USF football recruiting notebook: New 2025 targets emerging on Bulls' board; 2026 QB one to watch

The South Florida Bulls have been aggressive with quarterback recruiting since Alex Golesh took over as head coach Dec. 2022, with a couple notable victories at the position being flips of power conference schools. USF flipped Israel Carter from Arizona State in the late signing period back in the 2023 class, and in the current 2025 class, the Bulls got Locklan Hewlett to switch his pledge from Wake Forest.

USF has offered a over a dozen quarterbacks in the 2026 cycle, and who Golesh and Co. end up with to lead the class remains to be seen. But there’s a signal-caller who Bulls’ fans need to get familiar with among high school juniors.

And that’s Savannah (Ga.) Benedictine Military School’s Stephen Cannon, an unranked quarterback who stands at 6-2, 195 pounds. Cannon reports a 4.0 GPA and a 4.59 in the 40-yard dash.

Cannon’s first offer came from Miami (Ohio) back in the summer of 2023 after he impressed the RedHawks staff at a mega camp at Mercer. Offer No. 2 didn’t come until almost a year later; the USF Bulls entered the mix. Appalachian State offered him in late August, and a couple weeks ago, Virginia joined the mix with an offer.

He’s in his first year as a starter, as Cannon was behind Florida State class of 2024 signee Luke Kromenhoek, who finished the cycle as a five-star prospect per On3.

The Bulls offered Cannon when he only had 14 varsity passes to his name, and the USF staff likes what they’ve seen from him during his junior campaign thus far. Cannon has thrown for 629 yards with 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in the first three games of his 2024 campaign.

Cannon has already logged three USF recruiting visits. He made it to campus June 18, returned at the end of July for Bay Day and was at Raymond James Stadium last Saturday for the Miami game.

It’ll be a battle for Cannon, and it’s obviously still early days in his recruiting process. But sources tell On3 that Cannon is a top of the board target for the Bulls.

USF offers Toledo LB commit, will host for official visit

In this weekly articles, I’ve written a few times that the Bulls have done a reset of sorts on their linebacker board, making a national search on prospects at the position. For the past several weeks, the USF staff has been in contact with Newburgh (Ind.) Castle three-star star linebacker Gavin Leach, who has been committed to Toledo since April.

In the last several days, Leach has added offers from Cincinnati, Washington State and USF. The likes of Western Michigan, Northern Illinois and Illinois State offered him before his pledge to the Rockets.

A source tells On3 that Leach will officially visit USF the weekend of Oct. 25. It’s for the Bulls’ bye week, and this will allow for the staff to spend an extended amount of time with him.

In-state CB one to watch for South Florida

Alabama, Notre Dame and North Carolina are in a battle to flip away Greenville (Ga.) High’s Antavious Richardson, a USF commit who ranks as the No. 351 overall player and No. 10 “athlete” nationally according to the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking. It seems like just a matter of time before Richardson ends up switching his commitment, and the Bulls will look to add another cornerback (or two) in the 2025 class.

Havana (Fla.) Gadsden County’s Christian Barrett is one that sources say to keep an eye on. He’s a prospect the Bulls’ staff identified early this fall and offered him Sept. 11.

South Alabama, Eastern Kentucky, Massachusetts, Tennessee Martin and Western Kentucky are the other schools that have offered Barrett.

The feeling is that the Bulls are going to make a big push for him soon.