USF Bulls’ bid to rebuild its program post-Jose Fernandez era hasn’t turned out as expected. The team is largely on track to miss the March Madness after a quarterfinal exit at the AAC Championships following a 62-51 defeat to UTSA, prompting the program’s front office to make stern calls regarding its postseason ceiling and head coaching position.

In an X post, South Florida Athletics CEO Rob Higgins informed the community that the Bulls won’t compete in any postseason tournaments other than March Madness to focus solely on the program’s athletic review and the subsequent head coaching search. For context, it is quite certain that the Bulls won’t make it to the upcoming National Championships on an at-large bid, given their lack of Quad 1 wins.

“In the spirit of transparency, we have elected to forego the opportunity to play in any of the non-NCAA Tournament postseason options as a full review of our women’s basketball program is underway and deserves our entire attention,” Higgins said in his post.

In the first season following Jose Fernandez’s departure from the program, interim head coach Michele Woods-Baxter has done quite a job. A former assistant and associate head coach under Fernandez, Woods-Baxter guided the Bulls to a 20-11 regular season, finishing third in the conference. But, as mentioned, courtesy of their conference positioning, the AAC tournament win became theirs to win, which they failed to do decisively under Woods-Baxter.

Yet despite that, Higgins has said that Woods-Baxter will also be one of the candidates on the list to lead the program full-time. “We also want to thank Michele Woods-Baxter for the admirable job she did as our interim head coach this season,” Higgins stated. “Coach Woods-Baxter will receive consideration to lead our program moving forward as part of a comprehensive national search, which is also now underway.

“This is one of the best women’s basketball programs in the country. And we look forward to identifying the perfect leader to take us to championship heights in our next chapter,” Higgins added further.

The USF Bulls aren’t considered a very dominant postseason team. The team’s best finish in March Madness has been reaching the second round. On the other hand, they have done quite well in other postseason tournaments, such as the WNIT, where they became champions under Jose Fernandez in 2009. Thus, to completely exit the postseason was a shocking decision.

As a result, USF fans will now have to wait until next year for any postseason success under a permanent head coach.

According to reports, several options are available for the USF Bulls. Lindsay Edmonds, who has a .633 winning percentage at Rice, is among the possible names for the Bulls. Other candidates, such as Arkansas State’s head coach, Gabe Lazo, could also be options for the Bulls. However, it also wouldn’t be surprising if Rob Higgins and co. decide to keep Woods-Baxter as the permanent head coach.

USF Bulls Interim Head Coach Hints at What Went Wrong for the Team This Season

Considering the USF Bulls’ schedule, it’s easy to conclude they have done well in the conference. The stretch of games that hurt them throughout the season was their non-conference schedule. They went up against National Championships-contending teams like UConn, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and UCLA during those games.

And quite unsurprisingly, they lost all of these games. Though they clinched a win over the Duke Blue Devils, it wasn’t enough to give them a strong foothold. Interim head coach Michele Woods-Baxter shed light on this strong non-conference schedule following the UTSA defeat.

“I feel we’re a much better team than what we’ve seen today,” she said. “They have been through a lot of adversity, and they have handled it well. We were able to win 20 games after having a very tough non-conference schedule.”

Being asked to comment on her perspective regarding her future in the USF Bulls program following a possible March Madness snub, Woods-Baxter gave an evasive answer. “I haven’t really talked about it much,” she said. “We’ve been just mostly focused on playing and keeping the team together, and trying to win some games along the way.”

It’s quite clear from Woods-Baxter’s statement that her future with the program is far from settled. Given her stature in the program, it only fits that she will be an option for the USF front office. But if a better alternative arises, Rob Higgins and co. might just be able to move on permanently from Woods-Baxter. Until any official confirmation comes from the program, we’ll have to play the waiting game.

Till then, let us know who the USF Bulls should bring in to take the reins of their women’s basketball program. Do let us know in the comments.