{"id":1559,"date":"2023-08-28T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/?page_id=1559"},"modified":"2026-04-28T15:57:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T19:57:34","slug":"jacksonville-bulls","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/teams\/jacksonville-bulls\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville Bulls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-background\" style=\"color:#7b002b;background-color:#b3b3b3\">Jacksonville Bulls &#8211; No More Almost. This time We Finish<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#7b002b;background-color:#b3b3b3\"><strong>Vital Info<\/strong><br><br>Founded: 1984<br>Stadium: Gator Bowl<br>Head Coach: Linde Infante<br>Division: South<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#7b002b;background-color:#b3b3b3\"><strong>Franchise History<\/strong><br><br><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Jacksonville Bulls Team History: From Expansion Struggles to Playoff Contenders<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#7b002b;background-color:#b3b3b3\"><strong>1984 (Inaugural Season): Growing Pains (4-14, Last in USFL South)<\/strong> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/2024\/03\/17\/1984-jacksonville-bulls-roster-stats-and-recap\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"4072\">Recap and Stats<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/2023\/09\/11\/1984-jacksonville-bulls-schedule-and-results\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"1636\">Schedule<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bulls\u2019 debut season was a classic expansion-team struggle. Despite flashes of offensive firepower (<strong>397 points scored<\/strong>), their defense was historically bad (<strong>541 points allowed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Key Highlights:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Offensive Bright Spots:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>WR Perry Kemp<\/strong>&nbsp;emerged as a star (<strong>74 rec, 1,294 yards, 8 TDs<\/strong>), forming a dangerous duo with&nbsp;<strong>Gary Clark (73 rec, 814 yards)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>QB Robbie Mahfouz<\/strong>&nbsp;showed promise (<strong>85.6 passer rating, 18 TDs<\/strong>) but was turnover-prone (16 INTs).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>RB Larry Mason<\/strong>&nbsp;was a workhorse (<strong>9 TDs<\/strong>), though the run game averaged just&nbsp;<strong>3.6 YPC<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Defensive Woes:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The unit allowed&nbsp;<strong>30+ points in 10 games<\/strong>, with no pass rush (just&nbsp;<strong>20 sacks<\/strong>) and a leaky secondary.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>LB Vaughan Johnson (111 tackles)<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>S David Gray (123 tackles)<\/strong>&nbsp;were bright spots in a battered group.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bottom Line:<\/strong>&nbsp;A team with offensive weapons but no defense or depth. Coach Lindy Infante needed an overhaul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#7b002b;background-color:#b3b3b3\"><strong><strong>1985: The Leap (11-7, 4th in USFL South \u2013 Missed Playoffs on Tiebreaker)<\/strong><\/strong> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/2025\/05\/25\/1985-jacksonville-bulls-roster-stats-and-recap\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"6490\">Recap and Stats<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/2024\/06\/18\/jacksonville-bulls-1985-schedule-and-results\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"4201\">Schedule<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A dramatic turnaround saw the Bulls become one of the USFL\u2019s most exciting teams, thanks to key additions and Infante\u2019s scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Key Improvements:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Offensive Explosion:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>RB Shawn Jones<\/strong>&nbsp;(1,095 yards, 8 TDs) transformed the run game, while&nbsp;<strong>Mason<\/strong>&nbsp;remained a dual threat (582 rush yards, 61 catches).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kemp (1,445 yards) and Mark Keel (9 TDs)<\/strong>&nbsp;gave Jacksonville elite WR play.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>QB Ed Luther<\/strong>&nbsp;aired it out (<strong>3,843 yards, 24 TDs<\/strong>) but crippled the team with&nbsp;<strong>24 INTs<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Defensive Progress:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>DE Keith Millard<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>LB Vaughan Johnson<\/strong>&nbsp;anchored a fiercer front seven.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Turnovers improved (<strong>+5 INTs<\/strong>), but the secondary still allowed too many big plays.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Heartbreak:<\/strong>&nbsp;The Bulls finished&nbsp;<strong>tied for 3rd<\/strong>&nbsp;but lost the playoff tiebreaker to Memphis. Their&nbsp;<strong>turnover margin<\/strong>&nbsp;in close games sealed their fate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jacksonville Bulls &#8211; No More Almost. This time We Finish Vital Info Founded: 1984Stadium: Gator BowlHead Coach: Linde InfanteDivision: South Franchise History Jacksonville Bulls Team History: From Expansion Struggles to Playoff Contenders 1984 (Inaugural Season): Growing Pains (4-14, Last in USFL South) | Recap and Stats | Schedule The Bulls\u2019 debut season was a classic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1560,"parent":8917,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1559","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1559"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9169,"href":"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1559\/revisions\/9169"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.distantreplaysports.com\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}