' staff analysis. He defended USF's optimistic financial projections, saying they reflect the local market.

As part of their routine review of USF's football proposal, Henker and other regents' staff members compared USF's finances with those of the state's two other Division 1-AA football teams, at the University of Central Florida in Orlando and Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.

After making adjustments for accounting differences, Henker's team found that USF expects to spend 15 percent less than what UCF spends on football, and 12 percent less than what FAMU spend, based on current figures adjusted for inflation.

UCF, for example, spends considerably more for team travel than USF plans to. UCF and FAMU also devote more money to athletic scholarships.

Henker's group also determined that USF's spending would be 5 percent less than the average spending in the Southern Conference, one of the nation's premier Division I-AA conferences.

On the revenue side, USF expects to get $200,000 a year in additional booster donations from football, compared to $161,500 at UCF and $36,909 at FAMU. USF plans to get $50,000 from radio and TV contracts for football alone, while UCF gets $52,000 from all its sports. FAMU gets less than $30,000 from football broadcasting.

Whether these differences are significant, Henker said in an interview, ""is in the eyes of the beholder.''

Griffin said USF's spending would be less than the other two teams because USF is just starting out. UCF has higher travel expenses because it is growing into a Division 1-A schedule, he said. And USF has pledged to recruit only Florida players, saving money on out-of-state tuition.

Griffin said Reed has told him he is comfortable with USF's spending projections. It's the revenue projections that need some caution. Sixty percent of USF's football income will come from a predictable student fee and the earnings from a special football endowment. But the rest must come from ticket sales, annual gifts, broadcasting and corporate sponsorships.

USF expects to average 15,000 ticket buyers a game during its first varsity season, in 1997, and about 10,000 a game in the seasons immediately after that. UCF, a smaller school in a slightly smaller market, averaged 12,000 a game until 1994, when local corporations were asked to buy big blocks of tickets for one season only in order for UCF to meet NCAA requirements to move up to Division 1-A.

USF already is more successful than UCF in booster donations and broadcasting sponsorships, Griffin said. Most of UCF's donations are for football, but USF raises $400,000 without football, he said. Given the hunger for America's most popular sport, it shouldn't be hard to add another $200,000 in football donations, he said.

Similarly, USF also gets $200,000 a year now in non-football broadcasting deals. Expecting a 25 percent increase to include football is conservative, he said.

Last year, some of USF's marketing and communication interns did a survey of USF alumni and local business leaders. They found relatively low interest in USF's current athletics program, which includes eight sports each for men and women. But nearly half of the alumni surveyed said they would probably sign up for football season tickets; slightly more than half of the business leaders said they would.

So far, USF football has attracted strong but not very widespread support. Of the $5-million pledged to the football endowment, more than $4.3-million came in donations of $50,000 or more. But most of these donors had never given more than $5,000 to the university before.

When, however, USF offered season ticket reservations in return for a $50 donation - using widespread radio, TV and billboard advertising and direct mail to 40,000 or 50,000 alumni - only 2,000 people signed up. Griffin said ticket sales should go better once the team is approved.

USF has not decided whether to play football in its current soccer stadium on campus, or in Tampa Stadium or St. Petersburg's Thunderdome. But Griffin said he has budgeted enough money to rent either a stadium or additional bleachers for on-campus.

USF FOOTBALL TEAM CLOSER TO REALITY

Miami Herald, The (FL)

August 29, 1995

Author: JACK WHEAT Herald Staff Writer

Florida is known for its college football, and it's likely to get more.

The University of South Florida's bid for a football team goes to a committee of the Board of Regents in Tampa today and is expected to be approved next month.

"We're the largest university in the nation that does not have a football team," said student body President David Quilleon. "People are excited about getting one. I haven't heard anybody who's not happy."

USF has been hankering for football for six years. Regents last month increased USF's athletic fee by 50 cents per credit hour to bankroll football. For most full-time students, it's a maximum of $15 a year. The fee gets them into games without having to buy tickets.

The student fee would pay half the tab for football. Boosters have pledged a $5 million endowment. The last question is whether the ticket-buying public is good for the remaining 40 percent of the athletic program budget.

"That's the softest part of their information," said university system Chancellor Charles Reed. "You have to believe what they say."

USF Bulls football would not be quite like the teams fielded by the Miami Hurricanes, the Florida Gators or the Florida State Seminoles.

