FAU and USF are involved in a major college football beef that stems from awful field conditions in Tampa. Staffers from both teams, including one Chief of Staff, fired shots back and forth that turned personal in a hurry.
It is safe to say that there is no love lost between the Bulls and Owls…
All of the drama started over the weekend when South Florida invited a group of premier recruits to campus for its biggest recruiting weekend of the summer. A large number of three-star prospects were in town, including a few players that are currently committed to a different program.
The Bulls went all-out for their recruiting photoshoot and rented a huge fleet of Lamborghinis. There was only one problem. The field on which the shoot took place looked like a prison yard.
Raymond-James Stadium, which is also home to USF in the fall, is controlled entirely by the city and the Buccaneers. They flip the field by planting new sod near the end of summer prior to the NFL season.
The grass looks absolutely hideous right now as result of the process and its timing.
USF is not messing around when it comes to its photoshoot for a MASSIVE official visit weekend 👀🤘https://t.co/ZGfRgDLbEs pic.twitter.com/XbwN5wdTad
— Mike Singer (@MikeTSinger) June 21, 2024
This is where FAU got into it with USF!
Matt Smidebush, Florida Atlantic’s Chief of Staff, referred to the Lamborghinis on the ugly field as “lipstick on a pig,” which is an expression that loosely dates back to biblical times. It infers cosmetic changes to a product in an effort to disguise fundamental failings.
In this instance, the Lambos are the lipstick and the field is the pig.
Alex Fagan, the Director of Scouting at USF, fired back at Smidebush to mock the Owls. They failed to reach the postseason in 2023. Meanwhile, the Bulls actually played their bowl game in Boca Raton at what he referred to as an “erector set of a stadium.”
Smidebush proceeded to make it personal and called Fagan “a joke.” He also reminded him that FAU smacked USF during a head-to-head matchup in October and laughed at how the rival program lacks a stadium of its own.
Fagan did not respond further.
Smidebush and Florida Atlantic will host Fagan and South Florida on the first Saturday of November. That game always means a lot. This year’s iteration will mean even more!