I know I've harped on this, and many have read it before posted by me but when people go back and recite the recruiting classes Skip Holtz signed in 2011 and 2012 it's very easy to see why CWT has struggled thus far. Those classes would have been expected to be upperclassmen and back-bones for the 2013-2014, and 2015 seasons....and for the most part they're nowhere to be found. If anyone wants me to provide the run down again I will because it was often buried in a thread and I felt the discussion needed a thread of it's own.
It's really shameful how badly Skip treated this program...he was clearly out marketing himself, and when we all realize that after the 2011 season is when Woolard...another special person for USF....gave him that infamous raise. That was the year he went golfing instead of recruiting, that was the year the staff squabbled over signing Plummer, and decided against it, UCF does and he becomes AAC Defensive POY, we sign Pozniak, Hamilton, Caprice, and Bullock as LB's.....need I say more.
Anyway, I got to reviewing the roster and thought....man if CWT could just survive this season...get us those 6-7 wins. This team could be really set-up for 2016 like never seen before at USF....Imagine this....
Offensively returning every single starter except Brynjar, and Price, and Defensively returning every single starter except, Byrd, Lee, Hill, and Whitehurst.
Wow, that's a team that could return 15 starters but a team that will also have at its disposal next year a Cecil Cherry, Woulard, Reilly Gibbons, hopefully a Calloway again, and Bethel. If you're going into 2016 and the starting OL could be Thor (he's eligible for the medical RS) with 26 career starts (I am assuming 13 starts for 2015), Amichia with 16 career starts, Threatt with 20 career starts, and Ruff with 15 career starts. That's going into the season with potentially 77 starts....that's usually considered a bigtime OL.
Maybe with a DL that Bronson, Mayes, Calloway, and Senat with loads of starts, and Vince Jax, Hector, Gonzalez, and Love probably with minutes.
The horrid recruiting of 2011, and 2012, and for that matter even some of the kids Skip added in 2010 and 2013....assured us 2013 and 2014 seasons, aside from a miracle from above, were going to be horrid....but a good season is potentially upon us because if this talent that CWT has signed and enrolled is as good as it seems, then as it matures in 2015, 2016, and 2017...and assuming CWT can stick around to keep the recruiting train rolling...then we could be at that proverbial 'tipping point' for this program. I am not saying 2015 is going to be that watershed amazing season....we're still not mature enough, BUT if say Willie can get us 7 wins this year and get us bowling, and keeps the recruiting gravy train flowing well then the talent is here and maturing perfectly that we could see some real exciting years in 2016 and 2017. But of course we've all got to hope this all goes as planned from some of these kids making that next step this season, to the new system setting in and the kids gelling in it, to CWT development of the players and finally coaching staff. Let's hope this works out.
It's really shameful how badly Skip treated this program...he was clearly out marketing himself, and when we all realize that after the 2011 season is when Woolard...another special person for USF....gave him that infamous raise. That was the year he went golfing instead of recruiting, that was the year the staff squabbled over signing Plummer, and decided against it, UCF does and he becomes AAC Defensive POY, we sign Pozniak, Hamilton, Caprice, and Bullock as LB's.....need I say more.
Anyway, I got to reviewing the roster and thought....man if CWT could just survive this season...get us those 6-7 wins. This team could be really set-up for 2016 like never seen before at USF....Imagine this....
Offensively returning every single starter except Brynjar, and Price, and Defensively returning every single starter except, Byrd, Lee, Hill, and Whitehurst.
Wow, that's a team that could return 15 starters but a team that will also have at its disposal next year a Cecil Cherry, Woulard, Reilly Gibbons, hopefully a Calloway again, and Bethel. If you're going into 2016 and the starting OL could be Thor (he's eligible for the medical RS) with 26 career starts (I am assuming 13 starts for 2015), Amichia with 16 career starts, Threatt with 20 career starts, and Ruff with 15 career starts. That's going into the season with potentially 77 starts....that's usually considered a bigtime OL.
Maybe with a DL that Bronson, Mayes, Calloway, and Senat with loads of starts, and Vince Jax, Hector, Gonzalez, and Love probably with minutes.
The horrid recruiting of 2011, and 2012, and for that matter even some of the kids Skip added in 2010 and 2013....assured us 2013 and 2014 seasons, aside from a miracle from above, were going to be horrid....but a good season is potentially upon us because if this talent that CWT has signed and enrolled is as good as it seems, then as it matures in 2015, 2016, and 2017...and assuming CWT can stick around to keep the recruiting train rolling...then we could be at that proverbial 'tipping point' for this program. I am not saying 2015 is going to be that watershed amazing season....we're still not mature enough, BUT if say Willie can get us 7 wins this year and get us bowling, and keeps the recruiting gravy train flowing well then the talent is here and maturing perfectly that we could see some real exciting years in 2016 and 2017. But of course we've all got to hope this all goes as planned from some of these kids making that next step this season, to the new system setting in and the kids gelling in it, to CWT development of the players and finally coaching staff. Let's hope this works out.
