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What the Next 4 Months Hold Could Make or Break Alex Golesh’s USF Legacy—Here’s Why
In college football, patience has always been the name of the game—three years is the magic number for a coach trying to resurrect a struggling program. Sure, the transfer portal has sped things up a notch, tossing fresh talent into the mix like a quick fix, but real, lasting change? That’s a marathon, not a sprint. Culture, systems, trust—those aren’t built overnight. Alex Golesh has had just over two years to turn around USF football, and the progress? It’s tangible. The Bulls have clawed their way back to consecutive winning seasons and snagged back-to-back bowl victories, a far cry from the lean years before Golesh arrived. Yet, there’s a critical piece missing—the kind of leap that separates merely good teams from genuine contenders. Golesh knows it, and after Saturday’s spring scrimmage, he’s crystal clear that the next few months will be make-or-break for the Bulls. Can they close that toughest of gaps, moving from bowl wins to championship glory and January showdowns? Early signs from 2025 paint an optimistic picture: a seasoned roster, a healthy star quarterback, deepening talent, and a team that’s learning to grind and gel like never before. The foundation is there, the hunger sharper than ever. Now, it’s about closing that gap and seizing the moment. Because if not now—when? LEARN MORE
Moreover, Golesh said his players have learned how to train and practice at a high level, and have fostered the type of cohesion he has craved. Winter workouts were “old-school,” he said, with players challenged physically like they hadn’t been the previous two winters.• • •Conventional wisdom, even during this wholly unconventional juncture in college football, calls for three years.First two seasons (2020-21): 8-13Recent history in this state shows once-foundering programs taking their biggest strides in Year 3 of a coach’s tenure:Third season (2022): 10-3 (Cheez-It Bowl win)Willie Taggart, USFAlex Golesh has been afforded 28 months, during which he clearly has elevated the cachet and morale of USF football. On his watch, the Bulls posted consecutive 7-6 seasons with back-to-back bowl triumphs (after totaling four wins in the three years prior to his arrival), while laying a groundwork for how day-to-day operations are conducted.Loading…
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“I think it’s easy to forget what we walked into when we got here,” he said.
The initial signs of 2025 indicate the Bulls are well-positioned to construct that bridge and maybe — just maybe — earn the program’s first conference crown. Including walk-ons, the roster includes roughly 30 seniors. The all-conference-caliber quarterback (Byrum Brown) is healthy again, the offensive line is seasoned, and depth abounds at some positions where it was nonexistent two springs ago.Explore all your options“Some of the plays that we gave up could’ve been easily prevented. So if we just take those off our plate, I think that’s the gap coach has been talking about. Just close that gap right there, and then I feel like we’ll be at where we want to be at.”“A lot of mistakes we made last year were on us,” fifth-year safety Jaelen Stokes said.Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on X and Facebook.“Learning to love each other, learning to practice the way you’re supposed to practice. Through 15 practices, that’s what we did. Almost to a point sometimes where … every now and again I’d try to start a little scuffle just to make sure we’re still all on edge.”Third season (2024): 10-3 (won first nine games)
Year 3 turnarounds
“There’s this next step we have to take,” he said. “And the gap is not huge, but it’s the hardest gap to close. … And that’s from winning bowl games and being competitive to winning championships and playing meaningful games into January.”First two seasons: (2022-23): 12-13“We went into the spring with this hope of — and I don’t know that you’re ever going to get a perfect euphoria in college football — a bunch of guys coming together and actually growing as a football team,” Golesh said.Mike Norvell, FSUSign up for our Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.Generally, such is the timeframe required for a coach to resuscitate a foundering football program. Sure, it sometimes can be done more quickly in the transfer portal era, but an infusion of talent often represents a quick fix. To really put a program on a lasting foundation, a culture must be established, a process must be plotted out, trust has to be fostered. All of which takes time.“We’ll get there when we get there, but I think this as close as we’ve been,” Golesh said. “We’ve got to go finish in the portal here. … We’ve got to go finish, we’ve got to shore up the roster, and then we’ve got to go close this gap.”Third season (2024): 8-5 (season-ending 4-game win streak)Yet one noticeable gap remains in the program, one that separates adequate from elite. Immediately after Saturday’s spring intrasquad scrimmage at Corbett Stadium, Golesh reinforced his assertion that the next four months will determine whether the Bulls bridge that gap.If not now, when? With a noticeable jump in Year 3, Golesh’s process is validated, recruiting likely is enhanced and the foundation is fortified. But another 7-6 season could yield the law of diminishing returns.Every weekday, tune into our Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast to hear reporter Rick Stroud break down the biggest stories in Tampa Bay sports.We’ll send you news and analysis on the Bucs, Lightning, Rays and Florida’s college football teams every day.
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First two seasons (2022-23): 11-14First two seasons (2013-14): 6-18Third season (2015): 8-5 (Miami Beach bowl appearance)Subscribe to our free Sports Today newsletter
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