Quinton Flowers jokes Shaun King... " I'm not sure if this is the right coach "

Shaun King proves to USF Bulls he knows his stuffJoey Knight, Times Staff WriterTuesday, April 12, 2016 12:13pmking by anti java, on FlickrNew USF quarterback coach Shaun King, shown at spring practice last month, has never coached in college.shaun_17040669_8col by anti java, on FlickrQuarterback Shaun King celebrates after helping the Bucs beat the Redskins in a playoff game on Jan. 15, 2000. Three years later he would win a Super Bowl ring with Tampa Bay. The former Gibbs High standout had his NFL career end in 2007.TAMPA — Upon learning that an old-school Buc named Shaun King would be his new position coach, USF quarterback Quinton Flowers did what comes naturally to most milennials: He Googled him.The problem arrived at the personal encounter. The husky dude in the team meeting room bore little resemblance to the mildly undersized No. 10 he saw on those YouTube videos. Was this the same 6-foot Wunderkind scrambling and slinging the Bucs to a come-from-behind win against the Redskins in the 1999 NFC playoffs?"I saw there was a guy that could move, kind of a skinny guy, but when he came in he was bigger than that," Flowers said. "I was like, 'I'm not sure if this is the right coach.' "One in the same. King, now 38 and a waist size or two past his prime, has made one of the most resounding — and perhaps risky — audibles of his career.A college and pro analyst (for everyone from ESPN to Yahoo) since his playing career ended in 2007, King left that vocation to join Willie Taggart's staff in February. He has served as an offensive assistant at Gibbs High — his alma mater — and for some prominent area 7-on-7 teams, but the next college game he coaches will be his first.So why jump into a world of 15-hour days? Why become the scrutinized when you can do the scrutinizing?"The kids," said King, 10th in the 1998 Heisman Trophy voting after totaling more than 4,000 yards and leading Tulane to a 12-0 season."The last two years with Yahoo, I had gotten involved more with the high school stuff, because Yahoo owns Rivals. And I just felt like if the opportunity came … I'd take it."It's a lot more work, but I think the intrinsic value to helping young men realize their goals, learn how to be better people and players, learn how to compete and still grow close, I think that's an amazing opportunity."What King lacks in experience he atones for with cachet, making him somewhat of a celebrity guest speaker who shows up every day. While coordinating a 7-on-7 package doesn't compare to preparing for FSU's smorgasbord of coverages and blitz angles, don't suggest to anyone in the Bulls offices that King is out of his league.To the contrary, he has played in the league.King has 24 NFL starts (22 with the Bucs) on his resume. He led Tony Dungy's '99 and 2000 teams to the playoffs, and owns a Super Bowl ring. In a meeting room with pupils between the ages of 18-21, that equates to instant credibility."I think the good thing about it for Shaun, he has proof," said Taggart, who slid former quarterbacks coach David Reaves to tight ends (and moved former tight ends coach David Gilbertson to an off-field role) to accommodate King."Some coaches can just talk, but he has proof. The kids can go look him up and see that what he did was legit."That sentiment was virtually echoed by each of the Bulls' top three quarterbacks after a spring practice last week. UCLA transfer Asiantii Woulard, eligible this season after sitting out a year, said it's easy to listen to King because "he's a guy who's been there and done it.""Especially when he's able to pull up film and show us like, 'This is how you do it,' and it's like, 'Okay, wow, he knows what he's talking about because he's doing it really well,' " Woulard said. "He was the guy, man. Everybody knows who he was."Today, this is who he is: A rookie college coach. For all his under-center acumen and YouTube footage, King still must prove himself to Tampa Bay all over again."He's got a confidence about him, not just when he played but right now, of just coaching players, teaching players, teaching the game," receivers coach T.J. Weist said."And he knows he's got a ways to go to learn the little things of just coaching, of transferring that knowledge to other players and then building on it every day. … But he's got that confidence that he had as a player. You can see it on the field, you can see it in the meeting room, and you can see it with our staff meetings."He knows what he's talking about."Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls.