TAMPA, Fla. — James Rowe is a former University of South Florida baseball player. This season, he returns to USF with 12 years of coaching experience both on the collegiate and professional levels.
“I think my first love was always football,” Rowe said. “Coming out of (Cocoa) High School, I was a better baseball player. I was such a bad baseball player in college. Now I am a football coach.”
Rowe was a pitcher and outfielder on the Bulls baseball team from 2005-07. His roommate was defensive back Danny Verpeale, and sometimes, Verpeale would bring Rowe along to talk football with defensive coordinator Wally Burnham.
“He set it up with Wally Burnham, actually got to sit down and learn some football from him,” Rowe said. “Thinking back, an old-school like that is big time. Letting a baseball player come in and talk football is pretty cool.”
That meeting really set Rowe’s football career in motion. Last season, he was the defensive backs coach for the Chicago Bears. Now, he’s back in Tampa as the defensive pass game coordinator/safeties coach, and with an NFL resume has his players take notice of.
“Coach Rowe came from where we all want to go, so it’s like no matter what he says, we’re going to listen,” USF safety Logan Berryhill said.
“It’s a good feeling because you know he knows what he’s talking about,” defensive back Jaelen Stokes added.
“I’ve seen the whole process from interviewing guys at the combine to working guys out at a Pro Day to helping the GM and coaches decide who we are going to draft, who are we going to cut,” Rowe said. “I’ve seen the ins and outs of that league. Hopefully, I can provide them with information, help them make good decisions, and prepare them for what their life would be like.”
Rowe was a student-athlete at USF for some of the football program’s biggest wins.
“I was in the stands when we beat Louisville,” he said. “I remember when Jesse Hester scored the touchdown against Auburn to win the game.”
He hopes to help create more memories, this time on the sideline.
