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Sean Havens

Indiana can

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can sort of cement itself as we

Sean Havens

are no longer this team that's going

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to be fighting for six wins anymore.

Sean Havens

Malachi Toney Is he going to be read? Dante Moore he showed improvement. Better command.

Bud Elliott

What's going on y'?

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All?

Bud Elliott

Bud Elliott here of the COVID 3 college football podcast. That's Sean's name. It's. That means we are doing USF Summer School Bulls247. Sean, what's going on, man?

Sean Havens

How's it going?

Bud Elliott

Doing well, man. Just, you know, hopping on to talk a little, little USF today. You know, decent season last year, of course, and a lot of change now in Tampa. What have you noticed with new head coach Brian Hartline coming over?

Sean Havens

He is very different. He is more of a CEO type of role. Golish, as you know, is more of a. He was almost like an offensive coordinator type of head coach, where his entire, his entire scheme, his entire. The way he ran the program was all focused on the offense. And it kind of seemed like that was his focus most of the time. And it was just how good can we make the offense? And that can kind of carry us to wins. Heartland is very different. He's very much, you can tell he comes from Ohio State where everything is kind of behind the scenes. He's not as focused on social media. He's probably only posted a couple times about USF since he's been here, but he very much is, is making things happen in the background. And yeah, very, very different style of a head coach than we've had recently.

Bud Elliott

Nice. So you mentioned, like a little bit less involved in the scheme. They bring over Tim Beck to be the, the oc. What are you expecting them to run?

Sean Havens

It's going to be pretty much the Ohio State offense. The. It's going to be pro style. A lot of it will depend on who the quarterback is, which we'll touch on in a second. I'm sure the, the offense will be a lot slower than we're used to. As we saw this spring, the offense, like I said, it's going to be pro style. It's going to be, you know, more basic of an offense than we have seen the past couple years with the, the goal of shot fence. But that's one of my biggest questions probably about this team going into the season is how does the offense look schematically and how does that work in Florida at a place like usf? Because when they've had success, it has been up tempo, spreading them out. The coaches that have had success at USF have done that. So how does this work with this offense?

Bud Elliott

You mentioned quarterback, who, who do you think is going to win this job?

Sean Havens

I would imagine it would be Van Buren. Michael Van Buren from lsu. He started, I believe it was like five games for them, something like that. He looked, he looked pretty Good. I would say he is expected to be more of a running quarterback at USF compared to some of their other options. They also got Luke Crumenhoek, who, you know, I'm sure he was at Florida State for a minute and then he went to Mississippi State. He is more of a pro style quarterback, at least the way that they use him. He kind of, he's really good at finding his first read and his second read. When the play breaks down. It's maybe a little bit more of a question as to what does he do with the ball. You know, sometimes he could force it a little bit. I would say in that way, Van Buren is more. He feels very comfortable in the pocket and he knows when the, when the play breaks down, he knows, okay, run the ball. If I can find a open playmaker, I'll get it to them. But he is very dynamic on his feet and that's probably what separates him at the moment.

Bud Elliott

Makes sense. They had a lot of like really talented receivers last year. A good number of those names that we know are, are off to Auburn. What, what do they have this year?

Sean Havens

Yeah, so they have a lot of depth now. I, at this moment, they have so many transfers. A few of them didn't play in the spring. So it's kind of who are the, the main guys? You know, they, they like to have a couple options, but definitely they usually have an alpha like at Ohio State, you know, with, with Harrison and Iuka and all those guys that they've had. So who is that guy? They have Bryson Rogers is the one Ohio State player they bring with them. He is the guy that is on all the social media. He is the guy that they talk about the most. Now does that lead to him being the best player in the room? I say probably, but I'm not sure of that. They have plenty of other options. They bring back a couple guys. Moody Rubin, who started in the slot last year. They have Jaquan Smith who was a backup. Jayton Alexis who was a backup. And then they bring in a bunch of other transfers. They got drawn Glover, Cameron Selden, our bot branch, Armani Winfield. I mean, I can keep going. Kenny Odom. They have a lot of options in that room. And it's just the question is who are the main guys? And I would say Bryson Rogers, the question with him is where do they play him? They played him in the slot during the spring. Do they move him around? And then our mod branch was the, the most highly touted guy in the transfer portal. He's pretty, pretty Highly rated coming into usf and he is definitely another option that they'll look at.

