TAMPA, Fla. ? USF formally announced Monday it has hired Clemson co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott as its fifth football coach.
Scott, who turns 39 on Dec. 28, will be introduced publicly Wednesday on the USF campus. Details of that news conference still are being finalized. He is expected to remain with the Tigers throughout their upcoming College Football Playoff run.
Scott replaces Charlie Strong, dismissed on Dec. 1 after losing 14 of his final 18 games as Bulls coach.
"Jeff is a very bright, enthusiastic and driven leader for our program and we are thrilled to welcome him to USF and back to Florida, where he was born (in Arcadia) and where he has recruited so well for Clemson for many years," USF athletic director Michael Kelly said in a USF news release.
"He is a young and extremely gifted offensive mind, a developer of high-level talent and an elite national recruiter who brings the experience of having played an integral role from the beginning in helping to build one of the most successful programs in college football."
The younger Scott, a married father of a 4-year-old daughter, was a backup receiver, kick holder and honors student at Clemson (graduating cum laude with a mathematics degree) before embarking on his own coaching life. For the last dozen years, he has coached the Tigers receivers, and has shared the offensive coordinator title with Tony Elliott since 2015.
Elliott calls the plays for Dabo Swinney, but Scott is heavily involved in the game-planning. In four of his five seasons as co-coordinator, Clemson has averaged at least 500 yards a game and has set 138 team and individual records.
During that half-decade, Clemson is 69-4 with two national titles.
The 2018 team, which went 15-0 and captured the school's third national crown, set school marks for total offense (527.2 ypg), scoring offense (44.3 ypg), passing yardage (5,009) and rushing yardage (3,723), among others.
Additionally, the list of receivers he has mentored reads like an NFL draft tracker. Eight of his pupils were on 2019 NFL rosters, and his complete receiver roll call includes former bay area prep standouts Ray-Ray McCloud (Sickles), Deon Cain (Tampa Bay Tech) and Artavis Scott (East Lake); as well as two-time All-American Sammy Watkins, the fourth overall pick in the 2014 draft.
"I think he'll do well," said Scott, most recently on the Chargers practice squad.
"He learned from one of the best in the game, Coach Swinney. He's a good recruiter. If the kids buy into his system and stay disciplined, (USF) is going to do well."
Scott is part of a veritable pipeline Scott has helped Swinney establish from Florida to Clemson.
He has been named a top-10 recruiter nationally by ESPN.com (2014) and top-25 national recruiter seven times by Rivals. He was chosen as Rivals' ACC Recruiter of the Year in 2015, and received the same honor three years later from 247Sports.
"I have great respect for the USF football program and what has been accomplished in a very short time and can't wait to get to work building on that foundation to produce a championship program," Scott said in the news release.
"I am thankful to President (Steven) Currall and Michael Kelly for this tremendous opportunity and their support and belief in me. It is difficult to leave my alma mater and the great program we have built at Clemson, but I believe we can do great things at USF."
