Believe it or not, we're coming up on the 15th birthday of South Florida football. On September 15, 1995, the Florida Board of Regents officially approved the USF football program at their monthly meeting. From there, former athletic director Paul Griffin hired Jim Leavitt, and everyone got to work preparing for the first game. After nearly two years of planning, procurement, recruiting, practicing, and selling the program to anyone who would listen, USF football finally took the field for the first season in 1997, and the rest is history.

Beginning next Wednesday, we will unveil the 15 greatest football players in USF history, as voted on by a blue-ribbon panel consisting of me, Ken, and Toro. One player per week will be announced, until we get to our choice for the #1 player in USF history on -- you guessed it -- September 15. During the first week, we'll also share our Honorable Mention list... all excellent players who should be remembered and recognized, but didn't quite make the top 15.

We hope you'll enjoy this series. And now, let the guessing begin!