USF football coach Jeff Scott was so eager to begin Tuesday's first day of spring practice, he rose at 4 a.m. — some 90 minutes before his alarm went off. He's accustomed to early wake-up calls with 6-month-old son Hunter in the house, but this was a day of anticipation.
"My mind was racing,'' Scott said. "I was excited.''
Then, when Scott's team hit the practice field, he got really excited.
"There was a maturity among our players and the way they practiced that was unlike any practice we had in our first year,'' Scott said.