In an increasing now-or-never college landscape where coaching turnover is an everyday occurrence, USF athletics director Michael Kelly is preaching patience when discussing the future of the Bulls athletics department.
“Like a wise man once told me, we need to take more of a 10-year view than a 10-game view,” Kelly said on Wednesday. “You can’t get too up or too down with everything that happens, and you’ve got to weather the storm and move things forward.
“That’s exactly what Bulls Nation expects us to do and we’ve been able to do so far.”
Kelly’s comments came during a 45-minute news conference where he addressed the status of the athletic department, gave an update on the push for an on-campus football stadium and the unusual step of offering contract extensions to 14 USF coaches.
“We’ve accomplished a lot despite the pandemic and now very much look forward to an era that we can kind of focus on strategy and alignment to kind of create an unprecedented and sustainable level of success that USF fans everywhere have always wanted,” said Kelly.
Since arriving in 2018, Kelly has overseen fundraising efforts to secure nearly $30 million in gifts and commitments, resulting in several on-campus facility upgrades, including a $3 million renovation of the football locker rooms in the Lee Roy Selmon Athletics Center.
He’s also overseen construction on the $22 million Indoor Performance Facility, with completion set for this summer.
On Wednesday, Kelly received a new 5-year contract extension that keeps him as the Bulls athletics director through June 2028. He had one year left on his current 5-year deal, which expired in 2023.
“I’m humbled and very grateful and excited about what we’ve accomplished, but also what we’re going to be able to continue to accomplish going forward,” he said.
According to Kelly, the decision to extend the contracts of his coaches was made in the spirit of building continuity among the programs. It was important for recruiting and it showed a commitment to the coaches and athletes.
One of the coaches who received an extension was football coach Jeff Scott. Scott wrapped up his second season with the Bulls and is 3-18 overall, including 2-10 in 2021.
Despite the disappointing early results, Kelly believes Scott is the right man for the program, citing the challenges of coaching during the pandemic in his first season while also dealing with an NCAA probation from the previous coaching staff.
“I look at the culture, the recruiting, and I am very encouraged to see the No. 1 transfer recruiting class,” said Kelly. “Not to mention his role to me as a fundraising partner. He’s been instrumental in getting the funds raised for the indoor performance facility and he’s going to play a key role and a visionary in terms of what we’re going to do with our on-campus stadium.”
Kelly is one of the co-chairs on a university committee to build an on-campus football stadium. While coming up with a definitive timeline for the project is complex, the goal is to identify a specific location on campus and work out the actual budget sometime this year.
“We’ve said anywhere between 2026 and 2028 in terms of the seasons when we would start playing,” he added. “If it could come to fruition, a date that makes sense to me in the middle of that range is September 4, 2027. We’re contracted to host the University of Miami and that would be a pretty cool opening day for the stadium.”
Cincinnati, Houston and UCF will leave for the Big 12 Conference in either 2023 or ’24, a move that has had cascading effects on the American Athletic Conference with the league adding new members including UAB, FAU, Charlotte, North Texas, Rice and UTSA.
Despite the changing conference landscape, Kelly wants USF to be at the forefront of the AAC.
“If you play a name association game in the next couple years with the American Athletic Conference, it has to continue to lead to having USF be one of the first things that pop into your mind,” said Kelly. “We have to recognize that we being the leader in anything we can gravitate toward in the American Athletic Conference is the key to our future.”
This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.
