Charlie Strong Fired After Three Seasons with USF

South Florida head coach Charlie Strong has been fired, the university announced.

"I would like to thank Coach Strong and his staff for their hard work and contributions to our program," Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly said in a statement. "I have tremendous respect for Coach Strong and his dedication to recruiting and developing young men of talent and character and leading them with integrity. He has represented USF with dignity and class and we wish Coach and his family the very best. I met with our student-athletes and staff today to inform them of my decision and to make clear USF's commitment to a championship-caliber football program that recruits and develops student-athletes and provides the resources and support for them to achieve great success in competition, in the classroom and in the community."

The news was first reported by USA Today's Dan Wolken. Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde confirmed the report and added the staff's status will be determined depending on the new hire.

USF just finished the season 4–8. The season ended with a 34–7 loss to Central Florida. The team will not play in a bowl game for the first time since 2014.

Strong was hired by USF in 2017 after three years as the head coach at Texas, He replaced Willie Taggart, who departed for the head coaching job at Oregon. Strong went 16–21 at Texas. His most successful tenure as a head coach came in his four seasons at Louisville, where he went 37–15 in 52 games from 2010 to 2013.

Strong was in the third year of a five-year contract.