The Bulls would play National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1-AA football, meeting teams like Florida A&M, Central Florida, Georgia Southern and Troy State.

USF must show that its games will draw enough fans to break even.

"We've been conservative and cautious in our approach, and no one thinks we're suddenly going to be competing big time," President Betty Castor said.

"That's a hard message to say to people who've seen big- time sports in this state," Castor said. "The purpose is to build community spirit." With football as popular as it is among young Floridians, she said, USF needs to provide opportunity for students to play and watch and cheer.

Athletic Director Paul Griffin expects 15,000 people to buy tickets to each game in fall 1997, the introductory year, and 10,000 per game afterward. USF will have a surplus each year if that happens, he said.

Regent Steve Uhlfelder of Tallahassee, the only regent to oppose USF football, questions raising fees for expensive new athletic programs when there have been no increases in fees for strapped academic programs.

But he said, "If they can prove to me they can financially support it, I'm not going to oppose. At this point, I'm not

satisfied. Football is a form of entertainment . . . they've got a lot of entertainment options already."

University of Central Florida football, launched 15 years ago, has never made a dime even though there is no pro football or baseball in Orlando. It breaks even only by getting infusions

from the UCF Foundation at the end of the year, Reed said.

UCF's football attendance averaged 11,800 in 1993.

USF's football boosters win over regents

St. Petersburg Times

August 30, 1995

Author: TAYLOR WARD

They came in skeptics and walked out believers.

Representatives from the Florida Board of Regents came to the University of South Florida campus Tuesday to hear the school's pitch for an NCAA Division 1-AA football team.

The seven regents and Chancellor Charles Reed started the day by raising questions - about the financing plan for the team, about gender equity in USF sports, about the chances that football will take money away from academic programs or will hurt smaller sports.

But after several hours of testimony from administrators, business leaders and students, their doubts were wiped away like letters on a chalkboard.

""As an old classroom English teacher, I'm not much in favor of football,'' regent Audrea Anderson said after a straw poll at the meeting's end. ""I'm aware of how disruptive it can be in the classroom. But after looking over the materials the university has put out . . . I have been won over.''

In the straw poll, six of the seven regents present and Chancellor Reed said they would vote to approve USF football at the next meeting of the full board Sept. 15 in Orlando. Regent C. B. Daniel said that he would not commit to a yes for football, but that he ""felt good about it, especially in light of the community support we've seen today.''

""This comes as a complete surprise,'' said USF President Betty Castor. ""We thought we would be in the prayer position for the next two weeks.''

Earlier in the day, Daniel and regents Steve Uhlfelder and Julian Bennett had expressed doubts about whether the university's rosy financial predictions for a football team were realistic. Athletic director Paul Griffin defended the study that said USF's program would cost 15 percent less than the University of Central Florida's program and 12 percent less than Florida A&M University's program. He also said attendance projections weren't overoptimistic.

""Our 1998 projections are based on an average attendance of 15,000 per game,'' Griffin said. ""I think that's a relatively responsible, secure and achievable goal.''

The regents also wanted proof of a financial safety net for the effort. In the event the football program does have money troubles, the regents said, they wanted assurances that the community would step in to help.

Precision Motors president and sports booster Frank Morsani said that wouldn't be a problem.

""We have a record in this community of paying our dues and writing checks for what we believe in,'' Morsani said, noting that USF has received $5-million in pledges toward its program.

Those sentiments were backed up by a string of local business leaders who showed up to cheerlead for the program, including Visionworks president Rob Roberson, Atlantic Gulf chairman Jim Apthorp, and former college and pro football player Larry Smith.

The team USF assembled also did its fair share of cheerleading. Associate athletic director Lee Roy Selmon talked up the character of the program he envisions, citing his own experience as a college and pro player.

The small voice of dissent came from Charles Arnade, a bespectacled, be-sandaled professor of international studies who seemed uncomfortable in a room full of gray suits.

He said that he had failed five times to establish a chapter of the academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa at USF, and that strengthening academics should take precedence over a football team.

Arnade added that 1995 ""is not the time to establish an all-male team,'' and even challenged Griffin to recruit female football players.

The impression left on regents' minds, however, was made by the last speakers, students who made impassioned pleas.

