Charlie Strong fired by South Florida
Charlie Strong’s run at South Florida has come to an end.
USA Today’s Dan Wolken reported on Sunday that staff members were told Strong was being fired by the school. The Tampa Bay Times says a team meeting was also set where the news presumably will be shared.
It’s hard to say people did not see this coming.
The Bulls went 10-2 in Strong’s first year, but that was one season after the team went 10-2 after being built up by Willie Taggart. As things got further away from the Taggart era, the program continued to get worse. South Florida went 7-6 last season and 4-8 this season. They had lost 14 of their last 18 games.
Strong had a five-year deal with USF and was set to make $5 million this year.
We have pointed out his conservative ways twice in the last year. Once came last year during a loss to UCF. The other came earlier this season when USF essentially gave up late in a loss to Temple despite only being down 10.