South Florida Bulls 2024-25 Football Preview - DT w/ Alex Golesh

[Music] welcome here to a very special edition a wake up call with Dan toror in our preview of the AAC the American Athletic Conference I am here picture in picture with South Florida Bulls head football coach Alex goish heading into his second season with the team he's no stranger to the broadcast as we've had the opportunity to have him here many times in his first season and now in year two we're here with Coach goish coach how are you I'm doing awesome I appreciate you having me absolutely and you know you and I were talking like I said over last season about what you wanted to build what you wanted to do what you saw in this team you ended year number one at South Florida with a winning record of seven- six a blowout in the boa rone Bowl down in Florida at FAU Stadium just what you can say about speaking about what you were hoping for and talking with me about those pillars and those pieces that you were looking to put together and then seeing it end in a winning season and a very clear victory in a bowl game yeah I I think you know we we certainly laid a foundation for for what what we were trying to build you know I think the the end result and we talked about this probably every time we've talked the end result was was what it was and and you know we we try not to talk a whole lot about results yeah uh with the understanding that that's what I'm what I'm evaluated by and I get that uh but for us it was so important last year still this year to lay a foundation for for how we do everything um you know and and I think we we certainly are on our way there we're we're not perfect still and uh and that's what we're chasing every day is is being perfect in our process being perfect in how we attack everything we do but it is so different in year two you know going into this spring and and there's proof of concept in some capacity right you can point and say man we did this extremely well this is how we got to get better even though it was done extremely well and we did this really poorly here here's how we've got to improve this portion of it and and it's every facet of our program you know we made changes after the season uh everything from Personnel to to our process and now we'll go into this year and and continue to try to build on it you know and you talk about those building blocks and and those pieces that you're looking for and trying to get better every single day like you said you try to not focus on the results you know that that's as a coach what you know some people will look at and whatnot but there's those wins that happen every day I get frustrated when people call it coach speak because the reality is if you're not winning the day you're not going to win those games you're not going to be in the postseason so what they call Coach speak about these wins that don't happen on the win loss record are the actual wins that help to bring about the win loss record so just to go a little bit into the background of it how is South Florida winning the day what are things that are happening with this program that you believe are leading to success the quote unquote building blocks of what we don't see bring us into some of those things we don't see yeah I think it all starts with recruiting I I think it starts with the personnel and and who you're bringing in um both the player and the person but you know it's no secret we had to get better and we had to get better players we had to get better culturally uh in terms of what was important inside our walls and I think anytime you take over a program that hasn't had success and for whatever reason God's blessed me with the opportunity to do it over and over and over again the theme is kind of the same there's there's a lack of understanding of what's important and so the shift of what's important within our program and and that's what you're continuously trying to build on how how our guys go about their daily business so you recruit and and the recruiting getting turned up in terms of the type of player the type of person as that's turned up now the expectations from within our walls have gone up because anytime you're bringing in bringing in players you're creating competition within your locker room and the competition at the end of the day is what breeds success and so the process of which we go about our daily business meaning how we're feeding our guys how we're housing our guys now how are our guys using their time are they choosing to come in here and get extra film extra walkthroughs extra jugs extra meetings or are they choosing to just hang out at home and I think in in winning programs the extra time is spent on football in losing programs the extra time is spent on nonsense and and so that's what we've been working to shift as you you know as you say man like the actual dive into the daytoday it's what are you what are you using your time for as a as as a student athlete and that's been the shift that I hope gets gets noticed on the field is that our guys are more prepared than they've ever been physically and mentally and emotionally and and in turn are are playing faster stronger on the football field you know all of that being said you the the camaraderie the the togetherness of the program is is kind of the last step so spent the entire winter instead of doing traditional winter workouts mad drills old school 6 