South Florida coach Charlie Strong is planning sweeping changes to his program.
Strong suspended 11 players for the Bulls’ matchup Thursday night against Marshall in the Gasparilla Bowl, the Tampa Bay Times reported Saturday morning.
The Bulls were dominated in the 38-20 loss to Marshall, ending the season on a six-game slide to finish with a 7-6 record in Strong’s second year with the program.
South Florida, which went 10-2 in 2017 and opened this season with seven consecutive wins, became the first major college program to start 7-0 before dropping six games in a row.
“Very disappointing,” Strong told the newspaper after the game. “We don’t like it. I’m telling you right now, we’re going to clean up this whole program. A lot of guys will be leaving. We need a good washing.”
Three wide receivers and two running backs were among the 11 players suspended for the bowl matchup because of unspecified violations of team rules, the newspaper reported, citing a source. None of the 11 players are expected to return to the program.
–The University of Miami could be facing a starting quarterback dilemma for next week’s bowl matchup against Wisconsin.
The status of starting quarterback N’Kosi Perry for Thursday’s Pinstripe Bowl is uncertain after a sexually explicit video posted on the redshirt freshman’s Snapchat account resurfaced last month.
The university, which confirmed Perry will travel to New York City for the bowl matchup, released a statement Friday in which it acknowledged an incident involving an unnamed student.
–Former University of Miami wide receiver Jeff Thomas is transferring to Illinois.
Thomas, who was dismissed from the Hurricanes’ football program, plans to enroll at Illinois for the spring semester, Fighting Illini coach Lovie Smith said Friday on the school’s official website.
It will be a homecoming for Thomas, a native of East St. Louis, Ill., who was heavily recruited by Smith coming out of high school.
Thomas will have to sit out the 2019 season, per NCAA transfer rules, but will have two years of eligibility remaining.
No reason was given for his dismissal from Miami.