Bud Elliott

Nice. I, you know, and then looking at Beck's career and you mentioned like, you know, both quarterbacks have pretty good mobility as well. You know, we think obviously of, of Heartline as a guy, like you know, big time receiver development, you know, just NFL stud after NFL stud going on and a really good recruiter obviously of receivers. But like if you look at back in his career, he's had a lot of quarterbacks who like really can run and like feature the QB run a lot. I'm kind of wondering if you're seeing what I'm seeing here. Like you know, Sam Eller, Taylor Martinez, like a lot of these dudes that Beck had, you know, some Urban Meyer ties there. Kind of like, like it, it's. Do you see them running the QBs a lot?

Sean Havens

Especially if it's Van Buren. They, they ran him a lot in spring. Now what can you take away from, you know, a spring game? But they did have a handful of quarterback reads, that kind of stuff, and then a few where the, the play broke down. He would, he would take off. But this, I would imagine at least at the beginning of the year is going to be very heavy on the run game with some of the, the running back transfers they've taken in from the fcs and then running the quarterback and the passing game I would expect would be something that takes a little time. They have a schedule where they can take advantage of the early start and I think that it'll be kind of grounded pounds with some deep shots to talented receivers. Even though, you know, they haven't played a ton at their power conference teams. Most of the transfers that come in, but they will, they will be able to find a handful of them that can, you know, take advantage of the defense.

Bud Elliott

That makes sense offensive line wise. I mean I, my sheet says like less than a quarter of the starts return from last year. What's your kind of general feel on this group?

Sean Havens

Yeah, so they only return one offensive lineman from that started last season and Thomas Schrader who is a guard. They bring in about five transfers that are going to battle for starting spots. Mostly they have it settles. They have Ethan Green and Michael Wooden who come in from P5 P4 schools and they are most likely starting a tackle. They bring in Cash Hudson from Missouri State who is their center most likely. And then they have Caleb Cook who comes in from Georgia Southern who was a starter and he will start most likely a guard. So those are most likely the starting five and then they have a handful of other guys that they brought in that are going to be dead pieces. But I would imagine that that'll be your starting five and they looked really good in the spring. You know, what can you take away from a spring game? But they, they held up really well, especially for five guys that have played together.

Bud Elliott

So you mentioned a couple running backs from, you know, one double or. Well, FCS is, is Crowther the guy like, obviously he was, you know, pretty decent at Dartmouth last year.

Sean Havens

Yeah, they, they really like both Crowther and Jason Collins who comes in from Morgan State. Jason Collins, I remember looking at his stats at Morgan State and I was like, I didn't really see it. He didn't have very impressive stats. He had like 4 yards of carry, 400 yards, something like that. But he, they both looked really, really good in spring. Then they have Alvin Isaac who comes back, who was, he's kind of an all purpose back that the last staff really liked. It didn't really come together for him like I thought it would. Just talking to the previous staff, they, they thought he would be one of their best guys last year and it didn't really work out that way. But they have a few guys that they'll, they'll look to and I think it'll be a really good room.

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Nice.

Bud Elliott

All right, we'll hit our first break here on the flip side, little defense, little schedule expectations of the first year on a bright heart line.

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Bud Elliott

All right back here on Summer school.

Sean Havens

That's my man.

Bud Elliott

Sean Havens, Bulls247, does a great job covering all things USF for us. Sean. Great breakdown on the offense. Let's go ahead and turn to the defense here. I guess we'll start with what are they running.

Sean Havens

Yeah, so they got the defensive coordinator from East Carolina from last season. He did a really good job with them. He. It's it's pretty much the same defensive scheme as last year. It's a 335 in name but they have the outside linebacker who plays on the line. So it's a pseudo defensive ends that could, they can, they can move them around a little bit, but it's pretty much the same scheme. They have a, they, they use the star position, which is a little different than the nickel from last year that USF used, but besides that, it's, it's pretty similar. They, they probably won't be as aggressive on the defensive line. Just from what I've seen that the last season it was pretty much reliant on the defensive line a little bit. They're going to be a little bit

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more

Sean Havens

focused on stopping big plays and probably also less reliant on turnovers because that was kind of the scheme from last year was sacks and turnovers and they didn't really care how many yards they gave up under the previous staff because they knew they would get the ball back to their offense. This defense will probably be more better at stopping the other team from just kind of booking the ball at will.

Bud Elliott

And

Sean Havens

you know, if they can come up with some, some stuff on, on third down and get it back to their offense.

Bud Elliott

Who are the guys in this deep. And I think that makes a lot of sense too. If you're slowing down the tempo on offense, you're going more run heavy. Like you kind of need to match your defense to what you're doing on offense. Who are the guys that we're going to watch when we, when we cut on USF this year? Like, who the hell is that guy? Right? Like who are the guys you think, you think who have a chance to be like stars for this USF defense?

