Brown, Rucker and Shuler named to watch list
TAMPA, FLA., July 28, 2025 – USF Football saw three players named to the 2025 Shrine Bowl 1000 Watchlist on Monday as the Bulls opened fall camp for the third season under head coach Alex Golesh.
Quarterback Byrum Brown, cornerback De’Shawn Rucker and linebacker Jhalyn Shuler all received recognition on the watchlist for the 2026 East-West Shrine Bowl that will be played on Jan. 27 at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
The East–West Shrine Bowl is an annual postseason college football all-star game that has been played annually since 1925.
Brown returns from an injury-plagued 2024 season that saw him miss eight games. In 2023, he joined Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels as the only players in the nation to pass for more than 3,000 yards and run for more than 800. He also set 12 USF records, including the season passing yardage mark.
Rucker, a Tennessee transfer, saw his first action for the Bulls in 2024 and started 11 games. He finished with 42 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, seven quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.
Shuler led the Bulls in tackles in 2023 with 97 stops. After missing three games with injury in 2024, he finished third on the team with 61 tackles and added 7.0 tackles for loss, two interceptions and three forced fumbles.
The Bulls will open their third season under Golesh in a nationally televised game on ESPN on Thursday, Aug. 28, vs. Boise State. That game is set for a 5:30 p.m. kickoff at Raymond James Stadium.
USF, which is one of 15 programs to have won a bowl or playoff game in each of the last two seasons, returns 12 starters in 2025 (six on offense and six on defense). Brown, who passed for a program-record 3,292 yards and ran for 836 in 2023, returns after an injury-shortened 2024 season. The Bulls also return four starters on the offensive line and wide receiver Keshaun Singleton, who broke out mid-season in 2024, posting two 100-yard games and 408 receiving yards in the final seven games.
On defense, USF returns its top tacklers from both the 2023 and 2024 seasons in linebackers Mac Harris and Shuler. Harris led the team with 82 tackles and 12 tackles for loss in 2024, while Shuler logged a team-best 97 stops to go with 8.5 tackles for loss in 2023. Three starters also return in the secondary, led by safety Tavin Ward, who led the team with three interceptions and finished second with 62 tackles in 2024.
Up Next:
USF will hold the annual Kickoff Luncheon on Aug. 20 at Armature Works in downtown Tampa. The annual event will feature head coach Alex Golesh and the entire USF team and coaching staff. Public tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here.
Tickets:
Season tickets for the 2025 USF football season tickets are on sale and may be purchased by calling 1-800-GoBulls or visiting this LINK.
Single-game tickets for the 2025 USF football season can be purchased by calling 1-800-GoBulls or visiting this LINK.
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ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 28th season in 2024 with its second-straight bowl victory in the Hawai’i Bowl. The Bulls are one of 15 programs to win a postseason game each of the last two years as head coach Alex Golesh became the first USF coach to record bowl victories in each of their first two seasons. USF completed construction on a new $22 million Indoor Performance Facility in 2023 and a $349-million on-campus stadium and football operations center broke ground in the fall of 2024 and is slated for completion by 2027. The Bulls have posted 17 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections (including one in 2024), as well as 33 first-team all-conference honorees. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft and the Bulls have made 12 bowl game appearances (going 8-4). 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.
– #GoBulls –
