Jesuit QB Tommy Eveld accepts USF walk-on offer, joins brother

Posted Feb 10, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Feb 10, 2012 at 09:40 AM

Jesuit quarterback Tommy Eveld, who last season threw for 2,326 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 111 yards and another three TDs, has accepted a preferred walk-on spot at the University of South Florida.

Despite his impressive statistics last fall, the 6-foot-5, 195-pound Eveld only had scholarship offers from several smaller schools, including Division II Fairmont State and Division III John Carroll and Marietta. He also had a grayshirt offer from Western Kentucky.

Jesuit coach James Harrell put it down to the fact Eveld came on strong as a senior when most Division I programs begin seeking quarterbacks in their junior season or earlier. But after a recent visit to the USF campus and considering his options, Tommy chose to stay close to home.

Tommy Eveld said USF was his dream school all along and is glad he will be a Bull.

“It didn’t turn out exactly like what I wanted it to but I’m happy with my decision. And with the quarterback situation there at USF, I think I will eventually have a shot at playing,” Tommy said. “I’ve been talking to a lot of coaches and spending a lot of time on this. Now I can concentrate on school and my studies. It’s a big relief.”

At South Florida, Eveld will join his brother, Bobby, who is a sophomore. He, too, was a recruited walk-on out of Jesuit in 2010. That season, he went on to appear in six games and started in the Bulls’ season finale against Cincinnati.

---

USF at Boise State in 2012?

Posted Feb 9, 2012 by Joey Johnston

Updated Feb 10, 2012 at 12:32 AM

Could the University of South Florida Bulls be playing on Boise State’s fabled blue turf this season?

Maybe so.

Late Thursday, the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail reported that West Virginia University has reached a conditional agreement with the Big East Conference and a settlement cost of $20-million to cover its departure and a jump to the Big 12 by July 1. Part of the agreement reportedly would cover a buyout for Boise State to leave the Mountain West Conference. That would allow the Broncos to replace West Virginia and join their new football-only home in the Big East in 2012, one season earlier than expected.

USF was scheduled to play at West Virginia this fall. Neither the Big East nor the Big 12 has released its football schedule, although CBSSports.com reported the Big 12 schedule would be announced on Friday.

The potential arrangement could leave USF in the unusual position of playing TWO games west of the Rocky Mountains. The Bulls recently scheduled a home-and-home series against Nevada with the first game scheduled for Reno, Nev., on Sept. 8.

West Virginia announced last fall that it was jumping to the Big 12, shortly after Pittsburgh and Syracuse decided to join the ACC. Big East commissioner John Marinatto, citing the league’s bylaws, said all three schools were bound to the conference for a 27-month waiting period, meaning they couldn’t leave until July 1, 2014. West Virginia then sued the Big East, which promptly filed a countersuit.

If West Virginia’s early flight to the Big 12 is successful, it’s unknown how that would affect the plans of Pittsburgh and Syracuse, which have maintained they will honor the Big East’s waiting-period stipulation.

The Idaho Statesman reported that Boise State was exploring the possibility of placing all its non-football sports in the Western Athletic Conference for the 2012-13 school year.

After the defections, the Big East moved to complete a revamped 12-team football lineup, adding Central Florida, Houston, Memphis and SMU for all sports in 2013, while bringing aboard Boise State and San Diego State for football only. Navy plans to join the Big East in 2015, when the league would presumably have enough football-playing members to stage a championship game, perhaps in New York.

Boise State was 12-1 last season with a victory against Arizona State in the Las Vegas Bowl, plus a season-opening win against Georgia. Broncos coach Chris Petersen is 73-6 in six seasons, including Fiesta Bowl triumphs against Oklahoma (following the 2006 season) and TCU (following the 2009 season).
 

---

Memphis: Good move for Big East

Posted Feb 7, 2012 by Joey Johnston

Updated Feb 7, 2012 at 06:31 PM

The University of Memphis will become an all-sports member of the Big East Conference beginning in 2013, according to CBSSports.com, and the move is expected to be announced Wednesday.

Memphis is a familiar foe for the University of South Florida Bulls. USF was a member of Conference USA, along with Memphis, from 1995-2005. The addition of Memphis makes plenty of sense because of geography and the built-in rivalries. The Tigers (national runners-up in 1973 and 2008) bring great value in men’s basketball. USF was 3-17 against Memphis during the C-USA era, losing 12 of the last 13 meetings.

The Memphis football program has not been great for some time, but it will be forced to keep up in the Big East. The Tigers have gone 5-31 since their last bowl appearance, a 41-14 defeat against USF in the inaugural St. Petersburg Bowl in 2008.

