New Era, New Energy: USF Football Comes Out Swinging at AAC Media Days

The SEC Media Days circus had barely packed up its cameras in downtown Tampa before the party moved across the water. On July 23-24, American Conference Media Days rolled into the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront, and for the first time in program history, USF didn't have to get on a plane to make it there. That home-field convenience mattered, because this was no ordinary media day for the Bulls. It was the public coming-out party for the Brian Hartline era.

Nine months after Alex Golesh packed his bags for Auburn, taking star quarterback Byrum Brown and a chunk of the roster with him, USF walked into St. Pete with a new head coach, a near-total roster overhaul, and a chip on its shoulder the size of Raymond James Stadium. Two days of interviews, podcast cameos, and pointed comments later, one thing was clear: the Bulls aren't interested in a rebuilding-year narrative. They're interested in winning now.

The Hartline Effect

Every era in college football needs a defining phrase, and Hartline gave reporters his early: competition decides everything. The former Ohio State receivers coach and ex-NFL wideout made it clear across both days in St. Petersburg that reputation, transfer pedigree, and depth-chart seniority won't buy anyone a starting job in Tampa this fall.

"The best players will be on the field," Hartline said, a line that echoed through nearly every conversation that followed. It wasn't just coach-speak. Players who sat down with reporters throughout the two days pointed to that same message as the foundation of a program still finding its identity under a first-time head coach.

What stood out just as much as the substance was the style. Hartline, a seven-year NFL veteran wide receiver before he got into coaching, has quickly established a reputation around the program for being a hands-on presence rather than a distant CEO-type head coach, the kind who's in the drill lines with his players and not just watching from the sideline.

"I'm just being myself. I want to be in there with them," Hartline explained, describing an approach he chalks up partly to still thinking like a player himself. He's not trying to manufacture a persona for the cameras: by his own admission, the intensity and the closeness with his roster is just who he is, and he seems genuinely glad his players have responded to it.

That authenticity has apparently trickled down fast. Linebacker Grayson Howard, now playing for his third college program, said the decision to buy into Hartline's vision wasn't a hard one. He described the new head coach as an intense, discipline-first leader, the kind of demanding presence that made trusting the process an easy call after Howard had already been through two other programs. For a transfer with options, that's not a small endorsement.

A Podcast Cameo and a Tight End's Moment in the Spotlight

Not everything at media days was buttoned-up interview-room formality. USF's first day in St. Petersburg had a looser, more fan-facing feel, with photos and informal content taking center stage before the coaches and commissioner hit the podium on day two. Hartline and a pair of Bulls players even sat down with former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden for an appearance on his "Gruden Goes Long" podcast, a natural crossover given Gruden's deep Tampa Bay roots and his history of putting quarterbacks and pass-catchers on the spot with his famous whiteboard.

This time, it was tight end Wyatt Sullivan who got the Gruden treatment, asked to diagram a route on camera. Sullivan drew up a vertical seam route without giving away too much about USF's actual playbook, and Gruden came away impressed.

"The guy's a heck of a talent," Gruden said of Sullivan, noting that the tight end is still coming out of his shell in front of cameras but clearly has the passion and football IQ to handle whatever Hartline's offense throws at him schematically.

Sullivan, for his part, has quickly become one of the more vocal leaders in a USF tight ends room that figures to be a key piece of the new-look offense. He's taken ownership of that position group, and teammates have responded to both his work ethic and his willingness to lead by example, a quality made more valuable by his versatility. Whether he's asked to block in the run game or split out and run routes, Sullivan gives Hartline and new offensive coordinator Tim Beck options, and that flexibility should matter a lot for a Bulls offense trying to establish its identity in year one of a new system.

Sullivan also touched on something bigger than scheme: the pull of Tampa Bay itself. Between the fan support, the buzz around the program, and a new on-campus stadium project rising nearby, he made clear that the excitement surrounding USF right now was part of what drew him to be part of it.

The Quarterback Battle Nobody Wants to Call

If there was one storyline that dominated every USF conversation in St. Petersburg, one that's been building since spring practice, it's the question of who will actually take the first snap against FIU on September 5. Hartline inherited a quarterback room that underwent significant turnover after Byrum Brown's departure. His answer was to hit the transfer portal hard, and by spring ball the competition had narrowed to two names: Michael Van Buren Jr. and Luke Kromenhoek.

Both quarterbacks arrive with well-traveled résumés. Van Buren, a junior, started games at both Mississippi State and LSU, after transferring to LSU. Van Buren arrives after playing at Mississippi State before transferring to LSU, bringing starting experience and dual-threat ability that stood out during USF's spring practices. Kromenhoek, a sophomore who has bounced from Florida State to Mississippi State before landing in Tampa, offers a different skill set as more of a traditional pocket passer, creating an intriguing contrast in styles.

