USF coach Jeff Scott once scored a TD vs. UCF. Plus, more from his news conference.
Jeff Scott was introduced as USF’s newest head coach on Wednesday.
During the nearly 1 1/2 hour press conference, Scott stressed unity.
He also recounted his own moment with USF’s biggest rival, UCF, during his career at Clemson.
Scott described his one career college touchdown with reporters following the news conference.
It was a 22-yard touchdown on a fake field goal.
Here it is:
Scott’s parents, wife and daughter were in attendance. Scott’s father, Brad, was an assistant under Bobby Bowden at Florida State, is a former South Carolina head coach and was a USF graduate.
After playing at Clemson, Scott later joined the Tigers’ coaching staff. He was a graduate assistant when Dabo Swinney was given the interim head coaching job midway through the 2008 season. Swinney promoted Scott to wide receivers coach, and he later became co-offensive coordinator with Tony Elliott.
During the past five seasons with Scott and Elliott as offensive coordinators position, Clemson has qualified for the College Football Playoff each season, won two national titles and finished runner-up once.
The Tigers boast a top-five total and scoring offense this season. Scott is coaching at both places through the end of the season, handling USF duties while resuming his co-OC role through Clemson’s CFP run this year. The Tigers open the playoff against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl venue scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 28.
In addition to discussing unity and his UCF memory, here are some other highlights from Scott’s meeting with the media on Wednesday:
- Scott said his recruiting plan is from the inside-out, meaning it starts with Tampa and the surrounding areas before extending throughout Florida. He said he will look to add a couple players out-of-state, if needed, that fit his standard of what USF’s program will be. But his recruiting starts with Florida, which Scott said has the best high school football in the country.
Scott’s father, Brad, is joining the staff in an off-field advisory role.
Clemson coach Swinney alerted Scott that USF athletic director Michael Kelly wanted to hire him. Swinney then gave Scott a glowing review of USF and Kelly. “He said, ‘Let me tell ya, this is one of the jobs you want,’” Scott said about a phone conversation he had with Swinney last week. “He said, ‘Great university, great location, great conference, great recruiting base right in your back yard. You can win there, and they have a great athletic director in Michael Kelly.’”
Scott is going to hire an offensive coordinator. Offense has been Scott’s forte since coaching at Clemson under Swinney. “(The coordinator’s) gonna run the offense,” Scott told the media. “Obviously by nature I’m gonna be involved throughout the week, really monitoring it, throwing out some suggestions. And then within game, in key moments, as the head coach I’ve got to trust my instincts and my gut.”
Aside from the introductory news conference, Scott also landed his first transfer to the Bulls. Former South Carolina all-purpose back Lavonte Valentine, who played at Melbourne Central Catholic, tweeted he was heading to USF.
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 3:01 PM.