When the West Virginia-to-the-Big 12 issue is sorted out—and Pittsburgh and Syracuse depart for the ACC in 2014 (if not sooner)—here’s how the revamped Big East lineup will look (with the expectation of winding up with 12 football-playing schools and holding a Big East Championship Game):

The Big East football league

* Boise State (football only in 2013)
* Central Florida (all sports in 2013)
* Cincinnati
* Connecticut
* Houston (all sports in 2013)
* Louisville
* Memphis (all sports in 2013)
* Navy (football only in 2015)
* Rutgers
* San Diego State (football only in 2013)
* SMU (all sports in 2013)
* USF

The Big East basketball holdovers

* DePaul
* Georgetown
* Marquette
* Notre Dame
* Providence
* St. John’s
* Seton Hall
* Villanova

---

USF assistant leaves for Dolphins

Posted Feb 2, 2012 by Joey Johnston

Updated Feb 2, 2012 at 10:31 PM

Phil McGeoghan, the University of South Florida’s receivers coach for three seasons, is leaving to become assistant receivers coach on Joe Philbin’s staff with the Miami Dolphins, the school confirmed on Thursday night.

Through his Twitter account, USF coach Skip Holtz wished luck to McGeoghan (“Appreciate the job you have done at USF’’). On Wednesday’s National Signing Day, Holtz praised the work of McGeoghan, 32, the lead recruiter on several key prospects, such as North Marion tight end Sean Price, plus Gainesville High linebacker Tashon Whitehurst and cornerback Chris Bivins Jr. McGeoghan spoke about USF’s signings with excitement on Wednesday afternoon, a few hours before he was contacted by the Dolphins.

When Holtz was hired following the 2009 season, McGeoghan was among three of Jim Leavitt’s holdover staff members retained as a position coach.

It was the second USF assistant-coach defection this offseason. In January, defensive coordinator Mark Snyder left for Texas A&M. He was replaced by Chris Cosh, the defensive coordinator at Kansas State.

---

Holtz: Good luck to Schiano

Posted Jan 26, 2012 by Joey Johnston

Updated Jan 26, 2012 at 10:20 PM

University of South Florida coach Skip Holtz was 1-1 against Rutgers when Greg Schiano was the Scarlet Knights’ coach. Now Holtz and Schiano, hired Thursday as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, share the same town.

Holtz, during a break in recruiting with National Signing Day looming on Wednesday, sent along some well-wishes after hearing the Schiano/Bucs news.

“I’m excited for Greg and his family,’’ Holtz said in a statement released by USF. “We’ve gotten to know each other over the past few seasons. He’s a great person and a tremendous coach. We’ve had some great battles and I respect the effort and discipline his teams have played with. He’s a defensive coach with NFL experience, and I think he has a great opportunity to be successful with the Bucs. We are fans of coach Schiano and the Bucs organization and we wish them both great success.’‘

---

Cosh sees great potential

Posted Jan 24, 2012 by Joey Johnston

Updated Jan 24, 2012 at 03:24 PM

Chris Cosh, the University of South Florida’s new defensive coordinator, acknowledged he made a difficult decision last week when leaving the same position at Kansas State, but said he was swayed by USF’s potential and the opportunity to reunite with head coach Skip Holtz.

“The future here is tremendous,’’ said Cosh on Tuesday in his first comments since being hired by USF on Jan. 19. “What you have around you is so exciting. All you need is a car or a bike and you’re right in the middle of a great recruiting territory.

“An incredible amount has been accomplished with this program in a very short amount of time. I think we’re on the verge of something very big here.’’

Cosh, 52, was on the South Carolina staff with Holtz from 1999-2003.

Following the 2000 season, the Gamecocks came to Tampa’s Outback Bowl and trained at USF.

“I got to know what Tampa was all about,’’ Cosh said. “It was at the very beginnings of USF’s football program at that time. I knew it had changed a lot, but really, I had no idea how much it had changed.’’

After Bulls defensive coordinator Mark Snyder left for Texas A&M on Jan. 9, Holtz contacted Cosh to gauge his interest in joining USF. It was just three days after Kansas State had lost against Arkansas 29-16 at the Cotton Bowl.

“You’re getting over the disappointment of the bowl loss, jumping into recruiting, then Skip calls and that gave me another thing to think about,’’ Cosh said. “I was excited to get the call. I knew about what Skip has done as a head coach, what kind of teacher and recruiter he is. I wanted to give it a look. When I got here, I was pleasantly surprised by everything that was here.’’

Cosh came to Tampa and attended USF’s football banquet, meeting with the players and staff. He toured the facilities and campus. Then he asked for some time to consider the job offer.

