Charlie Strong Fired by USF

 

Several different sources reporting that on Twitter.

Any thoughts @swamprat?

 

If I remember right there was an issue during the off season where he removed several players and some others left. I kinda felt like that was the beginning of the end for him.

Maybe they think Willie Taggart might return there?

 

Things were trending downward over the last three years so I don't think this will be too much of a surprise.

Yes. It's official. I removed the question mark from the thread title.

Maybe they'll promote Kerwin Bell. Charlie's buyout, which nobody really knows, but is rumored to be more than $8 million, will prevent them from throwing money at the job. This ain't FSU.

 

I doubt Willie will comeback. Why would he want to? He's set for life. Why go try and rebuild something again, without your miracle quarterback?

 

For what it is worth, Matt Grothe and Quinton Flowers have teamed up and offered to help. It would be a good PR move for Mike Kelly, the VP of Athletics, to consider this, if only as ceremonial. The fan base loves those guys.

Charlie Strong started 17-2 in his first 19 games. 4-14 since. Of those first 17 wins, 10 of them were with Willie Taggart's wonder qb, Quinton Flowers at the helm. The last 7, if you watch the games, were shaky wins, at best. Once the conference figured out Blake Barnett, it all went downhill. Then he got hurt.

 

It was evident during the Gasparilla Bowl that Strong had lost many of the players' attention and it culminated with over 22 players transferring or being kicked off the team at season's end. He then hired Kerwin Bell as his OC and implemented a new offense without the players necessary to run it. This season was a disaster from the word go.

 

For the first time in the program's short history, the hardcore fan base revolted. Many fans, who had been purchasing season tickets since day one, threatened to not renew if Charlie was retained. I think that is what tipped the scale for Mike Kelly.

Thanks for the insight.

Consider me surprised that USF wanted to fire a guy that was 21-16 in three years. Makes me wonder what really was the cause for the revolt.

Consider me surprised that USF wanted to fire a guy that was 21-16 in three years. Makes me wonder what really was the cause for the revolt.

I think the 4-14 over the last 18 games is what cost him. Program has gone backwards the last two seasons.

Where does Charlie Strong go from here coaching-wise?

Where does Charlie Strong go from here coaching-wise?

 

This is the kind of guy Saban will pick up to coach at Bama.

Lack of backing from fanbase sounds like an issue at USF. Between buyout at Texas and USF he can sit on the couch and watch like the rest of us. All kidding aside, he'll be coaching defensive football somewhere next year.

Edited December 2, 20196 yr by 9068
Mistake

Consider me surprised that USF wanted to fire a guy that was 21-16 in three years. Makes me wonder what really was the cause for the revolt.

 

Seems like there was maybe some behind the scenes issues that most of us don't about. When the players leaving and dismissals started happening I had a feeling Charlie's time was limited. Until I read swamprats post above I had no idea it was 22 players though, that makes it worse than I originally thought.

Where does Charlie Strong go from here coaching-wise?

 

I could see him on the defensive side of things at FSU next season.

Seems like there was maybe some behind the scenes issues that most of us don't about. When the players leaving and dismissals started happening I had a feeling Charlie's time was limited. Until I read swamprats post above I had no idea it was 22 players though, that makes it worse than I originally thought.

 

11 players were dismissed. 11 transferred. On top of that, another 10 graduated this spring, so the team was down 32 players from the previous year.

 

That opener at Texas next fall is going to be fun.