Stampeding Through the 2025 USF Football Roster: #72 OL Cole Best
Folks, they certainly don't call him Cole Just Pretty Good.
PLAYER: Cole Best
POSITION: Offensive lineman (center)
YEAR: Redshirt senior
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6'4", 315 lbs.
HOW DID HE GET HERE? It feels like eons ago now, but Best committed to the Bulls and Jeff Scott back in August of 2020, back when he was beginning his junior season down I-4 at Trinity Preparatory School in Winter Park. He didn’t have many offers at that point, but he ended up picking up a few FCS offers and one other FBS offer from Western Kentucky before making things official with USF. The recruiting services rated him a low three-star recruit.
HOW WAS HIS 2024 SEASON? After three seasons in Tampa where his playing time slowly ticked upwards - he went from a redshirt in 2021 to a sparingly-used backup in 2022 to a member of the two-deep in 2023 - Best had a breakout year in 2024. In the first half of the season, he started a few games at left guard as the Bulls tried to find a permanent answer there, but starting with the UAB game, Best took over for Mike Lofton at center and held down the position for the rest of the season. Notably, Best’s time at center coincided with a major upwards trend in USF’s offensive line play and running game production, but that can also be attributed to the softer second half of the schedule. At any rate, he was a key piece of the USF offensive line in 2024. He appeared in all 13 games, starting 10, and played the fourth-most snaps of any USF offensive lineman, per PFF.
WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT IN 2025? Probably more of the same. Best will likely be battling with Lofton again this offseason to earn the starting center spot. Best’s 2024 performance certainly gives him the inside track, but he’s been banged up a bit during the spring, so the position is something to keep an eye on.
I also want to highlight that Best is a nice story that we don’t get as much these days in college football. He stayed committed to the program through two miserable seasons under Jeff Scott, a coaching change, and three years without significant playing time. In his fourth year with the program, he finally got his chance to start and made the most of it. Now, if he can hold off Lofton at center this offseason, he’ll be the leading man on one of the deepest and most experienced USF offensive lines of all time. I don’t mean to sound old fashioned here - players have my undying support in their quests to secure the bag and find playing time - but it’s very heartwarming to see a player stick around through some pretty rough patches for the program and hopefully get to contribute to something special being built. When senior night comes around this year, make sure to give Cole Best a round of applause, no matter whether or not he’s the starting center.