Pulse of the Fans: Why are USF Fans so Angry with Football this Season?

You mad bro?

As the Bulls prepare to face the highest ranked opponent to ever step on the field of Raymond James Stadium, the fans are growing impatient and frustrated not only with the team, but the program in general.  While 2-2 is not the end of the world, the way the team and coaching staff have gotten there, is not sitting well with some.

Where to begin?  Well, to start, I'll explain my stance and where my views come from with this team.  I went to USF starting in 2005, the first year the program and school joined the Big East conference.  I watched a team that many had as an after thought so on and defeat Auburn, FSU, Louisville, WVU, and other highly ranked teams when they were suppose to be doormats.

During those days, Coach Jim Leavitt, the founder of the program, took a team that didn't have the most elite talent in the world and won those major upsets.  Leavitt energized the fan base and truly had the team on the rise, but when it came to conference play, he seemed to hit a brick wall.  For whatever reason, the lack of talent, bad coaching, or just wearing down the team early in the year, USF struggled to get to the next level in conference play.  Life as a football fan was to see a team do well and begin to move up the polls in September, only to fall back when they got to Big East play.  Each year we would see the team that had more talent than others in the league simply fall apart.  From bad play calling, to the lack of discipline and the constant penalties, each year, Leavitt's teams just circled the drain.

As fans, we would watch the team play well, but always come up short or make a bad play late in a game to seal another losing Big East season.  It was hard watching a team get so close only to stink it up late.  While listening to the media and hearing how well the team should have played, we had the expectations each year that Leavitt and staff would figure it out, but it never happened.

After a few years of this and the Leavitt drama that got him fired, the Bulls made a change and hired Skip Holtz to take the job.  Holtz inherited a team, a program, and a fanbase that had seen the team come close to reaching the next level but had failed to get there.  With Holtz taking over, there was a lot of hope with him that he could turn it around, get the team to the next level, and finally solve the history of this team failing late in the year. 

Holtz had taken an ECU program that was once a low tier team in C-USA and won two C-USA titles, had a fanbase energized and had the pedigree of the name Holtz with him.  When Skip stepped foot on campus there was a since of strong emotion and optimism going forward.  I, as many, thought that Holtz would be the next step to getting the program to the next level. 

I personally saw Leavitt as a good coach that had reached the plateau, a man that had reached the limits of his ability with the team and wasn’t the guy to take the next step to win Big East titles or move up to bigger bowl games.  The lack of discipline each year, the mistakes, and let downs each season backed it up, but now we had Holtz.  Holtz was the man that was going to bring discipline, consistency, a level-minded approach and after seeing him elevate UCONN and then ECU, coming to a BCS conference school, the ingredients were there to raise a contending team in Tampa, but in 3 years, we haven’t gotten there.

In his first year, Holtz went 8-5, beating Clemson for a bowl victory and the energy was there.  The team was dealing with a new coach, had lost a lot of players to the NFL and battled through injuries, but made the right steps.  In close games, the team battled and came away with some wins and there was a progression with the team.  However, last season, it all went wrong.  Going 5-7 was bad enough, but the 1-6 record through the conference was the real punch to the gut.

The Bulls lost those games in a variety of ways, from being shelled by Pitt to losing the ugliest game to Miami 3 to 6, the team found a new way to lose it seemed each week.  And while the losses on the stat sheet hurt, it was the way the team and the coaching staff adjusted during those games that really had the fans upset.  The team played undisciplined, drawing bad flags, allowing opponents to stay on the field after converting long third downs.  One play that summed up the season for me was the personal foul call on Ryne Giddins in the Miami game that allowed the Canes to keep the ball late and win the game.  While penalties hurt and the bad offense continued to cause ulcers for fans, it was the inability for the coaching staff to adjust.  Game after game, it seemed the play calling, preparation and ability to adapt to situations was not there.  While Leavitt would scream and yell to gets things done, Holtz hardly showed emotion out there.  This is not saying Holtz didn’t show emotion or not try to make adjustments on the fly, but it was his style that seemed to make many anger.  Each press conference it was the same lines over and over again, he thought the team played hard, they needed to make adjustments, and were going to get it figured out the next week, but they never did.

And now here we stand in 2012, at 2-2, fresh off a loss to a non-BCS team (first loss in over 7 years) and “starring down the barrel of a shotgun” with the mighty Noles coming to town.  Just listening to the fans, season ticket holders, and the overall mood of the USF family, it’s not optimistic, in fact, it’s down right bad.  All the optimism that came with Holtz and the change we thought and new heights for this team, have not been reached, and now things seem to be getting worse.

So why, as fans, are we so angry?  Well the first is obvious, the team is struggling.  We are seeing the same old mistakes from the past, the inability of the coaches to correct it, and the team headed in the wrong direction.  At this point, Holtz is just 15-14, 4-11 in conference play, since taking over, not exactly the turn-around we were all hoping for. The games are hard to watch each week as the team continues to repeat the same mistakes and the coaching staff continues to sing the same tune.  Holtz continues to say the same thing, proud of the team, have to clean up the mistakes, will be competitive, but where is it? However, the anger and frustration goes past just what Holtz and staff are doing out there (or not doing out there).

We, as sports fans and supporters of USF, want to see everything we do succeed.  We have seen our other teams, soccer, softball, basketball, all reach higher levels, but the one sport, football, has yet to do that.  We live in a state where football is king.  Just walk around and you see FSU, Miami, and UF shirts and hats all over the place and there is envy of that. It’s not envy of those teams (more of hatred really) but envy to be a team that is known, relevant, and competitive in a state that is hungry for football.  As USF fans, we have had a taste of it, beating ranked teams and a few in-state games against those other programs, we have seen just a glimmer of winning and what having a football program that wins feels like, but we just can’t get there.

Can we blame someone for getting our hopes up?  Do we blame the media?  For some of it, yes.  Each year, many outlets peg USF as the team with the most talent and a favorite to win the conference.  It raises expectations for the fans believing the team is going to reach the level of the talent that is on the roster, only to see it fall apart late in the year.  Do we blame ourselves?  Yes, we have to.  As I mentioned above, we have envy of other teams and we have in our hearts and minds that with what we know about the team, the history, and the potential, that we should be better, but that is where we are abusing ourselves.  We see the team through the green and gold shaded glasses and want the team to do better, but we must remember the history of the program, 8-5 seasons and failed expectations.  We saw it through Leavitt’s days and now with Holtz and his group, it’s the same story each year; talent, expectations, this is the year to break through, then disappointment.  It is something we should be used to by now, we see it every year.  Whether we want to except it or not, we are who we are.  Do we want change, of course, can it be done, perhaps, will it happen, we are still waiting on that part.