The last coach is looking over one shoulder.
The next coach is looking over the other.
But for today, at least, the USF Bulls are under the charge of T.J. Weist. How they respond will be the question of the day.
The Bulls play against South Carolina today (2 p.m.) in the Birmingham Bowl, and everyone would seem to have a goal. Quinton Flowers and Marlon Mack want to keep the electric offense going. Auggie Sanchez wants to make the defense better. And Weist, in a way, is auditioning for work.
“We want to win 11, obviously, and set the record,” said Weist, who also has experience as an interim coach. He coached Connecticut for the final eight games of the 2013 season after Paul Pasqualoni was fired as coach. Bob Diaco was hired as the Huskies’ coach after that season, and he was fired Monday.
There has been no early word on the coaching staff of new coach Charlie Strong, and former coach Willie Taggart hasn’t completed his staff at Oregon. That means that good things could happen for Weist if the team produces today.
“Our team is hungry,” Weist said. “We want to play a physical game on both sides of the ball and make sound decisions.”
USF would seem to be in decent shape to score points. The Bulls have the ninth-rated offense in America, and they’ll be going against the 62nd ranked defense. South Carolina’s own offense is raned only 118th in the country.
Flowers leads the Bulls and hopes to put himself into the conversation for awards next season.
Against South Caroline, USF is a solid favorite (10 1/2 points) over an SEC opponent.