a we spent the entire winter on on developing leadership de developing leadership traits forcing player driven leadership yeah and then spending a lot of time on communication just truly Battlefield communication man how do we communicate In the Heat of the Moment because at the end of the day if you can get all 11 dudes on on the same page you got a shot and so recruiting in only our own process leadership and communication and now raising the standard and everything we're doing amongst all of those areas has been this Summer's focus and holding their feet to the fire on this is how we communicate this is how we lead this is how we eat this is how we sleep this is how we greet each other when we come in here this is how we keep our locker room looking when we come into training this is the emphasis of the training and so it's just all been turned up physically been turned up recruiting been turned up our investment into the guys has gotten turned up in terms of externally and does it result in wins and losses I don't know but but certainly that's that's what you would hope yeah you know and like you said building building that uh that culture of winning where it goes beyond like you said what are you doing with your and I thought that that was a great Point what are you doing with your extra time that winning programs extra time is spent on football losing programs it's nonsense like you had stated I I want to look at as we're building this this model of who's South Florida who the Bulls are going to be for the future over the years and different coaching staffs there was the we USF call us USF then there was we South Florida call Us South Florida so I I I want to dispel any any thought on what what the what it isn't what is it so when when we're going out in the community and I'm hearing about the Bulls is it USF is it South Florida let's finally set that record straight yeah so it's it's funny then when I got here I asked the same question um and I think that was maybe a little bit of the of the identity crisis in some ways and I know it's been joked about it's been it's been talked about I asked the same question are we are we South Florida USF the Bulls it which what is our our marketing our branding you know what we we kind of we kind of talked about it and then I finally put my foot down and said what do you want it to be and because I to me it is what it is and I think as as this place has shifted over the last year and a half we've been the leader in in that shift in terms of The Branding and the marketing of what we are so we're at the University of South Florida we are South Florida um that's what we are and um and that's where we're going so certainly USF for short um out there but we're south Florida when we we talk about it we promote it we sell it all the verbiage all around this entire building all the verbage around the new facilities that are going up is South Florida and and you have had when we look at South Florida and then we look at UCF and that rivalry that has been around for so many years you had the opportunity to be on both sides of this rivalry so you've seen it in the world of being at UCF and ironically being in the 2020 Boer rone bowl and then with South Florida being in the 2023 Boer rone bowl and in between that you're with Tennessee and you're at the Music City Bowl in 2021 so at UCF with Josh hyp and then over with Josh hyp at Tennessee what was the experience like working with Josh hyp and secondly the experience of being on both sides of the UCF South Florida rivalry yeah Josh was was really really good for me um you know it was so different I had been with Matt Campbell for so long uh and saw saw him build two programs extremely well um you know we we in a lot of ways have taken so much from my experiences with Matt both at to and Iowa State and for me to get with Josh and see it done a different way um and see it done in in a way where at UCF Josh was able to take over a program that was coming off of an undefeated season when we got to Tennessee it was a different ball game coming off of a lot of different other things certainly uh the record was wasn't good but we walked into NCA restrictions we walked into we played that first season with 67 scholarship players and and watching Josh not only handle it but succeed within within uh the restrictions that we had throwing in the portal throwing in right at the beginning of the nil era and watching him handle it um it was it was really really powerful for me to see to see it done several different times now different ways with the end result being the same which is a ton of success in terms of wins and losses um you know offensively for me to be able to grow with Josh and be able to to for him honestly to invest a lot of time in me um to one teach me what he wanted and then I think for him to open up and allow me to run run with it encourage me push me challenge me every single day it's it was the best growth that I could have ever asked for I needed it I was ready for it um and somebody somebody like him who has kind of lived different offensive lives himself to to give me give me the keys to that deal there at Tennessee and and really hang with me all the way through it through the ups and the downs for us to be able to put together the best offense in the country there two years ago prepared me offensively but certainly watching him be able to build that at