Quarterbacks coach Mike Hartline, yes, the head coach's younger brother, who joined the staff after a season as a Kentucky offensive quality control assistant, has been the one closest to the day-to-day evaluation, and he's been careful not to tip his hand publicly.

"They're both in a really good spot," the younger Hartline said, framing the competition less as a talent gap and more about which quarterback handles chaos and protects the football most consistently when a play breaks down.

By the time media days wrapped in St. Petersburg, the head coach hadn't budged from the message he's carried since spring: this competition isn't close to over. "There will be a quarterback battle for a while," Brian Hartline said back in April, and nothing said in St. Pete suggested that timeline had moved up. He's even left the door open to using both quarterbacks in some capacity if the situation calls for it, so long as it serves the team. Expect this to be the single most-covered storyline of USF's fall camp, which opens August 5.

Building Around the Uncertainty

The quarterback battle isn't the only reason to watch fall camp closely. Hartline's rebuild touched nearly every corner of the roster and the coaching staff. Of Golesh's former assistants, only two stuck around: special teams coordinator Chad Creamer, now entering his fourth season in Tampa while continuing to coach outside linebackers, and cornerbacks coach James Rowe, who has spent the last several seasons working USF's secondary. Everyone else is new, from coordinator Tim Beck running the offense to Josh Aldridge taking over defensive play-calling.

That kind of turnover would rattle most programs. USF's counter has been leaning into the "new era" framing rather than running from it, treating a clean slate as an opportunity instead of a setback. It's a message Hartline has repeated since his introductory press conference, and it was on full display again in St. Petersburg: competition and accountability aren't buzzwords, they're the operating system for how playing time gets decided in Tampa this year.

The optimism isn't purely manufactured, either. USF is coming off a 9-4 season in 2025 that included a third straight bowl trip and the program's first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff rankings, proof of concept that the previous staff left something worth building on, even with so many of last year's contributors gone. USF will also open the season as a program 30 years into its history still chasing its first-ever conference championship, a drought that spans three different league affiliations. That history hung over plenty of the conversations in St. Pete, even when nobody said it directly.

What the Outside World Thinks

Not everyone outside the building is convinced the transition will be seamless. Most national and conference outlets projected USF no higher than fourth place in the American this offseason, with the reasoning centering on the natural learning curve that comes with any first-time head coach absorbing a new roster, a new quarterback room, and a new coordinator staff all in the same offseason. Regional college football coverage has echoed a similar note of caution, pointing out that the winner of the Van Buren-Kromenhoek battle will likely determine whether USF reloads for another nine-win season or takes a step back while everything gels.

Not every USF-focused voice is buying the skepticism, though. At least one prominent Bulls outlet has openly pushed back on the fourth-place projections, arguing that Hartline's track record as one of college football's premier wide receiver developers and recruiters at Ohio State is being undervalued simply because he hasn't run his own program before. That kind of outside doubt tends to play well inside a locker room that's already been sold on competition and accountability as its identity, and it gives USF a built-in chip to carry into fall camp.

The Road Ahead

USF opens the regular season at home against FIU on September 5, with conference play beginning on the road at Army in Week 2, a quick early test given the Black Knights' well-known option attack and the general chaos that comes with playing on their turf. From there, the Bulls' conference slate includes a home date against Temple as their conference opener at Raymond James Stadium, a rivalry trip to Memphis (a series the Tigers have won five straight times), and the regular-season finale at home against Tulane, the reigning American Conference finalist that has made four straight title games.

USF's other marquee road test comes at Florida Atlantic on November 21, closing out the Bulls' conference road slate against a program they've dominated recently, having won four of the last six meetings including a lopsided 48-13 result in Tampa last season.

Looming over the entire 2026 campaign is the reality that this will be the final season the Bulls call Raymond James Stadium home. Construction continues on USF's new on-campus stadium and football operations center, expected to be ready by 2027, a detail that came up more than once in St. Petersburg as players and coaches talked about wanting to send the program's shared home with the Buccaneers out with a season worth remembering.

The Bottom Line

Two days in St. Petersburg didn't answer USF's biggest question, since who's starting at quarterback on September 5 remains very much unresolved, but they did something arguably more important for a program in transition: they set the tone. Hartline's message of competition over reputation, paired with buy-in from veterans like Grayson Howard and rising leaders like Wyatt Sullivan, suggests a locker room that has already moved past the shock of losing its head coach, its starting quarterback, and much of its two-deep in the same offseason.

Whether that translates to wins starting August 5, when fall camp opens, and September 5, when the lights come on at Raymond James Stadium, is the only question that will actually matter. But if American Conference Media Days were any indication, USF isn't approaching 2026 like a program in rebuild mode. They're approaching it like a program that expects to be playing meaningful football in late November, and maybe, finally, chasing that elusive first conference title that has eluded the Bulls across three decades and three different leagues.

Fall camp opens August 5. The countdown to kickoff against FIU has officially begun.