By Jordan Long
On Saturday, the University of South Florida football team was drummed by the Temple Owls 54-28, dropping their record to 1-8. This was the 7th consecutive loss for the University of South Florida. They decided it was time to part ways with Head Coach Jeff Scott with 3 games remaining.
Scott was hired by South Florida on December 9th, 2019. Scott served as co-offensive coordinator for the Clemson Tigers under Dabo Swinney since 2014. In that time, Clemson went to the College Football Playoff 5 times, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021. They managed to advance to the College Football Championship Game in 2016, 2017, and 2019. In 2017 and 2019 Clemson won the College Football Championship game to become college football champions.
The University of South Florida was looking for a Head Coach after they canned Charlie Strong following 3 seasons. Strong went 21-16, a winning percentage of .568. The University of South Florida appeared in two bowl games under Strong with a record of 1-1 but decided to fire Strong following a 4-8 finish in 2019.
The University of South Florida decided that Scott was the best candidate. Scott had three years to turn the program around, but it didn’t work out. The University of South Florida wasn’t playing competitive football. They went a disappointing 4-26 under Scott.
The last straw came this past Saturday. The offense played well, gaining 471 yards. The defense, though, allowed 621 yards. Scott didn’t do enough to help his defense adjust in the game as they were beaten by Temple 54-28. The University of South Florida Athletic Director Michael Kelly didn’t like where the program was headed and decided it was time to move on from Scott.
According to ESPN.com, Kelly said, “When Jeff came to Tampa in December of 2019, we had high expectations for where he could take our football program. While he did so many things right, including rebuilding our culture, pushing forward our indoor performance facility, and engaging our community, the on-the-field results fell well below our standards. He is a tremendous person and class individual and we wish him, Sara, Savannah, and Hunter all the best in the future.”
The University of South Florida is now going to start a coaching search. They will take their time. Whoever they hire next needs to be able to coach this team to a bowl game.
Scott might be in high demand as an offensive coordinator. He understands how to run an offense. Who knows if he will ever have a head coaching job again since his time at the University of South Florida didn’t work out. Hopefully, he will learn from his mistakes and get a second chance to lead a program.
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