USF coach Charlie Strong hopes Friday's scheduled game against Illinois at Raymond James Stadium will provide Tampa, Fla., residents a brief respite from the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
That's why he's invited first responders and their families to attend the game as a thank you.
"There are so many people that are to be commended," Strong said Tuesday after the school announced the game with the Illini would be played as scheduled. "The first-responders, the police department, the sheriff's department ... everyone got involved to make this a safe community and to get us back on track.
"We would like to say thank you for their tireless effort. There's going to be a whole lot of effort cleaning this up," he added.
When Irma, which started out as a Category 5 storm, made landfall with Florida, it left a destructive path throughout the state, leaving millions homeless and without power.
Local residents saw the full force of the storm when the Tampa Bay was drained of water for a brief time Sunday afternoon.
"We are grateful that our student-athletes, staff and their families are safe and accounted for," said USF Director of Athletics Mark Harlan. "After consulting with university leadership and the Tampa Sports Authority, we are confident that Friday's game can proceed safely as scheduled without impacting the recovery efforts. Our thoughts remain with all of those impacted by the hurricane in Florida and elsewhere, and we express sincere gratitude to all first-responders for their efforts."
Many of the schools in the state remain closed including high schools, which would normally be playing football this Friday night, Strong extended an invitation to those teams as well.
"I told Mark Harlan to invite everyone to the game. It's not going to hurt us and at least it will give us a packed house," Strong said.
With most of the players on the roster from the various locations in the state impacted by the storm, Strong said they allowed players to leave to be with their families if they chose to. He said other remained on campus including a dozen or so who hunkered down at the football facilities.
"We came up here actually Saturday night and some of our players were here in this building. We had a chance to sit around here and really bond before the storm hit. It was all about us making sure everyone was safe and in a secure place," the first-year coach said.
Players away from campus were instructed to be in contact with the coaching staff in case of emergencies.
USF was forced to cancel its road game against UConn on Sept. 9 as officials began assessing the immediate impact of Hurricane Irma on the state including the possibility of the Tampa airport shutting down early and the team and its fans not being able to return home until sometime this week.
Strong said some of his players were upset that they didn't play the game with the Huskies. "They said, 'C'mon coach we've got to go play' and I said there is something more important than football right now and we can make that game up," he told them.
The Category 5 storm also forced cancellations for Florida, Florida State, Miami and UCF. More than 5 million people were without power as of Monday.
The Knights lost games against Memphis on Sept. 8 and this week's home showdown between Georgia Tech. Spectrum Stadium is being used by the national guard during hurricane recovery.
Raymond James Stadium is also playing host to Florida A&M Saturday and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are hosting the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
Strong understands it will be a challenge to get his team ready for Friday's game on just three days of preparation, but he believes they're ready for it.
Regardless, he knows his players are eager for the opportunity to help out in their own special way.
"You want to give back to the community and give back in a really good way," he said.