After deliberations that were more difficult that he originally suspected, Cosh told Holtz he would accept the position, which carries an annual salary of $325,000.

Cosh, who recruited parts of Florida for Kansas State, said he will utilize a four-man front. He wants USF “to be a team that runs to the football and makes the tackle. I want us to play with great enthusiasm and emotion. We want to put pressure on people and tackle them when we get there.’’

After viewing some film from USF’s 5-7 season, he said the Bulls “aren’t far away from doing big things’’ and his defense returns a “very good nucleus of players.’’

“The future here is bright,’’ Cosh said. “I’m glad to be part of it.’’

Cosh’s Kansas State defensive unit drastically improved its rush defense last season, moving to 37th nationally (131.2 yards per game) and finishing 119th (out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools) in 2010. Last season, Kansas State was ranked 103rd nationally in pass defense (263.4 yards per game) in the offensively potent Big 12.

The Bulls, who failed to make a bowl game for the first time since 2004, were 39th overall in defense last season, allowing 351.3 yards per game. In Big East Conference games, the Bulls were seventh among eight teams, surrendering an average of 379 yards.

The Bulls suffered several fourth-quarter meltdowns in 2011, giving up last-minute drives to Miami and West Virginia, which led to final-play, game-winning field goals. They also allowed a last-minute drives in narrow defeats against Cincinnati and Rutgers.

---

Reports: Navy to join Big East in 2015

Posted Jan 24, 2012 by TBO.com

Updated Jan 24, 2012 at 09:31 AM

Navy is expected to announce Tuesday that it will join the Big East for football in 2015, according to several news outlets, including ESPN, CBSSports.com and The Associated Press.

Athletic director Chet Gladchuk had said Navy, an independent, was comfortable with the Big East and needed to rework schedules and television contracts.

The Big East announced previously the additions of Boise State and San Diego State in football, and Houston, Central Florida and SMU in all sports, effective 2013.

USF, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville and Rutgers are the Big East holdovers from a tumultuous three-month span that saw Pittsburgh and Syracuse jump to the Atlantic Coast Conference, then TCU (which was due to join in 2012) and West Virginia flee for the Big 12. West Virginia and the conference are slated for a court-ordered mediation to determine whether the school will move for 2012-13 or 2013-14.

---

Reports: Navy to join Big East in 2015

Posted Jan 24, 2012 by TBO.com

Updated Jan 24, 2012 at 09:30 AM

Navy is expected to announce Tuesday that it will join the Big East conference for football in 2015, according to several news outlets, including ESPN, CBSSports.com and The Associated Press.

Athletic director Chet Gladchuk has previously said Navy, an independent, was comfortable with the Big East and needed to rework schedules and television contracts.

The Big East announced previously the additions of Boise State and San Diego State in football, and Houston, Central Florida and SMU in all sports, effective 2013.

USF, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville and Rutgers are the Big East holdovers from a tumultuous three-month span that saw Pittsburgh and Syracuse jump to the Atlantic Coast Conference, then TCU (which was due to join in 2012) and West Virginia flee for the Big 12. West Virginia and the conference are slated for a court-ordered mediation to determine whether the school will move for 2012-13 or 2013-14.

---

Cosh’s contract: $325,000 per year

Posted Jan 19, 2012 by Joey Johnston

Updated Jan 19, 2012 at 02:30 PM

Chris Cosh, the University of South Florida’s new defensive coordinator, agreed to a two-year deal at $325,000 per season, making him the highest-paid assistant on Coach Skip Holtz’s football staff. Cosh, who was Kansas State’s defensive coordinator for the past three seasons and agreed to join USF late Wednesday night, replaced Mark Snyder, who jumped to Texas A&M. Snyder made $260,000 last season at USF.

---

USF Gets Game With Nevada

Posted Jan 17, 2012 by Joey Johnston

Updated Jan 17, 2012 at 10:25 AM

For only the third time in University of South Florida football history, the Bulls will play a game west of the Rocky Mountains.

USF will face the Nevada Wolf Pack, a Western Athletic Conference team that will join the Mountain West Conference, on Sept. 8, 2012. It completes USF’s non-conference schedule for next season, which also includes home games against Chattanooga (Sept. 1) and Florida State (Sept. 29) with road games at Ball State (Sept. 22) and Miami (Nov. 24). The Big East Conference schedule hasn’t been announced yet. Nevada is scheduled to return the game against USF at Raymond James Stadium in 2015.

In 1999, USF traveled to San Diego State and in 2001, the Bulls played at Utah.

---