""USF is ripe for the moment,'' said Ricardo Dominguez, a junior who is president of the Latin American student organization. ""Please, please, please give us a football team.''

Dominguez said the basketball tournament held on campus last spring is proof that sports can give a school cohesion and pride.

""I don't know if any of you attended the NIT game,'' he said. ""People were chanting, "USF, USF.' I mean, oh man, I had pride.''

Regent Daniel could hardly contain himself.

""I don't know if that was orchestrated for him to be the last speaker. But I feel tingly all over,'' he said.

USF's dream is no longer an illusion

The Tampa Tribune

August 30, 1995

Where will they play?

How much are tickets?

Who's going to coach?

Does Jimmy Johnson know?

Is FSU a home-and-home?

Will there be permanent seat licenses?

Answers: Games at Tampa Stadium, initially; tickets are $12; no Galen Hall, no Charley Pell, no FSU, no PSLs.

And, in case you were worried, rest easy.

There will be a band.

"Thirty kazoos to start, but our eventual goal is to model ourselves after the Stanford band," said Paul Griffin with a large laugh. It was the day for it. Griffin is the athletic director at the University of South Florida.

They have football, you know.

If you're green and gold and own a trumpet, blow it. If you have a pennant, wave it. If you've got a defensive secondary, donate it. It's unofficially official. The South Florida Bulls are going to play football. Real, live college football.

Well ....

You can smell the grass. You can feel the losses. You can almost point to a map and find the campus. There are nearly 37,000 students attending USF, and now they have another reason to park their cars: tailgates.

Regents strike quickly

The Florida Board of Regents went into their hurry-up offense on Tuesday while visiting USF. The regents will not vote on USF football for another two weeks, but on Tuesday enough of them went public to give USF officials the wink-wink-nod-nod.

No need to light candles.

Certain votes. A majority.

Touchdown.

"I can honestly tell you -- I was surprised," Griffin said. "We had been told none of the [regents] would make a statement as to how they would vote. But there they were, speaking, and so here we are."

Speechless.

"It's been four years," Griffin said, barely. "So many people, so much work."

It was a long time coming. So much had been done, so much money had been raised -- more than $5 million in pledges and commitments to an endowment fund for scholarships. People like Griffin and Lee Roy Selmon took the ball and ran and ran, and now there will be football in 1997.

This is no dream. Likewise, there should be no illusions. For starters, it is I-AA football. Not Florida. Not Florida State. Not Miami. Not yet. The key is local talent -- Florida talent, Gulf Coast talent. There is enough to build with. No need to rush. Anything else would invite disaster, unreasonable goals crushed by losing football.

That is what it will be at first. Losing. Here are some teams that might be better than USF during its first season: Alabama-Birmingham, Tennessee-Martin, Butler, Canisius, Towson State. So daunting is the task that Griffin has received only 7,234 inquiries about a coaching job.

"We have re'sume's from NFL coaches, college coaches, high school coaches and we have one from a Brandon Little League coach," Griffin said. "Everyone wants to be a part of something. It's special. It's the birth of a team."

Still some naysayers

It was a difficult labor. There were naysayers. Still are. Some spoke on Tuesday. Some wonder if a sense of identity is worth all this. After all, possible upcoming cuts in USF's budget could curtail even library hours. We all remember college libraries. That's where the books are.

But there was also the USF accounting student at Tuesday's meeting, the kid who begged for football. Call it sensible. Call it silly. Football might seem a rather low-browed way for a college to win hearts and minds and wallets. Look closely. Lots of smart people want it.

Well, it's theirs.

Now to find a coach. There is a Himalayan range of re'sume's, and Griffin and Selmon and others will set up camp immediately. Expect a name, a face, a hire, by early December. The job pays around $70,000. Other numbers: USF projects a $1.8 million football budget in 1997, and a $651,000 profit. When Alabama-Birmingham introduced I-AA football, the first-year budget was $350,000.

Enough scoreboard watching. Tuesday was for sis, boom and bah. Brass ring in hand, Paul Griffin moved on to weightier matters.

"I've already got 10 farmers who say they want to provide the mascot," Griffin said. "A very wide selection. We've already got 10 bulls lined up."

Note to search committee: Wear boots.

