Tight End Jonathan Echols Named Preseason Impact Freshman of the Year; South Florida Opens The 2024 Season On Aug. 31
TAMPA, AUG. 5, 2024 – The South Florida football program saw 11 Bulls named to College Football Network’s Preseason All-AAC teams on Monday led by record-setting wide receiver Sean Atkins (Viera).
Coming off the Bulls’ first 1,000-yard receiving season, Atkins was named a Preseason First Team All-AAC pick by CFN, leading six USF offensive players selected. Atkins is returning after a program record-breaking season in which he posted 92 receptions for 1,054 yards, both smashing USF season marks, and earned postseason All-ACC Second Team honors in 2023.
Four-star, Class of 2024 signee Jonathan Echols (Franklin, Ga.) was named CFN’s Preseason Impact Freshman of the Year. The tight end had offers from numerous Big Ten and SEC programs before committing to the Bulls.
CFN named quarterback Byrum Brown (Raleigh, N.C.), running back Nay’Quan Wright (Opa Locka), running back and kick return Ta’Ron Keith (DeLand) and linebacker Jhalyn Shuler (Abbeville, S.C.) to its All-AAC Second Team.
Offensive guard Zane Herring (Madison), safety Tavin Ward (Fort Myers), place kicker John Cannon (Fort Lauderdale) and punter Andrew Stokes (Perth, Australia) earned preseason third-team accolades, while cornerback Aamaris Brown-Bunkley (Tampa) was named honorable mention.
USF returns 19 starters in 2024 (nine on offense, eight on defense, and two specialists) from a team that set 12 team and 16 individual program records while going 7-6 (a program-best six-game turnaround) and claiming a 45-0 Boca Raton Bowl victory over Syracuse in 2023.
The Bulls return record-setting starting quarterback Brown, 85 percent of their rushing yards, 84 percent of their receiving yards and four primary starters on the offensive line. On defense, USF returns nine of its top 11 tacklers led by Shuler, who logged a team-best 97 stops to go with 8.5 tackles for loss in 2023.
The Bulls open the season Aug. 31 vs. Bethune-Cookman in Raymond James Stadium before road games at Alabama (Sept. 7) and Southern Mississippi (Sept. 14) and a home clash with Miami (Sept. 21).
2024 Season Tickets: www.USFBullsTix.com
Group tickets (10+): Call 1-800-GoBulls
Future schedules can be viewed HERE
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 27th season in 2023 with a program-best six-game turnaround and Boca Raton Bowl victory under first-year head coach Alex Golesh. USF completed construction on a new $22 million Indoor Performance Facility in 2023 and a $340-million on-campus stadium and football operations center is slated for completion by 2027. The Bulls have posted 16 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections (including two consensus selections, the last coming in 2021), as well as 32 first-team all-conference honorees. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft and the Bulls have made 11 bowl game appearances (going 7-4), posting a program-record six straight appearances from 2005-2010 and making four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18. USF posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016, while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 campaigns and reached as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press rankings during the 2007 season.
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