Jeffrey Bradford Scott (born December 28, 1980) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

from 2020 to 2022.

Playing career

Born in Arcadia, Florida, Scott later lived in Seneca, South Carolina and graduated from the Hammond School in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

in 1999. He played quarterback on the football team and was also an outfielder and pitcher on the baseball team in high school. Scott played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

under head coach

Tommy Bowden Tommy Pearce Bowden (; born July 10, 1954) is an American former college football coach. He served as the head coach at Clemson University from 1999 until October 13, 2008. He is a son of Bobby Bowden, former head football coach of Florida Sta ...

. He lettered three years (2000–2002) as a wide receiver. He also played special teams for most of his playing career, serving as the holder for place kicks. He participated in three bowl games while playing at Clemson: the 2001 Gator Bowl, 2001 Humanitarian Bowl, and 2002 Tangerine Bowl.

Coaching career

Early career

Scott started his coaching career as the head football coach for Blythewood High School in Blythewood, South Carolina in 2006. He won a state title in his first and only year, at age 25. This was Blythewood's football program's inaugural year as well. It is believed to be the first time in South Carolina high school football history that a first-year head football coach led his program to a state title in its first year of fielding a team. After one year coaching at the high school level, he then served as wide receivers coach for the Presbyterian Blue Hose in 2007.

Clemson

He made his return to Clemson in 2008 as a graduate assistant on

's staff. When Dabo Swinney took over as interim head coach midway through the 2008 season he was promoted to coach wide receivers, the position that had been held by coach Swinney. He was promoted to head of recruiting in December 2008 when Dabo Swinney was given the full-time position. In December 2014, he was named co-offensive coordinator to replace outgoing offensive coordinator Chad Morris, who left to take over as head coach of the SMU football program. He shared coordinator duties with Clemson's running back's coach and former teammate, Tony Elliott. Former Clemson teammate Brandon Streeter was hired to take over recruiting coordinator duties as well as to coach quarterbacks. Clemson's football team won the national championship in January 2017, beating

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, with Scott and Elliott as offensive coordinators for the game.

South Florida

Scott was hired as the fifth head football coach in

history on December 9, 2019, becoming the youngest head football coach in the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

. He signed a five-year deal worth $12.5 million dollars. In his inaugural game as head coach, the Bulls beat The Citadel, 27–6. Despite this early victory, the Bulls lost their remaining games and ended the season 1–8. In 2021, Scott and the Bulls won only two games, defeating Florida A&M, 38–17, and

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

, 34–14. Following the season, Scott received a two-year contract extension. Athletic director Michael Kelly cited continuity as key to the future success of the program in this decision. South Florida fired Scott on November 6, 2022. Special teams coordinator Daniel Da Prato served as interim head coach for the final three games 2022 season. In Scott's three seasons as head coach, he compiled a record of 4–26, with three of four wins coming against

NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate ...

(FCS) opponents. The lone win against an FBS opponent was against a three-win Temple team in 2021. , his win percentage () ranks last in program history amongst head coaches.

Head coaching record

College

High school

Personal life

Scott graduated with a bachelor's degree in secondary education from Clemson University in 2003. He is married to the former Sara McDaniel. He is the son of Brad Scott, former

South Carolina Gamecocks football The South Carolina Gamecocks football program represents the University of South Carolina. The South Carolina Gamecocks, Gamecocks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern ...

head coach and longtime Clemson assistant coach. His younger brother, John Scott, who Jeff often refers to as his "hero", is a trauma surgeon who trained at Harvard and at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, and is now an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Michigan.

References

External links

Clemson profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Jeff 1980 births Living people American football wide receivers Clemson Tigers football coaches Clemson Tigers football players Presbyterian Blue Hose football coaches South Florida Bulls football coaches High school football coaches in South Carolina People from Arcadia, Florida People from Seneca, South Carolina Players of American football from Florida Players of American football from South Carolina Coaches of American football from South Carolina Coaches of American football from Florida