USF AT FIRST AND GOAL FOR A FOOTBALL PROGRAM

Miami Herald, The (FL)

August 30, 1995

Author: Herald Capital Bureau

All that stands in the way of a fall 1997 kickoff for University of South Florida Bulls football is a formal vote by the Florida Board of Regents.

Meeting in Tampa, a committee of regents informally gave USF football its blessings after university officials and community leaders allayed the last fears that not enough fans would turn out for the program to cover costs.

"Things are looking good," said incoming board Chairman James Heekin of Orlando. He expects easy formal approval by the full board next month. Heekin said assurances by community leaders that they'll raise the money if attendance doesn't meet projections did the trick.

The program would not be in the big-time league of the Miami Hurricanes, Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles, but rather in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's second string, with schools such as the University of Central Florida, Georgia Southern University and Troy State University in Alabama.

The university has been angling for a football team for six years, at times over the strong objections of the faculty.

But Tuesday, Professor Michael Knox, speaker of the USF Faculty Senate, told regents USF has addressed most faculty concerns. "I believe that most USF faculty will not stand in the way" of a program that students, alumni, the administration and the community want so badly, he said.

As USF's fight for football enters its final moments, the losers re-examine their foes.

St. Petersburg Times

September 13, 1995

Author: JAMES HARPER

When the state Board of Regents votes Friday to let the University of South Florida play varsity football, Linda Lopez McAlister won't be anywhere nearby.

McAlister, one of the several dozen USF faculty members who campaigned against adding the sport, is on sabbatical this fall in Pennsylvania, where she has just finished editing one book of philosophy and is about to start on another. McAlister is a former USF dean and former member of the university's governing Athletics Council. In the mid-1980s, when she was on Chancellor Charles Reed's staff, she helped conduct the state's first comprehensive review of intercollegiate athletics, then mired in financial and behavioral scandals.

Her experience made her deeply suspicious of USF's wish for football.

But faculty doubts were no match for the long campaign by sports boosters, students and prominent alumni, along with two successive presidents who saw football as a way to spice up campus life and gain USF wider attention.

On Friday, almost four years to the day after then-President Frank Borkowski named a task force to study the feasibility of football, the regents are expected to give their okay, perhaps unanimously.

""I feel discouraged and disgusted by the whole way that it steamrolled every step of the way, and the faculty's concern was never paid attention to by anyone except the faculty,'' McAlister said Tuesday. ""We never had the discussion about not whether we could, but whether we should have football. It just leaves a kind of peculiar, slightly bitter taste in one's mouth.''

Faculty protest did bring some benefits, though.

Fear that money would be drained from academics led to much stricter assurances that it wouldn't, at both the university and state levels.

Spurred partly by that 1980s report that McAlister worked on, the regents' staff reviews all the financial details of new sports programs. The staff found that USF expects to spend less but make more on football than the state's other two Division 1-AA programs. But at a meeting last month, regents decided these discrepancies were not significant enough to suggest that USF plans are overly rosy.

More significantly, Athletics Director Paul Griffin has the comfort of sitting on a $5-million private football endowment, an unprecedented cushion for a start-up program. Griffin acknowledges that public pressure forced him to be extra careful in his planning.

Similarly, a USF sports scandal that unfolded just as the football debate was starting focused attention on the dangers of coddling athletes. USF officials were shown to have shielded a star basketball player from a series of ****, assault and harassment complaints by students. The vice president who oversaw intercollegiate athletics lost his job, and Borkowski's credibility never recovered.

USF victim's advocate Mary Poole, whose office was created in the wake of that scandal, spoke in support of football at the regents meeting last month. Griffin asked for her help in setting up an anti-violence training program for male and female athletes - the only one at a Florida public university - and he continually reinforces its importance, she said.

Poole said she is confident in the commitment of Griffin, Associate Athletics Director Lee Roy Selmon and President Betty Castor to create a healthy football environment.

Finally, Griffin had to satisfy the mandates of Title IX, the federal law that ensures gender equity in athletics. ""We've been looking over their shoulder all along,'' said Karen Moffitt, chairwoman of USF's Title IX committee.

Instead of opposing football, the committee saw it as a negotiating opportunity. The committee got Griffin to agree to add women's soccer and to finance the maximum allowable scholarships for all women's sports. Griffin also agreed to consider additional women's sports, perhaps rowing and sailing, and to study giving one of his associate directors full-time responsibility for women's sports.

