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A tricky aspect of generating consistency as a mid-major program in college football is dealing with coaching turnover. Whether it's larger programs with more money and resources poaching coordinators, assistant coaches leaving for specific reasons, or school's having no choice but to fire staff for sub-par performance, the coaching situation for several G5 schools can be a year-to-year revolving door.
The South Florida Bulls experienced plenty of coaching turnover this off-season, but the one move that could potentially leave several question marks is the departure of this guy:
Serving as offensive line coach/co-offensive coach in 2015, the backwards visor wearing Danny Hope provided an energy and enthusiasm that was immediately seen when he first arrived to Tampa last spring. Constantly communicating and engaging with his veteran line, the former Purdue head coach elevated an offensive line that in previous years had been ravaged by injuries and inconsistency into a force that literally paved the way for one of the nation's most prolific rushing attacks.
Comparing USF's O-Line S&P+ rankings between 2014 and 2015 clearly illustrate Hope's impact in turning the unit from one of the nation's worst to statistically one of the more efficient lines in the country in 2015.
Year | Adjusted Line Yards | Standard Downs Line YPC | Passing Downs Line YPC | Opportunity Rate | Power Success Rate |
2014 | 75.2 (126th) | 2.42 (120th) | 2.13 (126th) | 31.8% (121st) | 50% (127th) |
2015 | 108.9 (32nd) | 3.20 (21st) | 3.80 (16th) | 43.6% (18th) | 63.5% (82nd) |
(You can view the glossary and definition's for all of Football Outsiders' terms here.)
Enter Hiller
With Hope stepping down in January for family reasons, former Cincinnati Bearcats O-Line coach Darren Hiller now steps in to lead the Bulls front and coordinate the run game for 2016.
Throughout tenures at Arkansas State, Nevada, and Cincinnati over the past fourteen seasons, Hiller has overseen several successful offensive lines throughout his entire career. He has helped a handful of players earn all-conference honors, including most recently Bearcats tackle Parker Ehinger, who was named first-team All-AAC in 2014 and 2015 while protecting Gunner Kiel.
Hiller right out the gate will be tasked with maintaining similar levels of success in protecting Quinton Flowers with a generally inexperienced unit.
OL Coach/Co-OC: Darren Hiller
OL Roster*:
- Dominique Threatt (Senior/Atlanta, GA)
- Kofi Amichia (Senior/Powder Springs/GA)
- Glen Bethel (Junior/Miami. FL)
- Jeremi Hall (Junior/Atlanta, GA)
- Cameron Ruff (Junior/Tampa, FL)
- Michael Galati (Sophomore/Bradenton, FL)
- Michael Smith (Sophomore/Miami, FL)
- Cameron Campbell (Redshirt Freshman/ Pembroke Pines, FL)
- Billy Atterbury (Redshirt Freshman/Clearwater, FL)
- Brooks Larkin (Redshirt Freshman/Bradenton, FL)
- Marcus Norman (Redshirt Freshman/Sebastian, FL)
- Christion Gainer (3 Star/Panama City, FL)
- Logan MacDonald (3 Star/Davenport, FL)
- Michael Wiggs (3 Star/Lakeland, FL)