Seniors call players only meeting

Posted Nov 11, 2008 by Brett McMurphy

Updated Nov 11, 2008 at 06:10 PM

For more than an hour, the University of South Florida football team laid it on the line. There was no holding back. No one was saving anything for later.

They gave everything they had – to each other.

During last week’s open date on Nov. 3, seniors Tyrone McKenzie, Jake Griffin and Carlton Williams called a players only meeting.

“It was straight forward,” McKenzie said. “That’s how you can sum it up. We spoke what was on our mind. There was no sugar coating.”

Since starting 5-0, the Bulls (6-3) have lost three of their four Big East contests. With 17 returning starters, the Bulls fully understand they should not be in this situation.

“We felt like everyone has a burden and everyone is so tense and tight,” Williams said. “You get up here and say whatever you want to say.

“What a lot of guys were saying was so true. We needed as a team to see where everyone was coming from. We needed it to get back on track and get this thing rolling again.”

One of the problems addressed was the Bulls’ lack of enthusiasm and passion.

“We knew we should be undefeated right now,” junior DE George Selvie said. “We need to get things going. We’re not like the team we used to be when we made plays.

“We used to celebrate. Now when we make plays, it’s just ‘OK, you made a play.’ We didn’t feel like we were playing with enough energy.”

Selvie said it was a positive meeting.

“It was good to see how people felt,” Selvie said. “Matt [Grothe] doesn’t usually talk and he got up and said some stuff. I said some stuff and I usually don’t talk either.”

Senior LT Ryan Schmidt said the meeting was needed.

“Everybody was really frustrated after the [Louisville and Cincinnati losses],” Schmidt said. “It was nice. Some got up and took out their frustrations; others got up to rally the troops. It was a mixture of both.”