""We can negotiate right now, but once football is in we won't have as much negotiating ability,'' Moffitt said frankly.

Still, looking further ahead, she hopes football can provide a handsome profit to support the other sports, as it does at the University of Florida and Florida State University. ""They spend more on women's sports than USF spends on all sports.''

Does the USF faculty really oppose football?

Faculty NCAA representative Curtis Wienker, an anthropologist, says faculty opposition has been overstated, as does economics professor Phil Porter, another football proponent. Both men discount the results of a 1992 campuswide survey done by the Faculty Senate, which showed a large majority in opposition to football.

Journalism professor Randy Miller said it was inevitable that skeptics would lose the argument. ""Theirs was a well-organized campaign backed by a great amount of power in the community, and ours was "a bunch of professors who know better.' ''

Miller used to be a true-blue football believer himself. At his commuter school alma mater in Arlington, Texas, ""I was the campus sports writer, much like the ones here at the Oracle, beating the drum loudly.'' But college football failed there.

Later, as a sports writer, Miller watched the crowds fail to materialize for the University of Houston. He thinks the same will happen here.

""I would be happy to be wrong, but I'm not convinced,'' he said. ""If the Buccaneers leave town, then maybe . . .''

[Guest BasketBull.]

USF might find a home in Dome

St. Petersburg Times

September 15, 1995

Author: JOHN C. COTEY

College football in the ThunderDome? Could happen, Dome and University of South Florida officials said Thursday morning.

ThunderDome officials are scheduled to meet with representatives from USF ""in the next 10 days'' about the possibility of the Bulls playing in the ThunderDome, USF athletic director Paul Griffin said.

USF is expected to receive official approval today to begin a I-AA program from the Florida Board of Regents, which will vote on the issue during a meeting at Orlando.

If the vote is in USF's favor, the team will open play in 1997.

Playing at the USF soccer stadium has been ruled out, leaving Tampa Stadium and the ThunderDome as primary options. Griffin is scheduled to begin talks with both groups next week.

""It's possible,'' said Bill Boggs, public-relations director for the Dome. ""If there is any way possible, we will do it. We have great support for USF, and a good relationship with them. If it would make sense and it's possible to do, sure, we'd address that.''

But the real decision may belong to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who will become the Dome's primary tenant in 1998. Approximately $50-million worth of renovations are scheduled to get the Dome ready for baseball, making the physical state of the Dome in September 1997 unclear.

""There's still a question as to whether the Dome will be closed then,'' said Downtown Facilities Director Bob Leighton, ""and we won't know that until April or May of next year.''

The second issue is turf. The baseball turf they plan to put in at the ThunderDome ""doesn't work for football,'' Leighton said. That would mean having to purchase two very costly turfs.

The ThunderDome can be converted for football with seating estimated at 40,000. Boggs said two football games have been held in the ThunderDome in the past five years: an All-American Classic college all-star game and a Pro Football Legends Bowl.

Griffin said that Sports Foundation officials have suggested playing at least one USF game a year in the Dome, perhaps giving the game a name, ""like the Pinellas Classic.''

St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Sports Foundation President Mike Davenport declined comment, according to his secretary.

On campus, football vote is cheered

St. Petersburg Times

September 16, 1995

Author: JACKIE RIPLEY

Raiza Calderon has many reasons to be glad the University of South Florida is getting a football team, not the least of which is bringing order to the collegiate calendar.

""Now maybe we can have homecoming during the fall like other schools, instead of the spring,'' the USF freshman said Friday, after the school got the official okay to start a varsity football program.

The football vote might have taken place at the state Board of Regents meeting in Orlando, but there was a clear feeling of jubilation on the USF campus in Tampa.

""It's cool,''said Teresa Cope, a junior. ""It's like another sport to go to and get the school together. It'll give us more school spirit.''

The regents' decision brings an end to nearly three decades of debate. It also was viewed by many at USF Friday as a case of being better late than never.

""Football is one of the main sports in the state, and USF is a major university in the state,'' said Hugo Maradiegue, a father who traveled to Tampa from Peru to help his daughter, Lizette, get settled on campus. ""USF deserves to have a football team.''

It was the intent 35 years ago by the university's first president and faculty that USF should be known not for athletics, but for academics - an ideal to which many professors continued to adhere. But students, alumni and businesses all gave support to a football program.

