South Florida fires football coach Jeff Scott
South Florida and its football coach Jeff Scott went their separate ways on Sunday, a day after the Bulls lost their seventh consecutive game of the season. Special Teams Coordinator Daniel Da Prato will serve as Interim Head Coach for the remainder of the 2022 season.
“When Jeff came to Tampa in December of 2019, we had high expectations for where he could take our football program,” USF Vice President/Director of Athletics Michael Kelly said via press release. “While he did so many things right, including rebuilding our culture, pushing forward our Indoor Performance Facility, and engaging our community, the on-the-field results fell well below our standards. He is a tremendous person and class individual and we wish him, Sara, Savannah and Hunter all the best in the future."
“I would like to thank our players, coaches and staff members for all their hard work during my time as the head coach at USF,” Scott said. “I especially want to thank USF President Rhea Law and Vice President/Director of Athletics Michael Kelly for giving me the incredible opportunity to lead the football program the last three years. I will miss this team and will do anything in my power to help them in the future. I am disappointed that our hard work didn’t translate to more success on the field, but I am confident that we have set a new foundation. I know the future of USF football is bright and my family and I will always remember our time at USF as a very special chapter in our lives.”
The decision to relieve Scott, 41, of his duties came one day after the Bulls lost 54-28 to Temple. USF also fell 42-27 to Houston on Oct. 29 and opened the season with a 50-21 loss to BYU on Sept. 3. In six of the Bulls' nine games this season, their opponent scored at least 40-points.
USF (1-8, 0-5 American) has not won since a 42-20 victory over Howard on Sept. 10. During his three seasons with the Bulls, Scott’s teams posted a woeful 4-26 record with three of four wins coming against FCS programs. The only win against an FBS opponent was over a three-win Temple team last year. Scott’s record against American Athletic Conference opponents was 1-19.
In his first season as a head coach, Scott faced plenty of complications in 2020, as the entire season was muddled by the COVID-19 pandemic starting with the shutting down of spring practice. Remember, Scott said that he was not going to watch film of his players, preferring to give everyone a fresh start with him during spring practice.
Yes, coaches at all programs that played in 2020 had to deal with the pandemic but rookie head coaches were really thrown a curve.
In 2021 Scott replaced both of his coordinators. He fired Defensive Coordinator Glenn Spencer late in the season and hired Bob Shoop to replace him Dec 6. Offensive Coordinator, Charlie Weis Jr., bounced to Ole Miss in the offseason and Scott hired Travis Trickett in Jan.
Those changes did not result in success.
Scott, who was born in Arcadia, Florida, came to USF after ten years at Clemson where he rose through the ranks to co-offensive coordinator.
Firing a coach with games remaining on the schedule seemed entirely unlike Michael Kelly. But, if “best is the standard” as Scott has been telling his players since his arrival in 2020, the status quo cannot be tolerated. And while there is risk in every move, South Florida believed, based on how things have gone, that it was better to make this move now than taking no risk at all.
Da Prato has been at USF since December of 2019 and has previous stops at Arkansas, Colorado and Montana State among others. Sims joined USF in 2020 after working on the football staff at Florida Atlantic.
USF returns to Raymond James Stadium Saturday for just the second time in the last eight games as the Bulls take on SMU (5-4; 3-2) in a noon kickoff on ESPNU.