Bulls close camp in Vero Beach but Holtz envisions a return trip

Posted Aug 19, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Aug 19, 2010 at 04:24 PM

VERO BEACH – The USF football team is on a bus headed back to Tampa this afternoon, but if first-year Bulls coach Skip Holtz has his way, the Bulls will return to Vero Beach someday for another fall camp.

USF concluded its 12-day stay here at the Vero Beach Sports Village with a morning practice that ended around noon. The Bulls will resume fall camp in Tampa on Friday in preparation for Saturday’s scrimmage.

Holtz said the Bulls got a lot done during their time at Dodgertown, the spring training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1948-2008.

“It was a great experience,’’ Holtz said Thursday. “The people here have been awesome. It has really been a good set-up for us. We’ve done a lot of team-building things while we’ve been here.

“We would definitely like to come back and maybe make this a long-term agreement if we can get something worked out. I would definitely recommend it to anybody who is trying to get away in a team-building experience.’’

Former Houston Astros general manager Tim Purpura is now executive vice president and chief operating officer of Minor League Baseball, which owns the Vero Beach Sports Complex. Purpura was pleased at how USF’s stay here went and hopes USF and other football programs consider the venue in the future. 

“The thing about this place, you can talk it to death, you can send them videos, you can send them pictures, but until you walk it and see what it is and the potential here, it knocks your socks off,’’ Purpura said Thursday. “That’s why we got involved, the great potential of this facility to be a multi-sport facility. This is a good way to move it kind of to a different level.’’

USF’s contract to hold camp in Vero Beach cost approximately $185,000 for its traveling party of around 150 players, coaches, and support personnel. USF officials said that was approximately $85,000 more than what the school would have spent in Tampa when you factor in food and other costs.

While several current construction projects on campus factored into USF’s decision to move camp to Vero Beach, Holtz’s plan to build team unity and get to know the players better following the messy split with former head coach Jim Leavitt was his primary reason.

Assistant head coach Rick Smith, who went away with teams to camp when he was at Tulane and Cincinnati, is confident the camaraderie the Bulls built here will make an impact this season.

“I thought it was great,’’ Smith said Thursday. “When they did away with athletic dorms years ago … your players don’t bond like they did years ago, which is a good thing because they can experience the true campus, college life.

“So a lot of times, the only time they are with the football team are at practice and in the weight room. The whole purpose of this was to get our players to know each other and to bond together. It was a great experience. Our kids have stood up. Our kids know everybody on a first-name basis now.’’

While the Bulls enjoyed their stay, players were obviously ready to return home to their normal lives after being limited to the grounds of Dodgertown during their stay. But they seemed to achieve the goals Holtz set prior to camp.

“(Coming here) was extremely valuable,’’ said sophomore WR Lindsey Lamar. “My roommate here, (Bulls defensive back) Mistral Raymond, I knew him but I don’t think we were as close as we are now. It helped us come together off the field and on the field.’’

Asked what he’ll remember most of the Bulls’ trip to Vero Beach, Lamar said: “The way we came together as a team. The chemistry is a lot different.’’

Holtz said the Bulls’ next challenge is to maintain the same focus once they get home.

“We’ve just got to make sure when we cross through those gates to come to practice in Tampa, we’ve got the same mentality we do here,’’ Holtz said.