Many USF officials, led by President Betty Castor, believe football can become a rallying point for students and faculty.

""I think it will be good for the university on the whole,'' said Linda Roberson, a member of USF's dormitory housing staff.

But not everyone shared in the euphoria.

Caroline Dormeus, a 20-year-old psychology major, carries a full class schedule in addition to working. She said she didn't care one way or the other about football ""as long as they don't raise my tuition.''

It's official!

USF scores first touchdown

The Tampa Tribune

September 16, 1995

Author: CATHY CUMMINS; Tribune Staff Writer

ORLANDO -- Eleven days shy of its 35th anniversary, the University of South Florida finally has a football team.

Students have asked for it. Alumni have dreamed of it. The staff and director of the USF Athletic Department have spent four years working on it.

The state Board of Regents approved a Division I-AA football program Friday, reversing a decision made three decades ago by school founders, who were against fielding a team.

Intercollegiate games are scheduled to begin in 1997.

"With all due respect to our beloved founder John Allen, this is the right decision, just late," Tampa regent and USF alumnus Dennis Ross said.

Only one of 14 regents cast a nay vote at the meeting, held in the University of Central Florida Arena. Recently appointed Regent C.B. Daniel, a Gainesville banker and University of Florida alumnus, said he wasn't convinced the program would be financially stable and feared women's sports would take a back seat.

USF President Betty Castor attributed the program's approval to three things:

[] In recent months, Athletic Director Paul Griffin and his staff worked overtime answering regents' questions on every aspect of a college football team.

[] USF's commitment to maintaining an equal balance of funding for men's and women's sports.

[] Support from alumni, community leaders and students -- who loaded a bus and drove to Orlando for the vote.

"Everyone came together and we're going to reap the benefits," Castor said. "I just can't wait until we take on the Gators and the Seminoles."

Those games are years away. As a Division I-AA team, USF will not play the larger, more established Division I-A programs of Florida and Florida State for some time.

USF plans to hire a coach by December. Intrasquad scrimmages will take place on USF branch campuses next fall.

USF plans to concentrate its recruiting on Florida athletes. "You can be assured there are a lot of young men out there who want to be the first to play for the Bulls," Griffin said.

The football program is unique in that it begins with a more than $5 million endowment -- money raised from corporations and community leaders during the past four years. USF plans to raise another $5 million by 2000.

More than 2,000 season tickets already have been reserved with $50 deposits.

Although many regents have voiced concerns about USF football, Daniel was the only one to speak against it.

With competition for entertainment dollars from Tampa's professional sports teams, Daniel wondered whether anyone would pay to watch USF's college games.

With plans for $12 tickets, Griffin estimates about 20,000 people will pay to watch each game the first year, with attendance falling to about 10,000 after that.

Daniel also questioned whether USF can fulfill its promise to treat men and women athletes equally.

As she has before, Castor pledged Friday to continue supporting women's sports. For instance, a women's soccer team -- created to counter the effect of adding up to 60 male athletes on football scholarships -- began playing this fall.

Daniel also questioned whether now is the best time to create a football team.

"Five or 10 years ago it would have been a no-brainer," he said. "I'm concerned that in these times of financial crisis that we're in, whether the Legislature will think we're correct to add programs to an already overloaded system -- whether it's football or any other program."

Q&A

St. Petersburg Times

September 16, 1995

Author: JOHN COTEY

The Florida Board of Regents officially endorsed a football program for the University of South Florida on Friday. With that endorsement comes a number of questions:

Q: Why start a football program?

A: Football brings national prominence, not to mention the benefits the school feels a team will bring to campus life. Basketball and baseball have had success, but have not generated the kind of widespread support the school would have liked.

Q: When is USF's first football game?

A: Sept. 6, 1997.

Q: Where will the team play?

A: Not on campus, at least for now. USF is expected to begin negotiations with Tampa Stadium in the next week or so. Officials also are considering playing at least one game a year in the ThunderDome, although many issues would have to be resolved for that to happen.

Q: When will the school pick a coach?

A: Shortly after Thanksgiving.

Q: Any idea who the coach might be?

