Gator Bowl wants USF; league coaches favor 9th member

Posted Jul 30, 2008 by Brett McMurphy

Updated Jul 30, 2008 at 12:46 AM

NEWPORT, R.I. - The Gator Bowl wants the Bulls. Not necessarily for their Jan. 1 bowl game, but they definitely are interested in bringing the University of South Florida to Jacksonville for a future regular season game.

Gator Bowl President Rick Catlett said he wants the Bulls in Jacksonville for a future September game against a team from the ACC, SEC, Big 12 or Notre Dame.

Catlett has had several discussions with USF athletic director Doug Woolard about the possibility.

Catlett said 2014 was a possibility. Woolard said it could happen earlier if the right opponent was available and as long as USF has six home games for that season.

“It’s our goal and effort to do it,” Catlett said.

The Gator Bowl annually hosts the Florida-Georgia game and is looking to host another regular season contest in September, Catlett said. Florida State is playing Colorado in Jacksonville this year.

Coaches favor ninth football member: As part of our coverage of the Big East’s media days, I asked each coach if they were in favor of a ninth-football member. In favor: UConn’s Randy Edsall, Pitt’s Dave Wannstedt and West Virginia’s Bill Stewart. Against: Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly.

The remaining four were non-committal: USF’s Jim Leavitt, Rutgers’ Greg Schiano, Louisville’s Steve Kragthorpe and Syracuse’s Greg Robinson.

Here’s what Big East commish Mike Tranghese said about adding a ninth-member.

“I just don’t think there’s anybody out there that makes us better,” Tranghese said. “If there was somebody out there, who could make us better, I think our people would react to it very quickly. We talk about it all the time. I don’t think there’s anyone there that makes us better.”

Four coaches were in favor of a plus-one playoff to determine the national title: Kelly, Schiano, Wannstedt and Robinson. Three - Kragthorpe, Edsall and Stewart - were against it and Leavitt said he didn’t know.

Hendrick’s return on hold: New USF defensive line coach John Hendrick, who suffered a heart attack July 1, visited his cardiologist Monday but was not released to return to work.

He said he will undergo a nuclear stress test Friday, but it’s unknown when he could return.

Also, I’ll post all the answers from the six questions I asked each coach to answer in one word when I return to Tampa from Newport. Two of the questions are listed above: whether they are in favor of a plus-one playoff and if they are in favor of adding a ninth-football member.

The other four questions: describe the Big East, describe your team, describe Matt Grothe and describe George Selvie.