TAMPA, Fla. (Sept. 8, 2021) -- The day started as a celebration for the groundbreaking of the indoor practice facility USF Athletics announced months ago, but attention quickly shifted toward a discussion about a potential on-campus stadium.

Board of Trustees Chairman Will Weatherford stepped to the podium Wednesday at the groundbreaking ceremony and after taking some time to discuss the indoor practice facility, he shifted his speech in favor of an impassioned promise about the prospect of a stadium on the Tampa campus.

“As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of USF football this year, I want everyone here to know we are just getting started,” Weatherford said. “With this indoor practice facility now underway, we can turn to higher aspirations, and I’m just going to say it, I for one think that Bulls nation deserves to have a football stadium on this campus … Our time has come.

“These student athletes deserve a stadium on this campus, the students, the 50,000 students at the university deserve to have a stadium on this campus, the USF students and alumni, all the faculty, the administration, they deserve to have a stadium on this campus, and this Tampa Bay community deserves it as well. And I’m here to tell you, we’re going to do it.”

Weatherford conceded the process may take time, and the intricate details have yet to be ironed out, but also said he believes the job will ultimately get done.

“It’s going to take a lot of work, it may take a little bit of time, but if I know anything about USF and the Bulls spirit, it's that we’re never shy about having bold ambitions and going after them,” Weatherford said. “Over the last 25 years we’ve watched this football program mature and grow, and it’s ready to take the next step.

“With Michael Kelly as our Athletic Director and with coach [Jeff] Scott, I have the fullest confidence that the best days are ahead of us.”

Later in the ceremony, Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly said it was too early to put a timeline on the on-campus stadium, citing there were still a number of hoops to jump through, particularly where exactly the stadium would be placed.

Weatherford did rule out anything off-campus, however.

“We’re not considering [the USF Golf Course Persevere as a] site at all,” Weatherford said. “The construction of that football stadium will not be north of Fletcher, it will be on the main campus here.

“We’re not considering the Claw or the golf course at all, whatsoever, 100%. I’ll say that again, we’re not going to build a football stadium north of Fletcher … It's going to be right here on this main campus, exactly where remains to be seen.”

Some may think the strong claims by Weatherford and the Athletics staff as a whole could be reactive to the conference realignment news captivating the college football crowd, but according to Scott, that was not the case.

“We focus on inside out,” Scott said. “There’s a lot of noise, conference realignment, all of the other [stuff,] some people in our conference may be leaving and all that, we can’t control that. What I do know [is] you develop change from the inside out, and this meeting today was not a reaction to [this] stuff. This is something that’s been in place and been planned for the last several months.

“It also speaks to our inside out focus that we’re going to change this university, this athletic program and the football program from the inside out when we get everybody connected, everybody united, pushing in the right direction, and we’ve got a great foundation. Is it going to be easy? No, but I feel very confident that it is going to be happening and I’m just very blessed and [I] really feel honored that I get to be the coach that’s here as these changes are getting ready to take place.”

Scott also discussed how the indoor practice facility and on-campus stadium will help not just bring in recruits, but also allow the university as a whole to grow.

“I think it's not just recruits that are going to choose to come here because of our on-campus stadium and indoor facility, It's the regular student population [as well.],” Scott said. “Students from all over this state that now see the new energy that’s coming here. I have no doubt in my mind, there's not another structure that you could build on this campus that will have the transformational effect that an on-campus stadium is, and you look at everything that we built here it's incredible over the last 20 years

“Where we are academically and we're going to continue to strive that way, but the time is now, and I'm just excited because I know that we have the right leadership in place to take us to that next level.”

Scott said the indoor practice facility is the next step for the program and will allow for the university to propel itself into future endeavors like an on-campus stadium.

“This is the next step for our athletics program for our football team and [our] football program,” Scott said. “And then this will bring momentum that will lead to the other steps that we have ahead”