Tennessee was really fascinating so super grateful to him um I I think I think he is um he has done an incredible job there and will continue to do an incredible job because he does it for the right reasons it's it's all about the players it's for the players uh he listens to the players he encourages them to speak um similar to Matt in that regard and here inside of the Heritage Hill Studios on wake up call in this preview of the South Florida bulls with head coach of this football program Alex goish in year number two is the UCF South Florida rivalry dead I mean I'm looking at the schedule and I see that you know there are going to be Florida based teams bethon cookman Miami Florida and you know Florida A&M FIU of course within the conference of the American there's FAU but are we saying goodbye for good to UCF in South Florida yeah so I didn't ignore your question uh I actually forgot you asked it um so that's on me you know what um I I thought that was the other part of the question right was being on the other end of that rivalry I thought it was it was an awesome rivalry that battle of I4 um you know you look at you look at the ups and downs of the Rivalry it's amazing one the one-sided n one side edness of it for a long time then the flip of the one-sidedness and then the last handful of years just how close that game always was I think for our fan bases it was a really really big deal I think for the for the alums for the students that game was always a huge deal I would love to be able to play that game every year um I was really hoping at the end of last year that we would get a chance to play in the bowl game I think it's awesome for our universities I think it's awesome for the state of Florida um it's got to be got to be on our Administration to do it I'd be down to do it um and and I did tell Gus a year ago then we can do it any time just let me know and even if it's unofficial we'll rock and roll yeah and and knowing that within the conference though inside of the American with UCF going out and FAU coming in that you know we have that opportunity here to still keep something in the state of Florida you have success at fa's campus when it comes to the boa Ron bow so you know knowing that FAU and South Florida at least you know when we look at the scheduling model for the American and no divisions and how this kind of breaks down having different rivalries that we can have some consistency with and in the State of Florida south Florida fa what can this be in your opinion can this be something new exciting when we look at Tampa and boaron when it comes to this yeah I don't know I I think you know for me it's it's really it's awesome to have somebody you're playing in state um I got a lot of respect for for what those guys are are building there I think really similar to to what what we took over in terms of building it from the ground up um but to to me it's it's certainly always a good thing to have somebody in state that you're playing consistently um we'll see how it develops and what it becomes but to me right now our focus is on us and that happens to be a game on our schedule and when you talk about the focus being on you you spoke about the importance at at wintertime of getting to understand who your leaders are going to be offense defense special teams here in 2024 if you could provide some leaders offensively defensively and special teams wise when we're looking at the identity of the Bulls right right now who are some of those pieces in the three phases of the game that you've been able to look to and say these are extensions of our coaching staff these are guys that we can really see stepping up this year or that we can lean on yeah I think I think that's the part that I'm probably most excited with is that we've got a really senior heavy team we got got a bunch of guys really over 20 guys with the superas piece there's a bunch of seniors that could come back as well so there's there's 26 of them that that are seniors with a handful of them I think six of them can come back for another year uh so we're we're an older team now they haven't all been here for five years so we we've become old really quick with with the addition of the portal guys and some junior college guys yeah so just because you're old doesn't mean you have a bunch of really good leaders but I do feel like our older guys are some of our best leaders I I do think the one offensively you know that's really taken taken the keys to the thing and and has done an incredible job is Byron Brown and it's taken him there's a guy that's not older he's a rord sophomore but it's taken him the year of playing and the a year of understanding that hey dude like everybody here trust you everybody here looks up to you everybody here appreciates your toughness um so it all starts I think if if your quarterback can be an incredible leader it can certainly generate a lot of momentum off um as a football team certainly offensively you know offensively for us Byrum uh Mike Lofton has done an incredible job um you know he's played a ton of football here played the most snaps anybody in the country helps that he's the center so the communication piece and Mike is a is a young guy that we recruited to UCF when I was there and and he's here now so I feel like I've known Mike for a really long time because I have um and you know I think guys look at him in a lot of ways as a leader