30 Years Of Faith And Football Have Been A ‘Blessing’ For USF’s David Lane

David Lane began serving as the USF football team chaplain in 1996, one year before the Bulls’ first intercollegiate game.

Courtesy David Lane

The ringtone on David Lane’s phone has roused him awake many times. That is okay. The phone is next to his bed for a reason. He is, after all, always available.

“I want them to know that I am there for them at all times,” he said. “It could be a player. It could be coach. I step outside, we talk for a bit and I tell that person to get some rest and we will get together.”

Lane chatted about his three decades serving as chaplain for the University of South Florida football team at the Bulls’ indoor practice facility, which was an appropriate setting given his association with the program dates to 1996, one year before the inaugural season of 1997. It was a time when trailers served as the coaching staff’s offices.

Though the 68-year-old Lane went to what was one of the oldest Christian schools in Florida, moved to Tennessee to attend a private Christian university and served as pastor at a church in Tampa for 15 years, he makes it clear that his association with USF is not about religion. Never has been. Never will be. Rather, it is about being available for student-athletes, coaches and staff who may need someone to talk to, even if it is the middle of the night.

Near-perfect attendance

USF is in its 29^th season of football and will play its 344th game against visiting UTSA on November 6. Lane has been present for all but the Bulls’ first three road dates. It was the mid-point of the inaugural season when assistant coach Calvin McGee, who passed away in 2022 after a career that included playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and several coaching positions at the collegiate level, made sure Lane had a seat on the plane for the fourth road game, which was at Cumberland (Tenn.) University.

“Calvin came to me and said that they would love for me to start traveling with them,” recalled Lane, whose game streak is 337 and counting. “I said, ‘Sure.’ I have traveled with them ever since. It has been amazing. I have seen the whole thing, and it has been a tremendous blessing.”

Lane’s time at USF has roots to 1995. The church in Tampa that he pastored was attended by the parents of Don Barr, who coached USF men’s tennis for two decades. Lane was there for Barr when the latter’s son passed away at age 23 in November 1995. They spent plenty of time together during a difficult stretch and Lane’s name often surfaced when Barr would meet with one of his fellow coaches, Jim Leavitt, the Bulls’ first football coach. One thing truly led to another, and with the blessing of then-athletic director, Paul Griffin, Lane became a familiar face around USF football more than one year before the program’s first intercollegiate game.

“I hit the ground running, and it has been an amazing journey,” said Lane, who has also enjoyed an amazing journey with wife, Lois, that began in high school, has resulted in three children, 10 grandchildren and, in December, 50 years of marriage.

Because it was becoming a challenge for Lane to maintain his schedule as a pastor and also be in the company of the football team on a consistent basis, he ultimately left the church. Alas, he still had bills to pay. With a ladder hanging out a back window of his 1991 Grand Am and with an invoice book on the passenger seat, he set out to do “grunt work” at construction sites while charging “$50 here and $75 there” for various “odd jobs” while Lois gave piano lessons.

USF is a place where Lane has combined his love of God, people and football. He certainly knows the sport having been all-state defensive back and head coach at the now-defunct Temple Heights Christian School in Tampa, where current Clemson defensive coordinator and former Indiana coach, Tom Allen, began his career. Indeed, the football fire still burns.

“I get fired up and I get upset with the refs,” said Lane, who is available for all student-athletes at USF and a year ago participated in a service devoted to the late men’s basketball coach, Amir Abdur-Rahim. “I don’t make a scene, but I love (the USF players). I am highly competitive. I tell them, ‘You are looking for the wrong guy if you think I am going to spend my time on the bench saying, ‘Oh, God, we just want your blessing today.’”

Blessings arrived, though, for the 2011 season opener in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus at Notre Dame when the Bulls upended the No. 16 Irish. That is one of Lane’s most memorable games along with the inaugural game in 1997 against Kentucky Wesleyan and 2007 wins at Auburn (overtime) and at home against Big East foe and No. 5 West Virginia. Also, this season’s victory at Florida.

Oatmeal raisin cookies

Lane likes to remind anyone who cares to listen that, believe it or not, those in helmets and shoulder pads and those wearing headsets happen to be human beings that deal with the same daily issues as anyone else. Especially for many young athletes, the highs and lows can represent some serious peaks and valleys.

“When the lights are turned off and the autograph seekers go home, I want them to know that I am there,” he said. “You go from all of the energy, all of the applause and you go back to your apartment. It can be lonely.”

Recently, Lane sensed one of the Bulls needed a shoulder to lean on. He and Lois invited the young man to their home so they could chat and enjoy each other’s company. A couple of dozen cookies certainly helped.

“We asked what his favorite cookie was and he told us that it was oatmeal raisin,” said Lane. “Lois, who makes them from scratch, made him about two dozen. She wrapped them up for him when he was about to leave, and he had a big ole grin. That was just a way of saying we loved him. It’s amazing how little it takes sometimes.”

Coach Alex Golesh greatly appreciates Lane’s presence. Much of what Lane does may seem little on the surface, but means so much deep down.

“He is as wholesome as a human being as there is and has never asked anything from us,” said the third-year coach, the sixth that Lane has been with at USF. “He wants to continue to give and serve on top of being an incredible man of God. He is a big-time leader for our players and our staff.”

That underscores what it is all about for Lane. Being there. Nothing more. Nothing less.

“I tell the players that I am not your big brother, but I am your older brother,” he said. “We all have something in common, and one thing we have in common is that we all have problems. Some things change with age, though one thing that does not change with age is that we all struggle. Because I have lived a longer life than they have, I can share and provide some insight that can encourage them.”

Friend for life

Many former players have kept in touch with Lane. They have reached out to share good news, such as landing a job, and bad news, such as the passing of a family member. Lane has officiated several weddings of former Bulls, and he has one scheduled at the end of February when he presides over Brad Cecil’s special day.

“He was always there and always someone to talk to,” said Cecil, a center who started 50 games in five seasons (2018-22) for USF and is in the real estate business in his native Jacksonville. “He is someone to offer wisdom whether you were going through a hard time or wanted to share something good that happened to you. I wanted him to be a part of (my wedding) because he has been a big part of my life. He was always such a positive force.”

That force can be delivered gently through words. Lane borrowed something he heard former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Brad Johnson once say: “The distance between a pat on the back and a slap in the face is 18 inches.”

The idea is to keep things real and not get too high or too low. Certainly, not get tangled up in the static from those on the outside, of which there is more than enough these days.

“I think it is important for players to realize that a lot of what goes on is based on popularity or emotion,” he said. “Fans are emotional, and you want that. But sometimes in the heat of the moment people can say things that hurt and we need to realize how slippery of a slope it is. Don’t let emotions drive you, or you will be disappointed.”

It is such messaging Lane offers the evening before game day. Each player, coach and staff member may interpret what Lane has to say differently based on personal experience, but the message is no less meaningful.

“Each week it is something different,” said linebacker Rico Watson III, a Tampa native who transferred to USF from Robert Morris in 2023. “He has different motivational messages that deal with (the game) that we are about to play, but he does not make it too much about football. His words tie in with our goals and what he believe we can do.”

Beginning with a group of redshirts in 1996 that was a year away from taking the gridiron to the 2025 USF Bulls, there has always been one thing Lane cares about most when it comes to each and every player.

“My desire is that once they get their degree and their career at the University South Florida is over, they will say that I was their friend,” he said.