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Charlie Strong Completes Coaching Staff With Two Final Hires

The USF coaching staff is complete with the additions of Sean Cronin and Damon Cogdell to the defensive line.

By Nick Simon
NCAA Football: South Florida-Charlie Strong Press Conference Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

After roughly two months at the helm, USF head coach Charlie Strong has officially completed his on-field staff with two more assistant coaching hires on Thursday.

You can view all of the previous coaching hires here and here.

Sean Cronin Tabbed as Defensive Tackles Coach

Strong once again tapped into connections from his time at UF to land Marshall defensive ends coach Sean Cronin as his new defensive tackles coach.

Serving as a grad assistant at Florida during the Gators heyday from 2006-08, Cronin parlayed that experience into stints as a defensive line coach at The Citadel (2009), Temple (2011-12), and Marshall (2010, 2013-16).

In his stint at the Thundering Herd’s defensive ends coach, Cronin guided a unit that racked up 127 sacks in four seasons at the helm and helped developed Ryan Bee into an All-Conference USA caliber defensive lineman.

Damon Cogdell named Defensive Ends Coach

USF is once again bolstering their ties to Miami by bringing in Carol City High School head coach Damon Cogdell as defensive ends coach.

As head coach and defensive coordinator of Carol City, Cogdell guided the Chiefs to last year’s Class 6A state title with a defensive unit that gave up just 105 yards and 9.2 points per game. (That unit featured defensive backs Naytron Culpepper and Donelle Thomas, two of the “Carol City Three” that will now be rejoining their high school head coach in Tampa.)

Cogdell’s name around Miami-Dade certainly carries a lot of weight. Before heading to Carol City, he served as head coach of Miramar from 2007-13. His accomplishments there included winning the 2009 8A state championship, being named the U.S. Army All-American Bowl National High School Coach of the Year runner-up in 2012, and developing several future collegiate/NFL talents such as Geno Smith and Stedman Bailey.

He served as defensive line coach at his alma mater West Virginia in 2014 and 2015, where he helped boost Shaq Riddick into Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in 2014 and a fifth round pick by the Arizona Cardinals in the following draft.

Both Cronin and Cogdell will have their work cut out for them. They take over a Bulls defensive line that ranked 73rd in Opportunity Rate and 101st in Stuff Rate according to Defensive Line S&P+.

There’s your 2017 football staff Bulls fans. Thoughts?