Sean Atkins who has never wanted to take that role on I think his success has kind of brought him out of a shell um he's done a really good job leading Jaden Alexis has done a really good job leading Nan Wright who last year was his first year with us too he's done a really good job leading so offensively I feel like the older guys you know we've got some other guys offensively that have played a ton of football Zayn herring Bowman that I think within their own rooms are trying to bring the level of play up uh but I'm really proud of him defensively you know it's it it's a group that returns a ton of experience uh we lost dayquon Evans who I thought was a phenomenal leader from a year ago took so much pride in a guy that's been here for four years but M Harris has kind of taken the Reigns um in terms of as the as as a linebacker I think it's easy to do so if you've got got the personality and Max certainly does Rashad Cheney comes back I think the guys look at Rashad up front as a very vocal leader he's played a ton of football here you know in the back end Ben Knox you know Ben's a young man that we were we were really really excited about um after last spring he he's a guy that that has played a bunch of football and then last August hurt uh hurt his knee and it you know it was amazing you always know what kind of leader something he is by when when you don't have him what the what the morale of the team is and I think Ben when Ben went down it was kind of like one of those like wow like that's that's our guy that that's a self-made cat that made himself into what he is and it broke my heart it certainly broke everybody's heart here well Ben's back Ben's had an incredible off season uh and his leadership it's it's really quiet but it's it's incredible um what he's done and how guys listen to him I think from a special teams perspective you know we've got a 30-year-old punter who uh who is kind of in charge of that Specialist Group uh but the Special Teams portion but I'm really curious to see who ends up taking the Reigns you know it's always a guy that maybe isn't playing a whole lot of offense or defense and takes so much pride in the team's part so we'll see how that develops as it goes but Andrew Andrew certainly from a specialist standpoint I mean he's literally older than a lot of our coaches so he he's taken that role on and I've been proud of him there Alex golish here with us s Florida Bulls head football coach on wake up call with Dan tortor inside of the Heritage Hill Studios and as we look to this team and look to like you said that leadership that veteran experience coming back with this team I I know that this is a new season I know that the big time victory that you had in the Boer rone Bowl happened last year but is there a truth to the fact that momentum in a game like that and seeing guys get experience that maybe didn't get it seeing seeing guys that stepped up in that game that nationally got exposure that maybe they weren't having before is there something something to be said that even though it was months ago that that momentum can come into the spring come into the summer and come into the fall that South Florida knows what they're capable of is there any truth of connecting what happened to what can happen yeah I think I think momentum is real within within a program I think like I mentioned it earlier I think think proof a concept is really what what you're looking for in year one and year two um to drive recruiting um I I think in terms of within our walls because we are working so hard to be process driven you try not to point to man like well we won that one so we should be pretty good uh you know I I think when you start pointing to man well we got everybody back so we should be pretty good or you try to justify the front end of why things should be the way they should be because of something else I I think momentum is real um externally I think momentum is real internally where man you got a little bit of success you got a little bit of confidence I think you hit it on the head Dan I think just the guys truly understanding what it is to prepare you know I I think we went into last season and nobody really knew I'm saying within our walls if we were going to be any good uh and we had moments that were really high and we had moments that were about as bad as you can imagine and so I think when you when you can say all right there's proof of concept that hey when things when we do certain things we're able to score points or we're able to stop people but I think as long as we continue to be process driven it's irrelevant what the end result was it's irrelevant that the bowl game was what the bowl game was it was awesome it was a fun way to end the season it was awesome for our fan base I think externally it certainly is easy to point and say man these guys are getting better we need our donor based to continue to understand that because the nil piece of it is real and the momentum there is real and so I think externally more so than internally it it certainly helps to point to something but I think within our own walls you know it the one thing you get out of it is there's a confidence and confidence comes from preparation and and then the preparation goes right back to exuding confidence and I I think if if there's anything tangible there it's a lot of guys got a lot of experience a lot of guys Now understand what