Thursday in front of a national audience Brian Kelly and Joe Tresey will face off against each other for the first time since Kelly released the former Bearcats defensive coordinator from his staff. With both teams having 5-0 records the game represents the next step in who may be favored to win the Big East while providing fans with one of the biggest games of cat & mouse seen on the football field for some time.
Tresey, who was Kelly’s defensive coordinator from 2006-2008 helped the Bearcats head coach win two conference titles and a lot of victories along the way with a defenses that forced South Florida to eight turnovers in 2007 and only 10 points in last seasons match-up.
While the stated reason for Tresey’s departure was Kelly’s desire to move to a 3-4 defensive setup, many have wondered how the two would do battle when the two teams got together this season.
On Monday, Joe Tresey talked with the media about Thursday’s game. USF provided the following video.
When Brian Kelly was asked after practice Monday he made sure members of the media didn’t make too much of a deal out of the match-up feeling what both staffs know cancels each other out.
“We do what we’ve got to do and he’s got to stop it. I think he certainly knows our offense and what we’re about. So I think that kind of cancels each other out and their players got to make plays and our players got to make plays.”
“We know what to expect out of him and he knows what to expect out of our offense. Nobody’s been in this business as long as we have thinks you can come up with a new scheme that weekend and think we’re going to take over the game. None of use thinks that much of ourselves that were going to change the complexion of what we do.”
While both coaches have not said much about the subject, Bearcat fans know there is another story in what could happen on Thursday night.