Sean Havens

Yes. So pretty much what they did was the, they lost almost all their starters on defense and they basically replaced all of them with incoming transfers. So I would imagine at probably 10 starters will be transfers that came in over the off season. And then a lot of the depth will be similar depth from last year. The backup pretty much, defensive line, linebackers, safeties, are all guys that were here last year and they return. So there's going to be a lot of new pieces on the defensive line. They have a lot of talent there. They have a defensive tackle they brought in from Norfolk State, Major Dillard, who they really, really like. He's kind of like a nose guard block up the middle. And then they have some, some defensive ends that they also like. They brought in CJ Hicks from Ohio State, who is kind of a pass rush specialist. And then they, they bring back Michael Williams, who is another defensive end that is kind of more consistent, a good run stopper. So they'll probably pair those two together. And then they have, they have a lot of guys that come in that have played in the power forward and it's just how does that, how does that transfer over to a place like usf?

Bud Elliott

For sure. Is there a guy that you're like, oh man. Like, I know he has two years of eligibility left, but he's probably like one and done to the NFL like somebody they really feel they've hit on?

Sean Havens

That's a good question. I think it's hard because they have so many guys with experience. They have, I believe it's 11 guys that are already seniors, so they'll be gone no matter what. They they really like Grayson Howard at linebacker there. He's a guy that comes from Florida that has had some injury issues in the past, but he looked healthy in the spring and he's going to be the quarterback of the defense at linebacker and they really, really like him as the guy to kind of steady the ship on defense. With so many new guys.

Bud Elliott

Nice turning the schedule here. I think I like it for them for the most part. And like, there are certainly some challenging spots here, like just for our audio audience at home. I'll go ahead and read it off FIU at Army so you don't have to go to army in the cold, which is kind of nice for a bunch of Florida guys. Although the team's kind of all over the place. But still, you know, Delaware comes, comes to Tampa at Bowling Green, Temple comes to Tampa at utsa, Kent State, then you get a bye week and then UAB in Tampa at East Carolina, host Memphis at fau. So it's a road game, but within the state, just a drive across Alligator alley there. And then Tulane comes to Tampa. That's a lot of your tough opponents having to come to Tampa. And importantly, they dodge Navy, who as of this recording is the favorite to win the American to the extent there is one because it seems like it's, it's fairly wide open this year within a reason. What, what are your expectations for this team in Year one under Hardline?

Sean Havens

Yeah, they, they have a much easier schedule out of conference than they've had in the past. They've played, man, they played Alabama at Florida, Miami and Notre Dame and you know, all the, the, the teams that you think of as kind of blue bloods and stuff like that. But the out of conference is is really nice to get some momentum in his first year. The in conference schedule is kind of difficult as far as the teams that they play. I know some of the preseason magazines have it as like the second toughest in conference schedule. So overall I do think I really like this team as Far as they're deep, they have a lot of talent. They physically look as close to a Power 4 team as you could look in the G6. They have a lot of size. I think they'll hold up well. And you know, there's just some questions as far as the offense goes to Is this a 7 and 5 team that looks okay or are they able to take advantage of this schedule and get to where they want to go to the conference?

Bud Elliott

Makes sense. I'm really excited to see what they do here. I mean, like two options, a quarterback who has talent. Like, I, I trust Heartline to, to like actually develop these receivers, you know, and find some guys I like. I think Odom's really, really intriguing. I, I, I'm kind of bullish on this squad, man. I think they can get some stuff done and you know, it, it is a good point in the conference schedule. Like, you'd like to see, you'd like to see Charlotte, you'd like to see Rice, you'd like to see Tulsa, I guess maybe North Texas there because they lost a ton. Like, you know, they play basically Vegas has it as like eight teams or seven teams that can really win this thing obviously can't play themselves. Like, of the remaining six, I guess they draw, they draw five of the six. They dodge Navy like, you know, the most of those at home is, is kind of nice. I, I guess I, I agree with you. It's definitely nice though, to have the non con where, you know, you really should come out with a pretty nice record there.

Sean Havens

Yeah. And I think, I think the, the record of this team will be pretty good because of the nonon and because of, I think this, this team has a pretty solid floor. I think the floor is probably like 7 and 5, something like that. And you know, it's just how quickly can this offense come together with so many new pieces and are they able to get to their ceiling, which is pretty high, I would say, in the American. And all it takes is to win the American with maybe one loss, which I think is doable with this schedule. And if you can do that, then you're in a pretty good spot for the playoffs. So I think that's the, Obviously the ceiling.

Bud Elliott

A million percent. Awesome, man. Well, cool, Sean. I appreciate it and we'll, we'll definitely talk soon, man.

Sean Havens

That's good. All right.