A: Associate athletic director Lee Roy Selmon, the Hall of Fame player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has been leading the fund-raising for the new program and is considered a candidate. Other names most frequently mentioned include former Vikings assistant Jack Burns, former University of Tampa and Storm coach Fran Curci and former Gator coach Galen Hall. Hundreds of people have expressed an interest in the job, according to athletic director Paul Griffin, but the formal search begins Monday.

Q: How can I reserve season tickets, and how much will they cost?

A: Call 974-2125 and leave your name and address. USF will send you an application. The school is seeking five-year commitments of $50 a year. That money can be used toward the price of a season ticket, which will range anywhere from $50 to $70. Individual game tickets will cost $12.

Q: How soon will the school begin signing players?

A: The early signing period begins Feb. 7, 1996, and USF will sign anywhere from 12 to 20 players next year.

Q: How many scholarships will be given?

A: Division I-AA teams are allowed 63 scholarships and can divide those to cover all 85 players. The school can give aid to up to 25 new players each year. Griffin said USF will ease into giving scholarships, planning on 20 a year in the early stages of the program, and cutting back to about 15 a year thereafter.

Q: How is the program going to be paid for?

A: A $5-million endowment is in place, as is a student activity fee increase that will bring about $350,000 a year to the program. Griffin said he hopes the endowment can reach $10-million by the year 2000. Other monies will come from annual gifts and ticket sales.

Q: Will this affect any other USF sports, particularly women's sports?

A: It's hard to tell, but Griffin said the program will enhance many of the women's programs, as well as some of the men's. If it works, football could bring other programs along with it into national prominence. If it fails, the other programs aren't expected to suffer.

Q: Will this affect the number of academic scholarships?

A: No. Academic and athletic scholarships are unrelated.

Q: Will tax money be required to finance any of the program.

A: No. That would be against the law.

Q: What level of competition will they be in, and who are they likely to play? Will they play Florida, Florida State and Miami anytime soon?

A: The plan is to play a wholly Division I-AA schedule against teams like Florida A & M and Bethune-Cookman, or other non-Division I-A schools. USF has an agreement to play the University of Alabama-Birmingham its first season, according to a UAB official. Griffin said the school will not schedule ""sacrifice'' games against powerful Division I-A schools for money like some other I-AA schools do, so forget about Florida's big three.

Q: Will they be an independent or will they join a conference?

A: They probably will remain as an independent, although joining a conference at some point is a possibility.

Q: Will the school have to build additional housing and athletic facilities?

A: Housing needs can be met with what is available on campus. A pool of $1-million has been approved to build football offices, locker rooms and a weight room. Next week team officials will meet with the facilities planning committee to get things going. Plan on the offices being finished around late summer of 1997. Until then, the coaches will work out of modular units.

Q: Will the games be on TV or radio?

A: Yes, although on what stations has not been determined. USF hopes to forge a basketball and football package, and a television syndicator - Creative Sports Marketing of Charlotte, a subsidiary of ESPN - has been chosen. Most likely SportsChannel of Florida, which currently covers USF men's basketball games, will get first crack at broadcast rights.

Q: What kind of attendance is anticipated?

A: USF has budgeted a paid average attendance of 15,000 for the first season, and 10,000 for the years after. Griffin said, ""I would be the most disappointed person on earth if we don't exceed those numbers.''

Q: When will we know about colors and logos, and how soon can we start buying team paraphernalia?

A: The colors will be the same as for its other teams - green and yellow - and the uniform will emerge over the next two years. Griffin hopes to have the helmet on display in the spring of next year. Watch for football paraphernalia to hit the stores by Christmas.

Football fever slowly builds on USF campus

The Tampa Tribune

September 16, 1995

Author: MICHAEL FECHTER; Tribune Staff Writer

USF CAMPUS -- Football became a reality at the University of South Florida Friday, but walking around campus you'd be hard-pressed to know it.

Until the television cameras arrived.

Less than an hour after the Florida Board of Regents voted 13-1 in favor of granting USF a team, students milled about the Phyllis P. Marshall Center as if it were any other day.

No announcement came, no posters were seen.

"I'm not crazy about football," said Elina Elie, a junior nursing student, taking a snack break at the Marshall Center. "It's really not a big issue."

As local television crews arrived, however, a box of green and yellow pompoms appeared and moderate chanting and cheering began. It was organized in haste, students acknowledged. A more formal celebration is expected within a couple of weeks.

