6-2, won 2 straight, on track for 8-4 in the regular season.
Now
Career arc
This week Wed Nov 4
- Last gameW 30-10 vs. UAB Sat Oct 31
- This season6-2 won 2 straight
- On track for8-4 regular season
- Nextat East Carolina Fri Nov 6
- Stature67th of 138 FBS programs
What the result changed
- Playoff odds 0.8% → 1% CFB Zeitgeist forecast, before and after
Friday: at East Carolina
Fri Nov 6, 7:30 pm ET 
· East Carolina is 4-4 · First meeting between Hartline and Blake Harrell as head coaches · South Florida’s chance to win: 61% (the site’s model)
A few stories this week →
The headlines, Nov 1–4 from a few outlets
On3What He Said, What He Meant: Coach Brian Hartline After USF's Win Over UABSun Nov 1
247SportsMaryland football coach candidates: Brian Hartline is an intriguing bet, but short on experienceMon Nov 2- NGSC SportsPrime-Time Bulls: South Florida Lands National Spotlight in Brian Hartline’s First SeasonMon Nov 2
Offense: 93rd of 138 per play. Defense: 45th.
4 games left
- Fri Nov 6at East Carolina (4-4)61%
- Thu Nov 12vs. Memphis (7-2)
47% - Sat Nov 21at Florida Atlantic (5-3)71%
- Fri Nov 27vs. Tulane (4-4)70%
Percent: South Florida’s chance to win, from the site’s model. Records are through today. Networks as announced; the rest are set closer to kickoff.
How the season got here
Where South Florida stood among 138 FBS programs by stature after each game (1st is the highest; the CFB Zeitgeist ledger).
- Oct 26–Nov 1W 30-10 vs. UAB0 headlines
- Oct 19–25No game0 headlines
- Oct 12–18W 29-2 vs. Kent State0 headlines
- Oct 5–11L 24-31 at UTSA4 headlines · 59th of 138“Completely Braindead Moment”: Analyst Slams Brian Hartline’s Pregame Crowd Noise Jab at UTSA After USF’s 31-24 Loss
Yahoo Sports - Sep 28–Oct 4L 13-17 vs. Temple0 headlines
- Sep 21–27 · rebuiltW 14-6 at Bowling Green0 headlines
Each week as this page showed it at the time. Weeks marked rebuilt came before this page existed: they were built afterward from only what was known by the end of that week.
Watch the biggest plays from South Florida’s games, ranked by how much each moved the chance to win.
Poach watch
This winter
Our poach model, on his record so far, the win chances for every game he has left, his program, his pay and his background. Ranked against the 132 FBS head coaches this season. The zone words describe the market’s interest; none of them says he is leaving.
What drives his number
The biggest factors in his profile, each against the typical FBS head coach today. The games he has left are priced into the number, not listed here.
- ▼ LowerHis first season at South Florida
- ▲ HigherNo record for him here before this season · his first year in the job
- ▲ HigherHis team is 6-2, outscoring opponents by 12.5 points a game
How good is this number? It ranks a head coach who leaves for another head-coaching job ahead of one who stays 78 to 82% of the time, and its average came within a point of the share who actually left. What it can’t do
Tested on every FBS head coach from 2012 through 2025, each season scored by a model fit only on the seasons before it. From three games on, given one coach who left for a head-coaching job elsewhere or an NFL coordinator job and one who stayed, it ranked the one who left ahead 79 to 82% of the time; in a season’s first two games, 78%. Its average chance came within a point of the share who actually left. It counts a move a coach makes while he still holds the job; when his school ends it, that doesn’t count, even if another school then hires him.
- The live number prices the games he has left with the power model’s ratings from this season. The test priced them with each team’s rating from the season before, because ratings made during past seasons were not kept, so this live version could not be replayed.
- Programs new to FBS have no FBS record before this season in the data it reads, so their coaches are scored without one.
- It is frozen: it learns nothing from 2026 until a deliberate refit.
- A coach hired in December needs his background (age, alma mater, the state he was born in) added before his first game, or he shows as not rated.
Fans
A few stories about him this week
Fri Nov 6: East Carolina
79th of 104 FBS head coaches · from a few outlets and r/CFB
Maryland football coach candidates: Brian Hartline is an intriguing bet, but short on experience
247Sports Nov 2 · one outlet
Dozens of stories about him this season
from many outlets and r/CFB
San Antonio Express-News +1 Oct 5 · a few outlets
What they’re talking about
The headlines for each topic are on the News tab.
Could another school hire him? What has he said?
Stories are headlines grouped by what they are about, counted through Nov 4.
Stats
Big games
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
ATS is his record against the spread: did his team beat the closing betting line, winning by more than it or losing by less? Lines start in 2013; a dash means fewer than 6 of those games had one. One-score games carry no spread record: a big favorite that wins a close game has almost always failed to cover, so that number would say nothing about the coach.
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next, against the FBS-wide average of 41% pass. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Building the roster
Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
His recruiting, really
No class below is fully his yet — every one was inherited or signed mid-transition, so none counts toward a verdict.