it really takes they've been able to adjust their process to again turn up the level of confidence we can go into games with with the understanding that that nothing is promised and we actually we had a team meeting last night we I had a long conversation with our guys about like you you know our guys feel like they're working extremely hard harder than they've ever worked does that guarantee wins it it actually doesn't and so again we just worry about ourselves because at the end of it you don't control it all you can control is what we do in tournament yeah and and to look at you know the bigger picture and I appreciate that answer when we look at the American Athletic as a whole You've experienced through multiple programs the leadership of Mike oresco who is the only committ that's ever been in the American two-part piece here what can you say about Mike aresco from your seat and what do you think of Tim Peretti and what leadership he brings yeah you know I thought Mike even from the outside in and then and then being in the conference and then leaving the conference and coming back in the conference I I I thought Mike did a phenomenal job of not taking a backseat to anybody uh I I think he pushed The Narrative of power six I think he pushed The Narrative of listen we're we're going to play anybody anywhere anytime and I think the new year six bowl games were were a huge part of that I think Cincinnati making it to the playoff a couple years ago was a huge part of him being able to point and saying man like we are not taking a backseat to anybody I think there was a lot of work that went into that I think there was a lot of passion that he led with and I enjoyed the time I got spending over the last year getting to know him and and respected the leadership in terms of man like like we're going to go attack this and I don't care what anybody says and I don't care what anybody says on social media I don't care if there's a meme out we ain't taking a backseat to nobody I respected that I thought his vision was phenomenal I thought his work ethic was phenomenal you know Tim the resume speaks for itself in terms of his background both being an a leader of an athl department and then the media space I think both of those things right now are Monumental in terms of driving Revenue yeah which everybody knows that's what the name of the game is right now is you have to drive Revenue without knowing Tim outside of the the meeting um in our head coaches meetings it certainly seems like he has hit the ground running and has has a incredible Vision as well as a leader I can't speak on yet but in terms of I understanding why we went that direction as a conference understanding that Revenue driving is the name of the game uh it certainly makes a ton of sense but I look forward to getting to know him and certainly seems like there since the day he started uh there's been no slowing down I'm gonna hit two things quick because second thing rapid fire I want to make sure we play but I do want to make a note of this because I've talked about it the oncampus stadium and football operations center coming to the university of South Florida we know that you're at Raymond James Stadium the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers having a home at home just what that's going to do what it's doing right now in recruiting in the nil space in the transfer portal the fact that you can say hey this is what our future is that we're literally evolving we're making history at this school just what that can do for South Florida stepping forward yeah so Raymond James is the home of the Bulls and the Buccaneers we share share the stadium so I'm fix you there um but I think it's just it's a it's something you can point to to say beyond anything else something you could point to to say man that's the next step for us as a program it's something you could point to and say this is the investment that this University this alumni base our donor base um and our Board of Trustees are making to this University we're investing more money Mone in football than we ever have we've invested more money in the last 18 months than we did in the first 25 years in the program huge reason why I wanted to be here was because I knew the investment was real and it was going to continue to go until we got to where we want to go and so the stadium is incredible uh in terms of being able to get that built I think the football football complex is going to be second to none in the country we we finally just signed off on the last part of the plans the them allowing myself and our staff to be involved in the building of that you know we we literally have gone back and forth on this building for 18 months um in terms of making sure it's the exact right thing for our student athletes it I'm so excited for them to release the the flyth through and the actual rendering renderings of the inside I've seen it um I'm excited for them to put it out because I think when you you see it you're going to be like holy smokes this is when I tell you no stone unturned when I tell you they've they've shortcutted nothing um it it is going to be a state-of-the-art from from a player Services standpoint to recovery to nutrition to Sports Med to strength to meetings to like it's an elite elite building and I'm more excited about that than the stadium but I understand that the stadium is an exciting piece I think