EXCLUSIVE: USF Football Head Coach Alex Golesh Previews 2024 Season

but we're going to stick with the football talk because college football is so exciting we've got the 12 team college football playoff that is being Incorporated this year which means it's going to open up the playing field to some teams who normally wouldn't be in it are in it now so yesterday at the AAC media day Alex goolish USF head football coach caused maybe a little bit of a stir when he was asked this question you're playing teams like Bama Miami played Bama last year as well do you think it's important to continue having those matchups even though last year the playoff committee didn't seem to put much of a value on strength of schedule when setting who that team from this group would be yeah Bama and Miami got a play South Florida I freaking love that I love it so let's go to the central Florida Behavior Health Network Dae hotline learn more at cn.org and let's talk to USF football coach Alex goolish he's back with me here on the drive with Tom K Nikki coach welcome back to the show how the heck are you man I'm doing great how are you guys uh doing great so uh let's talk about that bravado yesterday man you want to put USF on that National map and I mean that's how I perceived it uh tell me what you were thinking well you know there there's there's how many ways can you answer that question right like we're we get an opportunity to go play uh an incredible football team a team that was in the playoff a year ago at their place like are you kidding me like literally I'm sitting here my juices are flowing right now like man if you're any sort of competitor that's what you do this for right that's why you play Big Time college football that's why you coach Big Time college football you know and and in the same breath bring up Miami we we host Miami here like in state every single day all we're doing is recruiting whether it's against Miami against whoever right like like come on man let's roll let's roll right let's pack ra day and let's go get this thing going I'm I'm gonna take our guys against anybody in the country and and if you think anything else or you think otherwise like literally what are you doing this for 100% and uh I saw the media had Memphis you know slated to win the AAC followed by UTSA Tain and then you guys are at number four um based on how you finished last year and your dominant win in the bowl in the bowl game do you feel like you're a little low on the preseason AAC poll or does that matter to you at all you know what I I feel the same way about the the preseason polls as I as I always have and same way I thought about it last year like man oh man you at the end of the day the reason why college football is making the money that it is and the reason why the all this revenue is generated is because people talk about it right I mean we're talking about it right now um people talk about it year round people follow recruiting like like it's a game you know and and so it's it's awesome that people are talking about it it's awesome that that there's polls it's awesome that people care about the polls at the end of the day we're we're five weeks away from actually strapping it up and and and polls all matter right now but but August 31st you got to go strap it up and somebody's going to punch you in the face and and you got to go respond and at the end of the day I don't think any of it matters it's never mattered it didn't matter when we were picked to finish 13th last year you know and and so there's a reason you go play the games and there's a reason people care about it and that's what makes college football incredible USF head football coach Alex goolish in his second year is with me here on the drive USF will open their season he just mentioned it Saturday August 31st against Beth cookman and then the game in Tuscaloosa at Alabama on Saturday September the 7th it's a really good good schedule and I think you guys are going to be up to the challenge you returned 19 starters from a year ago nine on offense eight on defense and one of the guys that will give you a puncher chance obviously is your returning quarterback Byron Brown who set a number of school records for completion percentage yards touchdowns everything else so tell me what you want to see out of Byron Brown this year as he takes his game to another level yeah we're we're obviously really excited about bym coming back and and taking a step you know he's still 19 years old he he was a a rord freshman a year ago and so he's got so much room to grow and he'll be the first to tell you that you know he he'll he'll point out the turnovers a year ago you know he threw 11 interceptions and he'll dwell on that before he dwells on any record he sets you know the ball security issues running the football I mean he rushed for over 800 yards he's going to have the ball in his hands it's taking care of that honestly it's it's year two of an offense and so for him seeing it faster getting the ball out quicker um you know we've got to get better with the explosive plays we've got to connect on some vertical shots that we didn't connect on a year ago those are all the things that he has spent endless hours this off season perfecting and so I no different than what what he already knows the expectation would be for him to take another step in all of those things and again he's 19 years old by all accounts he started 14 games in his career uh I think his best days are ahead of him and he's worked literally harder than anybody inside our walls to improve you scored a ton of points from a year ago and you return a bunch of guys from that offense that put up some big points on defense you know you had some trouble in that area but you do return a number of guys on that side of the ball plus with some of the incoming recruits and everything else from the transfer portal do you think because you return so many guys on defense plus with the additions that you're going to see marked improvement on that side of the ball yeah I think you know it was such a interesting Dynamic defensively a year ago we we inherited literally statistically the worst defense in the country so we we looked at it two ways one you know is it the Personnel is it the scheme is it the belief and and defensive football comes down to confidence and and believing that that you can make plays and so we went and and recruited at a really really high clip there a year ago we we were fortunate that a bunch of guys decided to stay and they grew you know we we certainly improved um and I think we got more confident as the year went I you know I think playing defense and coaching defense right now in college football I don't know if you could you could certainly pay me enough to do that that it is it is about as hard as you can imagine and and as we went I think we we got more and more confident and as the new guys integrated with the guys that were here I think we got better as the year went I think the way we finished the season against Charlotte and in the bowl game against Syracuse I think we went into the off season one we returned virtually everybody but two I think they finally clicked you know there was a level of confidence that was like all right we we we know where we started we know where we ended but I think there was a light at the end of the tunnel where it's like man oh man like I think we can grow exponentially we knew we needed to go get help we knew in the secondary we were really really thin like really really thin went out and and got got a nickel and Kanan banks that we feel like can can make a huge impact for us as as our young guys that we recruited are getting older you know we went out and got two corners in Bren Austin and and um and Ruck from Tennessee where those guys have come in and pushed the envelope with with the Mars Brown and Ben Knox and really created real competition we brought in three freshman that