South Florida co-off. coordinator Danny Hope leaves program

South Florida co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Danny Hope has left the program because of a family matter, according to a source.

South Florida co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Danny Hope has left the program because of family matter, according to a source.

This past season was Hope’s first in his positions at South Florida. Before that, he had been out of coaching for two years after being fired as Purdue’s coach following the 2012 regular season. He had a 22–27 record in four seasons with the Boilermakers that included bowl appearances his final two years.

The 57-year-old Hope was also Purdue’s associate head coach and offensive line coach in 2008 following five seasons as coach at his alma mater, Eastern Kentucky, where he had a 35–22 record. He was Louisville’s associate head coach in ’02, Purdue’s offensive line coach from 1997–2001 and Wyoming’s offensive line coach in 1996.

A Gainesville, Fla., native, Hope coached the offensive line at Oklahoma in 1995 after he held the same position at Louisville for a decade. He got his start in coaching as an assistant at Manatee High in Bradenton, Fla., from ’81–84.

South Florida had an 8–5 record this past season under coach Willie Taggart that was capped by a Miami Beach Bowl appearance, the program’s first bowl bid since 2010. It was the best season in Taggart’s three-year tenure with the Bulls, which has been marked by steady improvement.

South Florida won two games in 2013 before doubling that to four in ’14 and again doubling that total this past season.