New CEO of USF Athletics: ‘Screw potential’

Rob Higgins, the University of South Florida’s inaugural CEO of Athletics, used the term “all gas and no brakes” to describe the rapidly evolving program’s trajectory Monday.

It was also a fitting summation of his first public appearance in the new role. Higgins, the former executive director of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, outlined his vision for USF Athletics with a theatrical flair while working a packed crowd at the Pam and Les Muma Basketball Center.

Higgins referred to his introductory event as a celebration and pledged that “we don’t do boring press conferences anymore.” That was the first in a series of bold statements from someone who vowed to reimagine how the athletics department measures success.

“Eventually, you have to land the plane before it runs out of gas,” Higgins said. “We’re going to put a premium on process and performance, and will no longer tolerate using potential as an excuse or crutch.

“Screw ‘one day,’ and screw potential.”

CEO of Athletics Rob Higgins (third from right) with several prominent Tampa Bay area professional athletes and USF Board of Trustees Chair Will Weatherford.

Higgins will formally become the collegiate sports world’s first CEO Oct. 1. “I’m pretty sure I can’t be fired until I’m officially hired, guys, so these next eight days, I’m going to let it rip,” he said.

The position’s title reflects that USF will ask more from Higgins than a traditional athletic director, and its commitment to growing the program. He must oversee the construction of a $348 million on-campus stadium that officials expect to open in summer 2027 and foster additional support from regional alumni.

USF launched Bulls Athletic Properties in July to guide the athletics department’s multimedia rights and business strategy at a time when players receive payments for their name, image and likeness (NIL) and share revenues with schools.

“It’s critically important that everyone realizes our time as Bulls is right now,” Higgins said. “The days of defining ourselves based off of some immeasurable metric of potential are now over.

“We have the resources, including revenue-share, facilities and coaches, to win right now in the American (Conference). I can tell you what we don’t and won’t have, though, and that’s excuses and regrets.”

Higgins helped bring two Super Bowls, the College Football National Championship and multiple NCAA Final Four tournaments to Tampa Bay. He, along with USF Board of Trustees Chair Will Weatherford and Pro Football Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks, led the host committee for Super Bowl 55 at Raymond James Stadium in 2021, as the world emerged from the pandemic.

Weatherford and Brooks, whose Tampa Bay Buccaneers won that Super Bowl on their home turf, were among dozens of area luminaries who attended Monday’s event. “We found calm and confidence in the chaos back then, and we’re going to do it again now,” Higgins said.

Tampa mayor Jane Castor, former mayor Bob Buckhorn, Pro Football Hall of Famer Ronde Barber, former Buccaneer and ESPN commentator Booger McFarland, New York Yankees legend Tino Martinez, MLB All-Star and USF graduate Jose Bautista, WWE star Titus O’Neil, former Buccaneer Cameron Brate and Olympic gold-medalist swimmer Brooke Bennett also attended the ceremony. They were joined by myriad business and civic leaders, prominent school donors and athletic department supporters.

A rendering of USF’s new stadium (opening fall 2027).

Higgins said he was “born to be a Bull” and called himself a “court moisture mitigation and player hydration specialist” for the USF basketball team as a 12-year-old growing up in Tampa. He succeeds Michael Kelly, who resigned in June to become the U.S. Naval Academy’s athletic director.

“People who were born here, and people who choose to move here, they come together,” Higgins said. “And it’s exactly what will lead to so many successes in our athletic department.”

He said USF’s athletic department belongs to Tampa Bay, the state’s largest media market, and its “elite” coaches are capable of winning national championships. “We are not America’s next great university … we have arrived.”

Higgins said his plan is to “win the building,” the campus, the community and the country, “in that order.” He presented a 10-hour, detailed version to USF leadership before receiving the job offer.

“We are not taking shortcuts,” Higgins added. “We’ve failed in the past when we skipped one of those four steps and got ahead of ourselves. Buckle up for one hell of a ride of defining our moment together.”