What USF's First Days Under Brian Hartline Told Us

The Bulls have a month to prepare for their season opener against Florida International on September 5 at Raymond James Stadium, but Hartline made it clear from the start that he's not interested in getting caught up in Day One energy.

"I'm not a big Day One type of guy," Hartline told reporters as camp opened. "Everyone's all excited. Everything's new and shiny. I'm looking forward to Day 9, 10, 11, 12 … when it's really hard."

It's a fitting description of how Hartline is approaching his first camp in Tampa. The first few practices aren't about proving what this team can become. They're about establishing the standards Hartline believes will determine whether it gets there.

A Roster Almost Completely Rebuilt

The scale of USF's roster overhaul heading into 2026 is difficult to ignore.

The Bulls added 41 players through the transfer portal this offseason while also bringing in a new recruiting class, giving Hartline a roster filled with players who have never played together in a USF uniform.

Four of the transfers arrived with all-conference credentials from their previous programs. Offensive lineman Caleb Cook was a First-Team All-Sun Belt selection at Georgia Southern, while Cash Hudson earned Second-Team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference honors. Defensive back Ayden Jackson was a Third-Team All-Sun Belt selection, and wide receiver Kenny Odom earned Second-Team All-Conference USA honors.

That amount of turnover creates an obvious challenge: talent has to become a team.

Returning players, however, have pointed to the offseason work as a reason for optimism rather than concern.

"USF football is on the way up," tight end Wyatt Sullivan said. "With the talent that we have and the way we worked in the offseason, we're going to have one of those teams you need to watch because of the way we do things."

Cook has also seen the physical changes that have come with the new coaching staff.

"I think we have every physical tool needed in the book," Cook said, pointing to new head strength and conditioning coach Antonio Turner. "The workout program of A.T. has turned all of us into the best, whether it's body fat, muscle or speed. Everybody has improved at just about everything."

Turner spent the previous three seasons at Ohio State, giving Hartline another member of the staff with experience inside a championship-level program.

Toughness Is the Word of Camp

Ask Hartline what he's emphasizing through the opening days of camp, and one word keeps coming up: toughness.

"I think we've been more physical through practice than we've ever been," Hartline said. "The toughest teams in this conference are going to compete for championships. If you don't have that toughness, you're not going to compete for championships."

Defensive tackle Major Dillard, listed at 6-foot-2 and 330 pounds, put the emphasis on what happens after the measurements are taken.

"We're a team with great size, but it's all about heart," Dillard said. "The size, the height, the length, none of that matters. At the end of the day, you've got to go out there and play."

That mentality appears to be particularly important for a team with so many new pieces. Physical talent can change a roster quickly, but Hartline is trying to establish a standard that doesn't depend on who is wearing the uniform.

Defensive lineman Michael Williams II, a four-year USF veteran who has played in 32 games over the past three seasons, described that responsibility as setting a standard for everyone around him.

"If you feel like you're one of the best guys, you've got to perform like you're one of the best guys," Williams said. "You can't have a bad day... If you really want to win and have everything be how you want it to be, you've got to set the standard."

The Quarterback Competition

The quarterback competition remains the biggest unresolved question surrounding the Bulls.

Luke Kromenhoek and Michael Van Buren Jr. are competing for the starting job after arriving through the transfer portal, and Hartline has made it clear that neither player has been handed the position.

"Frankly, it's up to them to separate themselves," Hartline said. "When you know, you know. I really haven't given myself a final date. As we go through camp, we'll see what happens."

Kromenhoek arrived from Florida State, while Van Buren previously played at Mississippi State. Both entered the offseason with significant college experience, but Hartline has emphasized that the competition will ultimately be decided by what the quarterbacks do on the field.

Van Buren has also embraced the physical nature of the competition, describing camp as a place where difficult situations can help bring a team together.

"As we put them through tough environments, we start to forge together a little bit," Van Buren said. "When things get hard, that's when good bonds are formed."

For now, the most important answer may simply be that there isn't an answer yet. Hartline isn't setting an artificial deadline for the competition. He's waiting for one quarterback to make the decision easier.

New Faces, New Leaders

The quarterback battle isn't the only competition worth watching.

Florida transfer linebacker Grayson "Pup" Howard has quickly emerged as a vocal presence, while Rutgers transfer Sam Robinson gives USF another highly regarded option alongside returning linebackers Zavier Hamilton and Rodney Hill.

For a roster that has undergone so much change, leadership may be just as important as talent.

Cook, now entering his sixth and final fall camp as a college player, has stepped into a veteran role along an offensive line filled with newcomers.

"Everybody on this coaching staff was put together meticulously, for one reason. That's to win," Cook said. "That's exactly the mindset we had ever since I got here, and it's going to be like that for the whole rest of the season."

That's one of the biggest challenges facing Hartline. Recruiting talent can change a roster in a matter of months. Building trust between those players takes much longer.

Fundamentals Over Flash

If there's a philosophy tying together Hartline's comments during the opening days of camp, from toughness to the quarterback competition to leadership, it's this: talent alone doesn't win.

"I would say talent, alone, usually doesn't win out," Hartline said. "It's more about the things that take no talent. The most talented team does not win a national championship or conference championship every year."

He continued, laying out what he wants from his staff during camp:

"We do a great job during practice, bringing them along fundamentally and technique-wise, but it's everything else that leads to winning. It's not tricking people on game day... everybody runs the same plays. It's just really how you run them that really allows you to separate yourself."

That philosophy may be the most important thing to take away from the first days of camp.

Hartline inherited a roster with plenty of talent. His job now is to make that talent consistent, physical and fundamentally sound enough to compete when games are decided by execution rather than potential.

American Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti also praised the experience Hartline brings to USF during preseason media days.

"For us as a conference to get someone of his caliber and his experience," Pernetti said, "I don't think we could bring someone with any deeper experience at the highest level of college football than Brian."

For USF, the challenge is turning that experience into results.

"Literally No Ceiling"

It's worth remembering why Hartline took the job in the first place.

When he arrived in Tampa, he didn't talk about USF as a rebuild or a stepping stone. He talked about a program without a limit.

"I wanted to move to a place where there's literally no ceiling, and that's how I feel about USF," Hartline said. "I think this university, with the media market, the players in this state, the high-school football in this state … it's better positioned than anybody in the country for long-term success. That's ultimately why I believed in it wholeheartedly. Now it's our job to go get it."

That belief is the thread running through Hartline's first camp.

The emphasis on toughness. The insistence on fundamentals. The open quarterback competition. The focus on leadership. The refusal to get swept up in the excitement of Day One.

None of those things guarantee wins.

But they do provide an early look at what Hartline believes will ultimately determine whether USF can reach the ceiling he sees for the program.

For Hartline, Day One was never the point.

Day 9, Day 10, Day 12 and everything that follows are where the real evaluation begins. USF has a month to turn that philosophy into a football team before FIU arrives at Raymond James Stadium on September 5.

The first few days of camp were only the beginning. Now comes the hard part.