On the wall to the entrance of the University of South Florida’s new football locker room is a quote from Bill Walsh. The message underscores how a team needs to act like a champion before it becomes a champion.
To that extent, when coach Jeff Scott arrived in December 2019 his primary objective was to change the culture of a program he was hired to lead.
The new locker room is certainly first-class with its facial recognition technology, digital lighting and surround sound system as well as a lounge that includes video game consoles and a nutrition fueling station.
While the $3.3 million renovation to the locker room, coaches offices, and meeting rooms within the Lee Roy Selmon Athletics Center coupled with the scheduled opening of a $22-million indoor performance center by this time next year is all nice for the athletes, the culture that is built within the locker room is what will make the difference.
Though Scott, as he put it, spent much of his first season at USF managing and not coaching thanks to the many protocols and the like set in motion due to the pandemic, the former Clemson co-offensive coordinator was putting his stamp on the program.
“The (Walsh) quote really sums up where we are as a football team and where we are as a football program,” said the 40-year-old coach during a media session held within the new locker room Tuesday. “I think over the 18 months that I have been here, there have been a lot of challenges. But the thing that I can definitely hang my hat on right now, is the change……in the locker room. The culture is completely different than when we showed up a year and a half ago. We still have a lot of work to do. Developing the right culture and winning culture is a process you have to continue each and every day.”
The Bulls certainly have a lot of work to do, especially on the field where they went 1-8 last season. While wins were difficult to come by on the gridiron, the needle started pointing upward away from it.
“It’s almost like a u-turn,” said Brad Cecil, entering his fourth year as the Bulls’ starting center, when asked about the change in atmosphere under Scott. “The culture has shifted so much in the little time he has been here.”
Cecil went on to elaborate on how seemingly small things could pay large dividends. For example, he mentioned how team members wear the same team-colored clothing and workout shoes in the weight room and pick up after themselves and each other while keeping the hallways and meeting rooms clean.
No, those things do not result directly in climbing the American Athletic Conference standings. However, they help build character and chemistry.
“It might seem like a little thing, but we’re on the same page and you notice that,” said Cecil. “That will translate on the field. You can rely on the guy next to you. He cares about you.”
At USF, the buy-in seems to resonate throughout the new locker room and beyond its walls as preseason camp got underway this week.
“I know as a team and as a program we are not where we want to be, but I have a lot of confidence that we are headed in that direction very, very quickly,” said Scott, whose team kicks off the season at North Carolina State on September 2. “It is not just about this locker room or (new facilities), there is a very genuine positive energy that is going through our athletic department and football team right now.”
Believe it or not, this will be the 25th season for USF football. Indeed, things have come very far since Jim Leavitt and his staff set up shop in trailers where the soccer stadium is now located.
USF has tasted success here and there the past quarter-century, particularly when it was No. 2 in the initial 2007 BCS standings. The Bulls have not, however, won a conference championship or played in a major bowl game. That is what Scott wants and the next few years are going to be critical.
“As we kind of look back at the 25 years of our program and see the progression from the very beginning to where we are now, there has been a lot of progression,” he said. “But how I have kind of challenged our players is that it is our turn now. I really believe how we do and how we embrace these next two to five years are probably going to have a very big impact on what the next 25 years of this program look like.”
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