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Running off at the typewriter …
Forget about the ridiculous rumors you’re hearing about USF hiring disgraced NFL coach Jon Gruden to lead its program. There should be only one primary candidate on athletic director Michael Kelly’s list:
Scott Frost.
I don’t know if Frost is even interested in the job or if he wants to sit out for a year and live on the $15 million contract buyout he just received after being fired by Nebraska, but if Kelly is smart (and he is), he will most certainly gauge Frost’s interest.
It’s hard to explain why Frost failed so miserably at Nebraska, but I know what type of coach he was at UCF. He was driven, he was focused, he was exciting, he was charismatic and his offense was electrifying. He inherited an 0-12 program and two years later the Knights were 13-0.
In fact, the resurgence of the program under Frost is much of the reason UCF will be joining the Big 12 next season.
And if you ask me, Frost and USF are in desperate need of each other. Frost needs to resuscitate his coaching career and USF needs to revive its dying program.
Frost obviously has recruiting connections in Florida — as does the entire UCF staff he took with him to Nebraska. If anybody can resurrect the moribund USF program that was 4-26 under just-fired head coach Jeff Scott, it is Frost.
The rumblings you are hearing about USF targeting Gruden are nothing short of laughable. I get that Gruden is a big name who is a longtime Tampa resident, but he hasn’t coached at the college level in more than 30 years.
Furthermore, how could USF possibly hire Gruden after he was run out of the NFL for racist, homophobic, misogynistic emails that surfaced while he was coaching the Las Vegas Raiders?
Don’t forget that USF plays its home games at Raymond James Stadium, where Gruden’s name was erased from the upper-deck facade and expunged from the Bucs’ Ring of Honor after his disgusting emails surfaced.
It would be absolutely shocking if USF hired Gruden, especially when there are much better and younger candidates without the enormous amount of baggage Gruden would bring.
Kelly says he plans on hiring a new coach sometime in early December before the transfer portal opens.
What a perfect time — right before the holidays — to bring Frosty the Showman back to Florida, where he never should have left in the first place. …
Short stuff: Mikey likes: UCF over Tulane by 5 in Upset Special, FSU over Syracuse by 10, Florida over South Carolina by 8, Georgia Tech over Miami by 4, SMU over USF by 24, Chiefs over Jaguars by 12, Seahawks over Bucs by 5 in Upset Special II, Dolphins over Browns by 6, Central Florida over Hurricane Nicole by our resolve, resilience, purpose and civic unity. .. RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com on local elementary schools calling for Halloween outfits that don’t scare anybody: “So my niece dressed her son as a Detroit Lion.” … Speaking of the Lions, the team announced that it will erect an 8-foot statue of iconic running back Barry Sanders at Ford Field next season. Considering Sanders’ greatness was wasted on the awfulness of the Lions, they should refer to his bronze monument as “The Statue of Misery.” As one of my peeps said on Twitter: “The statue will be out there alone in the elements with nothing to protect it. Just like when Barry played for the Lions.” …
Breaking news: Gov. Ron DeSantis beat Charlie Crist so badly on election day that the Miami Hurricanes now are trying to schedule the Crist Campaign so they can get bowl-eligible. … From Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “Taylor Swift made history as the first musical artist to claim all top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 list for the week of Nov. 5. Kind of like Nick Saban on national signing day.” … Lame Excuse of the Week comes from Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving, who repeatedly refused to apologize for promoting an anti-Semitic film on social media and finally was suspended by his team. Said Irving on why he originally didn’t apologize: “I didn’t make the documentary.” What a knucklehead. That would be like somebody retweeting a vulgar, obscene, racist diatribe and then trying to explain it away by saying, “I wasn’t the one who originally tweeted it.” … I just saw where more Publix grocery stores are installing in-store bars where you can drink beer and wine. I don’t know about you, but I hope they have BOGOs! And can I get a designated driver for my shopping cart? …
Florida State basketball recruit Baba Miller, a 6-foot-11 forward from Spain, has been suspended for 16 games by the NCAA for inadvertently breaking the rules by receiving travel benefits to attend a basketball camp while he was still in high school. Does somebody want to explain how a Spanish teenager gets a 16-game suspension for unknowingly breaking the rules while a national championship-winning college basketball coach (see Bill Self of Kansas) is serving just a four-game suspension for knowingly running a dirty program? … Why is everybody up in arms because the Indianapolis Colts fired head coach Frank Reich and then hired ESPN commentator Jeff Saturday as the interim coach? Hey, at least they didn’t hire Stephen A. Smith, Woody Paige or Greeny. … Did you see where IMG Academy, a high school football factory in Bradenton, led Canada’s West Toronto Prep 96-0 at halftime last week? Who does West Toronto Prep think they are — Charlie Crist? … Dwight Howard has just signed with the Taoyuan Leopards — a professional team in Taiwan. Stay tuned for an international incident. …
Last word: This comes from David Whitley of the Gainesville Sun: “Please raise your hand if you thought Kansas would become bowl eligible before Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Miami, Florida and the Bucs.”
Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on Twitter @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and HD 101.1-2
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