TAMPA, FL -- Michael Kelly knows how to work a room.
It comes with the job.
“My first nine months here, I’ve been doing a lot of listening,” Kelly said.
And a lot of hand shaking. Kelly can work a room. And the USF Vice President of Athletics is proving he can work the system.
Kelly's getting creative with USF football. He's beefing up the schedule. The two-for-one's are part of the game. The goal? Make USF relevant outside of the Tampa Bay area.
“Kinda put our brand out there and make it the national brand that it should be,” Kelly said.
The Bulls bring some state-wide relevance and impressive numbers to the table. No program in the Sunshine State got to win No. 150 faster than USF.
“Faster than Florida State, faster than Florida, faster than Miami, faster than UCF," he said.
And they're not done.
“In the next 10 years, we’re going got have six games against Florida and Miami,” Kelly said, “and that’s something that gets our guys jacked up, gets our fans jacked up and we’re real excited about the challenge."
And puzzled by the backlash. UCF fans flooded social media voicing their displeasure over the Bulls deal with Miami and Florida. Knights AD Danny White said he didn’t like the precedent it sets.
“It has been surprising to me because to me it’s really about you do what’s best for your program,” Kelly said. “We just want to matchup with as many Power 5 opponents as we can and continue to make it fun for our players and ultimately for our fans to enjoy.
"We’re bringing big boys here to play us because we are part of the big boys and we enjoy that.”
Critics can pounce and mock and belittle the Bulls process. Kelly understands the game and is willing to play it.
“We’ve got to have patience," he said. "We’ve only been playing football for 22 years and it takes some time. But I sure am proud of what we’ve accomplished.
"People need to take a step back sometimes and realize just all the good work that our student-athletes, coaches, fans and donors have done to make this the relevant program that it is."