South Florida made a big hire this week by tapping Michael Kelly to be the school’s new athletic director. Perhaps not surprisingly, tapping the former COO of the College Football Playoff to guide the Bulls into the future has resulted in the new AD making football a big priority from Day 1 on campus.
Specifically, that includes a brand new football building that is certainly on the front-burner even as he gets to know the place.
“We’ve got to get this USF football center built,” Kelly said at his opening press conference, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “That’s what’s going to build not only our football program, but all our departments can benefit from that. And that’s going to make our football program stronger and more sustainable.”
In light of that statement, the Times also reports that Kelly’s first call after being hired was to none other than head coach Charlie Strong. The pair appears to be in lockstep over the need for an indoor practice facility, which will certainly be a big help to weekly preparations during the season (and the spring) given the weather in the region.
Kelly takes over for Mark Harlan, who left to become the athletic director at Utah.