I think are all phenomenal players at a corner to get us some depth we brought in some depth at linebacker we brought in some depth on the D line again to try to create competition to go along with the confidence and I think as as you kind of put it all together I think they've got all the confidence in the world right now to to go be a dominant defense and and we'll see again I can tell you whatever I want but as we strap it up on August 31st it'll be really interesting to see USF head football coach Alex goish is kind enough to join me here on the drive the season begins on August 31st and you got a lot of momentum winning season from a year ago the dominant win in the bowl game recruits transfers coming in and everything else you return a lot of guys from last year and now coach as you know the Landscaping college football has changed we got a 12 team playoff so if you can find a way to win the AAC you're going to be right in that conversation so when you gather your team for training camp do you know exactly what your message to your team will be yeah I I think it's the same message that it's that it's been literally since the day I got here we're in a race against ourselves to get as good as we can as fast as we can we've never ever talked about end results here obviously not naive enough to know that we get evaluated on end results but we've never talked about it we we've worked relentlessly hard to to create a process driven program with a bunch of process-driven individuals within it where all we worry about is our day-to-day and how we attack from the day we wake up or from the time we wake wake up in the morning to to how we eat to how we train to how we treat each other in the building to how we continue to build trust and Leadership within our walls to everything to then how we go to sleep at night and what we put in our bodies all of it and at the end of the day the end result will be what the end result is our job is to perfect our process in every imaginable way both on the field off the field in every single thing that we do try to become elite elite young men and so part of that is playing ball part of that is just how we carry ourselves and at the end of the day we got an opportunity to to continue to play after the season awesome if we don't then we got to go evaluate our process again and see why you know at the end of the day if you recruit at a high clip and we coach at a high clip and we got a bunch of individuals that care we got a chance to have a really really good football team and I'm really confident in that but we never talk about and results never talk about wins and losses we just talk about our process and so the message is going to be exactly the same we got to continue to perfect our process and the end result will be what the end result is but you're hoping the end result is maybe a conference Championship and maybe just maybe with the 12 team playoff I mean you never know you stranger things have happened coach you've been around this a long time so the landscape has changed so that door is wide open now for teams that normally wouldn't have a chance now do have a chance at this whole thing right it's got to be exciting well absolutely I think I think it's exciting because you you know I got here 20 months ago and the commitment was made here to to take this place to another level um place that maybe we've tiptoed around but we've never consistently been at and I've taken a challenge and and we've run with it the commitment that's been made has been incredible uh and and so got a chance to do some really special things but I'm I'm certainly excited about it how's my guy doing I saw him a couple of weeks ago your Center Mike Lofton he played a whole bunch of snaps last year he's back this year you got a couple of guys along the old line who are back as well and you're going to be leaning on those guys a lot huh man Mike's Mike's been been absolutely awesome um as a leader uh certainly continued to take his game to another level he represents our program in such a special way especially being a clear water guy and and this place meaning so much to him uh you you said it he played played 1,68 snaps a year ago which at that position is is fascinating and he's healthy he's ready to roll been really really proud of just his leadership been proud of how he's represented this University or certainly our football program um but yeah we returned four guys you know Donovan Jennings who was our left tackle we lost he's he's in camp start did yesterday up in Green Bay and um and so we're working hard to to certainly replace him we got a bunch of competition there we recruited extremely well at that spot and it'll be awesome it Mike's certainly leading the charge there but it'll be awesome to see what those guys do but yeah we go as we go as the offensive line goes and and we certainly are expecting great things from those guys coach I'll get you out on this you had a great first year a dominant Bowl win a lot of great things positive things are happening for the program you know you got the indoor facility open now the on campus stadium is certainly on the way in a couple of years is this starting to look like the vision that you had in mind when you took this job yeah I I I think it is and I appreciate all the kind of words you know I feel like everybody around here says man what a great first year what a great first year we we were a 500 team that that finished finished well in the bowl game and certainly that was exciting and it's and it's a foundation for sure I I would tell you we we left a bunch on the table we've worked really really hard to find ways to not leave anything on the table um but in terms of where we're going it it certainly is I think everything that we've asked for from an Administration standpoint we've gotten uh there's such a sense of excitement around here there's a sense of excitement around Tampa people sense it right I I feel like we've we've we success the Bucks have had people have been dying to to get college football back rolling in the city uh I sense the excitement I know our guys do there's so much energy right now around this building there's so much energy around the program honestly there's so much energy around the university and man I I I am I I it's everything that I thought it would be and to be honest with you exceeded my expectations in a lot of ways and I'm just so excited to to eventually get the stadium on campus and bring people back here and this new football complex we're building is is going to be incredible but I'm just really excited to get back into into playing football I walked in on Monday I'm like man we're a week away from actually getting to practice football and no more talking and no more preseason anything we're we're rolling we get to practice we get to continue to grow and I'm so excited and energized about where this program is going I am too and a lot of people around Tampa Bay are and we're very much looking forward to seeing what this season has in store for you he's USF head football coach Alex kolish in his second year go USF bows.com get your tickets the season begins Saturday August the 31st against Beth cookman coach best of luck to you stay healthy I certainly appreciate a few minutes of your time and we'll talk soon huh thank you so much go Bulls appreciate you you got it all right coach we'll see you that's Coach Alex goolish I tried I tried to see that's what I do here and he wouldn't he wouldn't budge he's very humble he's not talking about the end result but privately he is he's driven because you heard how he answered that question IM media day really Miami and Alabama has to play us yeah B and Miami got to play South Florida yeah buddy you know what he's thinking he's thinking we can win the act and if you win there's a group of five conference winner that could possibly not POS could possibly yes will'll get into the 12 team play