Bull-ogosphere: Practice Begins, New Hires

We'll give you the highlights, but let's all take a moment and thank God that young adults are finally hitting each other for our gratification starting tomorrow with the first practice in pads. Otherwise...

Sir Gregory of St. Petersburg continues his breakdowns by position. Here's the QB's, the TE's, and the kicking game. Also hope you're following our stream of position previews as well.

And props to SuperBald for this wonderful feature on Coach Taggart and his family. It shows where the work ethic & drive comes from, and leads with a great pic of Coach T & Jack Harbaugh. Can't miss stuff.

If you think that Taggart's upbringing doesn't influence this team, check the blue collar shirts that are (hopefully) going to be all the rage in the stands at Ray Jay this year. Hey marketing department: if you don't make them, we will. LOVE the attitude #DoSomething

Your favorite USF blog also has a pretty kick-ass T-Shirt for sale too. It's specifically designed for a certain football game over Thanksgiving weekend, and we think it would be pretty amazing to see the stands at the Bouncy House full of them on Black Friday. We'll put on a big push to sell these as the game gets closer, but be aware they are available now.

The American has also put their media guide together (even if the bowl lineup isn't quite finalized). Worth bookmarking for future reference when trying to figure out if a conference record indeed got broken, because who knows what schools & which seasons count and which ones don't.

Women's hoops coach Jose Fernandez hired a new assistant coach in Desma Thomas Bateast, a member of the University of Miami Hall of Fame for her playing accomplishments there. Also welcome back to Jessica Dickson as an administrative assistant for the program. JD's credentials for the job include being the best women's basketball player USF ever, a USF Hall of Famer herself, and one of the nicest student-athlete's we've ever met. Look out in practice Bulls, as the best women's player in the Muma Center is also on the payroll.

Men's basketball also hired former point guard Chris Howard as Director of Basketball Operations, traditionally a stepping stone job for someone with an interest in becoming a coach someday. Anyone that saw Chris play knew that seemed to be a role that would be perfect for him, and we're excited he's getting his new career started. Also welcome to Brian Siegrist as the new Associate Athletic Director for Communications. Brian spent the last 18 years at Penn State in media relations, and if he can handle that we're very confident he can deal with anything Fowler Avenue might throw at him. We asked for USF to hire experienced people from top tier programs, and Brian fits that perfectly. Follow him on Twitter (before his impending handle change) at @psustretch.

USF Fan Fest is Sunday, August 18th at 2pm at Ray Jay. The new NFL bag policy will be in effect for this event too (and if you haven't read the policy, make sure you do before you get sent scampering back to your car before the McNeese State game), so be advised when trying to bring in dozens of footballs to get autographed by Andre Davis.

23 days, folks. Let's do this.