the one thing about the stadium that that you know is it an end all to say man this is the next step to where we got to get to I don't think it is there's there's plenty of teams teams in in conferences all over this country that share a stadium but I do think for us where we are as a program where we are as a city it's time uh you know I think for our fans to be able to come back to campus you know we led the league in attendance last year well all those 38,000 a game are not coming on campus every week and and I think what this campus just in the last 10 years what's happened here this is the most beautiful campus I've ever been been on between the palm trees and the history and and it it's an incredible place it's beautiful it's well taken care of um so to be able to bring a Lums back to campus I think is absolutely huge I think our basketball program did that this winter selling out the whole second half of the Season bringing people back here I think it can only help you you hit on it from a nil side I think just people bringing their pride back here I think from a student base standpoint too Dan you know there's something really cool about college football when on Saturday morning you see students walking over from the from the Frat houses from the sororities from the dorms like that's college football whatever they got going on Saturday morning and then ending up in the stadium that's really really cool to me as a as a college football purist and so I think it's huge it's Monumental I think it's only going to allow us to take the next step as a program and uh I'm excited they they've started shuffling stuff around out there I keep looking out there CU it's it's going to be right out here but they' started to move things around it'll be awesome to have a crane out there here sooner than later yeah so I mean with that being said we were going to do rapid fire I know you probably have to go here in a second but I saw Brian pop up here but if you want to do one a piece we can do that really quick because I want to respect your time so do you have one Rapid Fire for Dan I got you on Rapid Fire come on dog okay go ahead so your first question for me so I'm asking you the questions you're gonna ask me and then I'll ask you back okay um man you got I wasn't prepared for that uh your favorite coach besides me in this conference to talk to favorite coach to talk to besides you that's a that's difficult uh that's put you put me on the hot seat right now for real for real you know I I don't know if I can I like everybody individually for like a Dan come on listen okay I'm gonna say this I like all the different personalities because they they do speak to me and and I have a lot of respect for uh honestly just speaking with people but I'm gonna pick this I'm gonna say Brian Newberry of Navy and I'm going to say it because my grandfather was in the Navy and his Naval hat is right off camera here so I'm going to say Navy because of everything it is beyond football and because of the morals and values that Brian and I share but I the honest answer is I I enjoy all the personalities my question back to you Alex is who's your favorite reporter to talk to besides [Laughter] me man um I'll go with uh I'll go with Pete DL I enjoy I enjoy his Insight okay all right what's your last one for me you got one [Music] more man I wasn't prepared D I'm I'm embarrassed by it um you you've studied this league up and down your favorite you're you're the matchup you're looking forward to the most next year the matchup I'm looking forward to the most there's there's a bunch I think I think for me I'm excited to see I don't know if I could pick one of these I'm excited to see the rivalries I'm excited to see the inter like the inate what they're trying to build inside of the American and to be completely honest I am more than ecstatic that Army is in I mean it's called the American Navy already there Army's there Air Force you're on alert but I I think I think you know having Army and Navy within the same conference I'm really looking forward to that and I'm looking forward to being in Arlington Texas and seeing Army walk in because my other grandfather was a part of you know the United States Army so I I think I think that's really going to mean something and I know Army Navy is is what it is in whether it's in a conference or not but I think knowing that those two teams have that game every year and they're both representing the American which means a lot to me I think that that's that's definitely circled for me my my last one for you Alex I'm going to go to food so I love Florida it's the second Hub of the of my company it's a second home for me I've been to Tampa St Pete many times where is the place like if I came down to visit you and you were like okay we're going to go grab some food we're going to tour campus where are you bringing me to eat and why yeah I would probably take you to Meat Market down in Hyde Park okay meat market and hide Park plain and simple is there something you get there uh it's it's an incredible it's a steak spot uh great scenery um great food um that's my spot that coming from Alex goish here as we preview the south Florida bulls and their football program Alex as always I appreciate the time I'll see you down in Texas soon and God bless as always and congratulations on the work that you're doing thanks you appreciate you appreciate it [Music]