Elie and friend Esteve Nelson got caught up in the enthusiasm. Both said they liked the idea of bringing a team to USF, but questioned how often they would attend games.

It probably won't matter. Elie should be working as a nurse and Nelson hopes to be in medical school by the time USF begins 1-AA level play in 1997.

Tony Godhino, a freshman from Tarrytown, N.Y., had an easier time imagining himself in the stands on fall Saturdays. The best part about a new football team, he said, was adding some energy to the campus and giving students a greater loyalty to USF.

"Everybody wants it," he said. "But I haven't heard a lot of people talking about it. They talk about all the other football teams around here. Everybody is watching [Florida State University] or [the University of Florida]."

Sophomore Chris Snook said football will give students a more complete social life on campus. "If you see the campus on the weekends, there's nobody here," he said. Football will bring "more parties and a lot more spirit on the campus and with the school."

In Orlando, where the regents met for the official tally, a group of gung-ho USF students gathered to cheer on the vote. Jennifer Isenbeck said she skipped an inorganic chemistry class so she could be among the 50 students who boarded a bus before dawn for the trip.

"When I'm an alum and watching USF play on TV, I can say that I'm an alum. Not only that, but that I was there to hear the vote and my name is on the roster" of witnesses, Isenbeck said.

Student Government President David Quilleon, who also drove to Orlando, said he's dreamed of bringing football to campus since he started at USF in 1990.

"It will unite so many groups to celebrate not only football, but our university."

Some university faculty members were less excited. Charles Arnade, a distinguished service professor and one of USF's original professors, said his tact will change from opponent to vigilant observer.

At every opportunity during the past five years, Arnade has questioned USF presidents, senior administrators and athletic officials about the wisdom of bringing football to a university that can't secure a Phi Beta Kappa honors program.

Now he pledges to keep a close eye on the money, making sure any future losses in sports avoid hurting USF's academic programs. Officials promise that won't happen. He also wants them to live up to their pledge to emphasize the student role of the student-athlete.

"We will watch the graduation rate of those recruited to play football," he said.

USF was one of few American universities with enrollment above 30,000 students not to have a football team. Even though its founding fathers wanted to stay out of big-time athletics, USF Vice President for Research George Newkome welcomes the addition.

High-profile sports teams often bring a stronger crop of student applicants and better professors to their campuses, he said. Opposition to football mirrored criticism he said surfaced to his emphasis on expanding university research. USF founders envisioned a sports-free university with an emphasis on teaching and learning.

Since Newkome arrived in 1986, research grants have soared from $22 million a year to more than $100 million in 1994-95.

[MikeG]

amazing that the initial plan was to play season games in the soccer stadium--- they really didn't see how many people wanted this so badly.

I wonder-- had USF played there that first year-- other than the inaugural game being a nightmare (50K? in the soccer stadium)-- would that have led to adding on to the soccer stadium to accomodate the fanbase. Probably not-- but had we started in that direction early enough, we might have already had an OCS. I doubt it would have ever helped our cause though and it seems very impractical (I'm still happy with RJS).

[Rabbi Bull]

actually MikeG that makes sense.  if we had started playing in the soccer stadium, we would have had to expanded it so that it held enough seats for football, which would have lead to a OCS much like the one at Southern Miss.

[E.T.]

I don't see that really happening, we had about 15K season tickets sold way before the season I BULLieve.

Great visiting memory lane, Thanx for the thread !

Go BULLS !!!

[JoeB]

Wow, those coaches would have been a mess.  Fran Curci and Galen Hall??  Glad we got the Jim.

[E.T.]

I would have liked Galen Hall(who very well could be the next Penn St coach), but obviously VERY glad we have Leavitt !

Go BULLS !!!

[JoeB]

ET, Galen Hall will not be the next PSU coach.  I know he's the OC, but that will never happen.  Not exactly a forward thinking guy............

[E.T.]

But he could be the smooth transistion guy, sure that JoePa will have a big influence on who his replacement will be.

[crambone]

I found a nice little gem on eBay a few months back:

A press pass from USF's first ever football scrimmage back in 1996.  I even got the guy who worked at the ABC affiliate in Sarasota whom I bought it from to have a copy of his card and sign it to prove its authenticity.

I framed it and gave it to Tampa Bay Ray, the only bigger USF fan than I.