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Ortuno considers themself to be a talkative and social person and shared that is anything slips out\u00a0the suit helps to conceal it a bit.\u00a0Photo courtesy of Jo Ortuno.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nOver the years, countless students have worn Rocky\u2019s suit and have had to keep their identity a secret until they graduate.<\/p>\n
Photo courtesy of Jo Ortuno<\/p>\n
By Julia Ferrara<\/p>\n
Rocky D. Bull got his start not in the physical form as we know him, but as a cartoon for University of South Florida Athletics to use in their newsletters.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0until 2003\u00a0that the mascot was unveiled as the\u00a0Rocky\u00a0we see today.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The friendliness and fun personality that Rocky displays at events are extensions of the USF students under the mask.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the past two decades, many USF students have suited up and attended sporting and alumni events, dances and even graduation as Rocky.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jo Ortuno, who graduated in 2025 and is now a graduate student studying counselor education,\u00a0served as Rocky for the fall and spring semesters of their senior year, which they said was\u00a0a great way\u00a0to leave on a high note.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
They shared that while their identity had to remain anonymous, several people knew it was them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOut of everyone I knew on campus, there were probably only about three other people that knew,\u201d Ortuno told\u00a0The Crow\u2019s Nest. \u201cFor someone so chatty, I think I did a pretty good job at keeping it a secret.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ortuno considers themself to be a talkative and social person and shared that is anything slips out\u00a0the suit helps to conceal it a bit.\u00a0Photo courtesy of Jo Ortuno.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The job is not without its challenges, however.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ortuno\u00a0said\u00a0that they usually\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0take bathroom breaks during events and the heat can make things more difficult.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the hardest parts was not being able to wipe the sweat off my face in the summer,\u201d Ortuno\u00a0said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Luckily, according to Ortuno,\u00a0the suit\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0smell as bad as people think it does and it gets washed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Being Rocky is a part-time job for students, with standard events running\u00a0between 3 and 5 hours.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ortuno\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0work more than two\u00a0events\u00a0a week.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
To prepare for the role of Rocky\u00a0on the St. Petersburg campus, Ortuno said that there\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0as much training a student\u00a0has to\u00a0do before suiting up.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a general rehearsal and onboarding process in which you are taught how to put on the suit and practice emotes and interactions, but you mainly learn on the job,\u201d Ortuno said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The task of keeping their identity\u00a0under wraps\u00a0can be difficult for some, and Ortuno said there were times when they were almost exposed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely could have been a bit sneakier when walking out of the SLE past the OMA covered in sweat, but I think this job made me a better liar,\u201d Ortuno said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ortuno\u2019s favorite memories of being Rocky were working the orientations and admitted students\u2019\u00a0days which gave them to chance to really interaction with new students and get them excited about going to USF.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kande DaCosta, who graduated in 2025,\u00a0served as Rocky during the last semester of her senior year and shared that several of her friends, who had recently graduated, and her boss knew her identity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
DaCosta said that not being able to speak\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0the hardest part of the job.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment the head went on I knew to focus more on actions than words,\u201d DaCosta said. \u201cI definitely did have some moments where I had to whisper to Rocky\u2019s handler because actions were not enough at the time.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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DaCosta shared that it was hard at times to not give up her identity, but after her reveal some people told her they thought she was Rocky because of the height in the suit.\u00a0Photo courtesy of Kande DaCosta.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
DaCosta noted the same sentiment about the smell of the suit, saying that it was\u00a0basically odorless\u00a0as it would get washed or disinfected after every wear.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ortuno and DaCosta both shared that students are encouraged to use the bathroom before putting the suit on, but if they really need to go, it takes\u00a0about 10 to 15 minutes to take it off and put it back on.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
DaCosta also said that they worked about the same amount as Ortuno.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hours per week depended on the event requests that we had and who on the team volunteered to be Rocky first,\u201d DaCosta said. \u201cPersonally, I maybe had to be Rocky at most twice a week since there were about 10 of us on the team when I was there.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
For training, DaCosta shared that they learned\u00a0numerous\u00a0things.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor training we did a myriad of things. We learned all the signals to communicate with our handler, how we should act as a representative of the school (in and out of costumer), how to pose for pictures, and how to handle children or anyone that has a fear of mascots.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
DaCosta also added that there was a bit of an onboarding process to becoming the mascot.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore you even sign the contract, you\u2019re given an opportunity to try on the suit and see if you\u2019re comfortable with it,\u201d DaCosta said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
DaCosta\u2019s favorite memory from being Rocky was the first event she worked, a campus carnival. She ended up riding the mechanical bull, which she did not plan to do, but\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a memory she still cherishes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
DaCosta also treasures the time spent with Rocky\u2019s staff and assistants.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moments with the team\u2026are the ones I think about a lot more than anything else,\u201d DaCosta said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
For students interested in being Rocky or becoming one of his assistants, email Abigail Bradley-Tyler at\u00a0awbradley@usf.edu<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0fill out this form<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Written by: Julia Ferrara<\/a> on April 13, 2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the years, countless students have worn Rocky\u2019s suit and have had to keep their identity a secret…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230319,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-230318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}