Transition — he was hired mid-cycle
Rank is each signing class’s national recruiting rank (#1 is best). Only a class he had a full signing cycle to build counts as his; inherited and mid-transition classes still show here, faded, but stay out of the average.
Roster ownership
Roster ownership
of his 2026 roster arrived on his watch — 62 of 113 players. The other 51 are holdovers from before he was hired.
Of his own players on this roster, 56% came through the transfer portal; the rest are non-portal arrivals (high-school signees, JUCO transfers, walk-ons).
Everyone he has brought in, 2026–2026Counting players who have since left: 56% of the 62 arrivals we can classify came through the portal.
“His own” means the player arrived while he was head coach; “inherited” means a predecessor brought him in.
Where he recruits
is his biggest recruiting state: 12 of 18 signees (67%) across his 2026–2026 tenure, drawn from 7 states in all. Next: AL (1).
78% of his signees come from FL and its 2 border states (AL 1, GA 1).
Off this map: 1 signee to the west (TX) and 1 to the north (DC).
- median hometown distance
- 296 mi
- within 100 mi
- 26%
- within 500 mi
- 70%
- beyond 1,000 mi
- 9%
The map counts signed recruits across his tenure; the distance figures cover his current roster, transfers and walk-ons included. Two different groups, kept separate on purpose.
News
Stories about him
Headlines, grouped by what they are about. Each is the outlet’s own.
This season
Press conference and quotes
- On3What He Said, What He Meant: Coach Brian Hartline After USF's Win at ArmySep 13
The Oracle (USF)Takeaways: USF mishaps ‘not acceptable’ in Hartline’s eyes despite 59-17 winSep 20
Locked OnTiny Hat CEO Joins to Discuss Manny Diaz, Brian Hartline & Coaching OptionsSep 24- On3What He Said, What He Meant: Coach Brian Hartline After USF's Win Over UABNov 1
Win
- ABC7 WWSB +3Gramatica kicks 4 FGs, USF gives new head coach Hartline a 19-9 win over Florida InternationalSep 5
All 5 articles
FOX SportsGramatica kicks 4 FGs, USF gives new head coach Hartline a 19-9 win over Florida InternationalABC7 WWSBGramatica kicks 4 FGs, USF gives new head coach Hartline a 19-9 win over Florida InternationalABC7 WWSBGramatica kicks 4 FGs, USF gives new head coach Hartline a 19-9 win over Florida InternationalSpectrum Bay News 9Gramatica kicks 4 FGs, USF gives new head coach Hartline a 19-9 win over Florida InternationalAP NewsGramatica kicks 4 FGs, USF gives new head coach Hartline a 19-9 win over Florida International - 247SportsUSF beats FIU 19-9 in Brian Hartline's head coaching debutSep 5
WUSFHartline wins USF debut 19-9 behind Bulls' defense and Gramatica's 4 field goalsSep 5- Yahoo SportsUSF’s defense lifts Bulls to win over FIU in Brian Hartline’s debutSep 6
Game preview
- The Oracle (USF)Hartline’s vision for USF, schedule overview — Football Preview 2026Aug 31
- Spectrum Bay News 9USF gears up for Week 1, hopes to start the Brian Hartline-era strongSep 1
- JimSumnerSportsHartline’s tenure begins as USF opens season for final time at Raymond James Stadium against FIUSep 4
Hot seat
- San Antonio Express-News +1USF coach Brian Hartline questions authenticity of UTSA's crowd noise: 'I don't know how it gets so loud'Oct 5
USA Today +1USF's Hartline questions UTSA, Alamodome crowd noise despite 'not a lot of people there'Oct 8- Yahoo Sports“Completely Braindead Moment”: Analyst Slams Brian Hartline’s Pregame Crowd Noise Jab at UTSA After USF’s 31-24 LossOct 9
Loss
- Spectrum Bay News 9USF opens first fall camp under new head coach Brian HartlineAug 7
- WUSFUSF Bulls lose for the first time under Brian Hartline, 17-13 to TempleOct 4
- Green, Gold, and BoldUSF coach Brian Hartline after loss to Temple: "Everything is under review."Oct 4
Profile and feature
- Green, Gold, and Bold +1Why the Brian Hartline era at USF already feels differentSep 3
All 2 articles
Yahoo SportsWhy the Brian Hartline era at USF already feels differentGreen, Gold, and BoldWhy the Brian Hartline era at USF already feels different - Yahoo SportsThe Urban Meyer lesson that helped Ohio State’s Ryan Day move past Chip Kelly, Brian Hartline lossesAug 6
In his own words
Every quote, back to September 2026
In his own words
Usually, your biggest growth is from week one to week two
Career
Hires into jobs like this
Hired into programs rated 27 to 28 (National Program III tier). Rough match, not calibrated yet — ranked on what the job inherited alone. Coaches hired into this same job aren’t used as comps.
- Alex Golesh20237–6+1.2
- Jeff Scott20201–8-2.3
- Charlie Strong201710–2+2.7
- Willie Taggart20132–10-3.4
- Skip Holtz20108–5-0.5
Coaching career
The arc of his career is on Now.
Followed Alex Golesh (2023–2025).
Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.
Recruits younger transfers than most — more of a development bet.