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The fans of the University of South Florida Bulls have reached their breaking point with the departures of good head coaches. The Bulls have lost another good coach from their basketball program. One of the problems is being in the conference they are in, which is the American Conference. This conference is not one of the Power Four. Which means that if the coaches do well, those in the power four can pay them more, and they will take those positions. The good news is that most of the programs at the University of South Florida are doing well. With CEO Rob Higgins and Derrick Brooks have the school is moving in the right direction. When Higgins was hired, he said one of his goals was to get USF to a power conference. That needs to happen sooner rather than later.
The football program is on the up, and it saw the UCF Knights, Cincinnati Bearcats, and Houston Cougars leave the American conference to go to the Big 12. At the time these programs left the conference, it was a time when the USF Bulls were going through a rough record-wise in the conference. The last three years under head coach Alex Golesh, the Bulls have appeared in three straight postseason bowl games. In the first two years under Golesh, they went 6-6 during the regular season and won both bowl games in those years. Last year, the Bulls won eight regular-season games and lost their bowl game. Many say that Golesh selfishly left and left the program hanging to become the new head coach for the Auburn Tigers.
It did not take long for Rob Higgins to get Golesh’s replacement as the former offensive coordinator of the Ohio State Buckeyes. That is Brian Hartline. Hartline is hoping to continue to get the football program moving forward. The biggest goal for the program is to win a conference championship, which USF has never done. The question now is whether the program is set to open an on-campus stadium next year. When is Hartline going to leave? If the Bulls win a conference championship and make it to the college football playoff game, is he gone? Hopefully, if that happens, USF will move to a Power Four conference. But that is not the only coach who has left after a successful season. The last coach to leave was from men’s basketball. Bryan Hodgson led the Bulls to a regular-season and American championships.
Hodgson turned down the job at Syracuse but went to Providence. Hodgson took over after the sudden passing of Amir Abdur-Rahim. He started turning around the program, and just like the football program, it is moving in the right direction. To replace Hodgson, the Bulls hired Chris Mack. Mack has been a successful coach all around college basketball. USF also hired a new head coach for women’s basketball. They hired former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kristy Curry. Let’s hope that success continues for the USF Bulls so they can get out of the American Conference, so they do not lose coaches in the future.
Is it time for USF to get out of the American Conference? Leave a comment below.
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Author Profile
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Bradley Walker serves as the Director of Operations for NGSC Sports, bringing extensive experience across collegiate, professional, and amateur athletics. His coverage spans USF Athletics, including football, baseball, lacrosse, and softball, as well as University of Tampa baseball.
Bradley also provides coverage of minor league baseball with the Clearwater Threshers and Major League Baseball with the Tampa Bay Rays. On the national stage, he covers college football bowl games and conference championship matchups, along with premier golf events across the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and LPGA Tour.
In addition to his reporting work, Bradley is the play-by-play announcer for Pinellas Park High School Patriots football, lending his voice and insight to Friday night lights.
He is also an active podcast host and contributor, serving as a co-host on the P&W Sports Report and hosting The Walker Report, where he delivers in-depth sports analysis, interviews, and coverage across multiple levels of competition.
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