A pair of University of South Florida coed cheerleaders garnered big attention this week for a video showcasing their strength, balance and teamwork.
The viral video from the Sunshine Stunt Battle in Wesley Chapel shows Brandon Gray, 23, and Ashlyn Pinner, 22, nailing a 30-second routine with a one-arm rewind and a drop-toss double-up going into a handski — some of the sport’s most difficult skills.
Pinner and Gray posted the routine to Instagram after winning the small competition for the second straight year — and the video took off. As of Thursday morning, it had been viewed at least 35 million times after strangers shared it to X and Reddit with the title “Big man on campus.”
Gray, a junior studying communications, has been cheerleading since his junior year of high school at McCracken County in Paducah, Kentucky, when the cheer coach recruited him off the football team’s offensive line.
He gave up his spot as right guard to cheer the following season, he said, after realizing he was getting more attention from colleges for his cheerleading. He’s studying communications and attends USF on a partial athletic scholarship.
Pinner, a USF senior from Tallahassee who studies public health, started cheering about 10 years ago. She’s been working with Grey for about a year.
“We’re just blessed to be around some of the best coaches and the best athletes in the country,” Pinner said.
The irony, said coach Gillian Guadagnino, is that the USF coed team won a national championship in January, but a video from a small, local competition is bringing the program more attention than ever.
USF cheer has won nine national championships, including wins for both the coed and all-women teams in the 2025 UCA/UDA College Cheerleading & Dance Team National Championship in Orlando earlier this year.
“It’s a testament to how cool cheerleading can be when it’s just one girl and one guy doing such hard stunts,” Guadagnino said. “I think Ashlyn is really impressive and fun to watch, and the way Brandon took everything to one arm was really cool. People have been sending me the video who have nothing to do with cheerleading.”
