Strong hopes game provides respite
USF coach Charlie Strong hopes Friday’s game against Illinois at Raymond James Stadium will provide Tampa residents a brief respite from the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
He invited first responders and their families to attend the game to thank them for their service.
“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.”
When Irma, which started out as a Category 5 storm, made landfall in Florida, it carved a destructive path throughout the state, leaving millions homeless and without power.
Local residents saw power of the storm when the Tampa Bay was drained of water briefly Sunday afternoon before it was replenished during ferocious storm-induced sea surge.
“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,” USF athletics director Mark Harlan said in a news release. “Our thoughts remain with all of those impacted by the hurricane in Florida and elsewhere, and we express sincere gratitude to their efforts."
Many of the schools in the state remained closed, including high schools that normally would be playing Friday night games. Strong would love to see those teams to attend the USF game 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 USF roster from various locations Florida impacted by the storm, Strong said USF allowed players to leave to be with their families. He said others remained on campus, including a dozen or so who waited for the storm to pass in the all first-responders for 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,” said Strong, who is in his first season leading the Bulls.
Players away from campus were instructed to be in contact with the coaching staff in case of emergencies.
USF senior quarterback Quinton Flowers, who is from South Florida, said his family was OK. He elected to stay in the Tampa area during the storm.
“I love what Coach Strong did. He kept the team together and made sure they stayed safe,” Flowers said. “It just relieved my mind and allows me to go out there and play the game this week.”
USF was forced to cancel its road game against UConn on Sept. 9 when it was clear the storm could hinder the Bulls’ ability to return home safely.
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,” Strong recalled.
USF senior linebacker Auggie Sanchez said it was the right decision not to play the game with the Huskies.
“I’m a family man and I think most of the guys would have been worried about their families and worried about what was going on here and their minds wouldn’t 100 percent been on UConn,” he said.