🏈 🔵 Why I'm Buying Stock In Alex Golesh & USF
“I truly believe this place can win a national championship, and I don’t know how many Group of Five schools in the country can say that,” Golesh told me.
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Why I’m Buying Stock In Alex Golesh & USF
Hey friends,
Last week, I kicked off my offseason “Next Up With Adam Breneman” tour in Tampa, Florida, for an exclusive sit-down with Alex Golesh.
After an explosive two-year stint as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator, Golesh took over USF for his first-ever head coaching gig in 2023.
In Golesh’s initial campaign at the helm, he transformed a 1-11 squad into a seven-win group in less than 12 months.
Now, USF is all-in on its ascending trajectory with Golesh, and for good reason.
The university is slated to construct a $340 million on-campus stadium scheduled to open ahead of the 2027 season.
Additionally, a football operations facility, located adjacent to the stadium, will be ready for Golesh’s bunch in just two years.
I’m sky-high on USF ahead of Golesh’s second go-around with the Bulls, especially after discussing his vision for the program’s future.
Let’s dive into my three favorite takeaways from my discussion with Golesh, which can be found here:
Accessibility To Instant Success
From stops at Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Illinois, Iowa State, and Tennessee, Golesh has seen it all as an assistant at the Power Five level.
In 2021, Golesh helped Tennessee’s offense break eight single-season records, as his unit exploded for nearly 6,200 total yards and 70 touchdowns.
He improved the Vols’ abysmal scoring unit, ranked No. 108 in 2020, to the seventh-best scoring group a year later.
Golesh’s rapid ascent continued into 2022, where he played an integral role in guiding Tennessee to an 11-2 record, highlighted by victories over Alabama and Clemson.
That offseason, Golesh had a plethora of opportunities to explore prior to inking his first head coaching deal.
As an ace recruiter, Golesh realized that he’d often leave his base in Knoxville, Ames, or Champaign to recruit the Greater Tampa Region — right where USF is located.
“My time at Tennessee kind of gave me the best of both worlds to be in the southeast and to recruit against the best teams in the entire country,” Golesh said. “… I spent time at Iowa State where every single recruiting trip, and Matt [Campbell] has done an incredible job there, but every single recruiting trip, you are getting on a flight [to Tampa] convincing guys to come [north].”
“I looked at this opportunity as ‘Alright, there’s players everywhere,’” Golesh continued.
Per 247Sports, Florida ranks as the second-richest recruiting state in terms of housing blue-chip high school prospects.
Last year, the Sunshine State boasted 31 players in the database’s top 300 recruits. In Golesh’s estimation, there’s no reason why USF can’t compete for the state’s most heralded commodities.
“I felt like, ‘Man, if we can go into [USF] and win, this place has endless possibilities,’” Golesh told me. “… At the end of the day, you have to win, and you’ve got to be able to move forward. And, I thought this job, in that cycle, was the best in the entire country at that.”
Since National Signing Day, five of Golesh’s top six signees hail from Florida, including four-star tight end Jonathan Echols.
The former IMG Academy pass catcher elected to see Golesh’s vision through over the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, and Ohio State.
With USF’s hotbed location and budding chest of resources, the Bulls are on their way to becoming a major recruiting disruptor to Power Four foes.
‘We Over Me’ Mentality
Golesh scored his first coaching role as a student assistant at Ohio State in 2004, where he shadowed Jim Tressel from a distance as a wide-eyed 20-year-old.
Now, at 39 years old, Golesh has coached at the college level every season since.
His journey to becoming a mentor at an elite Group of Five program didn’t come without adversity, however.
When Golesh worked as Illinois’ tight ends coach in the early 2010s, his son, Bear, endured a medical scare, requiring prolonged periods of hospitalization.
Prior to his reality check, Golesh thought he might’ve prioritized his coaching career over his personal life.
From there, his perspective completely shifted.
“It was the first time in my career where I sat in the hospital room with my little man in the ICU and my wife, and it was just us three, and I was like, ‘What am I doing?’” Golesh recounted. “I spent more time worrying about football and recruiting than I did my family… That was a turning moment in my life.”
At that point, Golesh told me he was young enough to realize that he either had to “change [his mentality] or get out” of coaching altogether.
While he’s fully committed to helping USF acquire the most talented roster possible, he wants recruits and his existing players to understand that family and personal matters should be prioritized above all.
“I [used to think] if I missed that call from a recruit, man, I’m not going to get him,” Golesh said. “And, I think the older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized that when I call the kid back, and I say, ‘I was with my kiddos eating dinner,’ if that kid doesn’t get it, keep it moving.”
To Golesh, the ever-evolving landscape of college football requires a deeper understanding of work-life balance, while remaining ultra-competitive on the job.
Even before answering my question about how adversity has shaped his career, he gave me this response, which perfectly encapsulates his mindset.
“I hate talking about myself, just so you know,” Golesh told me. “I love talking about our program and our people. I hate talking about myself.”
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Quest For Perpetual Growth
Although USF’s program is just 26 years old, the Bulls could be classified as a modern “sleeping giant.”
USF holds claim to four seasons where the program finished in the AP Top 25, with eight competitive campaigns in the Big East to boot.
Nearly two decades before moving to Tampa as the face of the Bulls, Golesh vividly remembers USF’s prolonged run of dominance.
“I remember watching football on a Saturday night [as a GA at Northern Illinois] and seeing ’S. Florida’ and thinking ‘What is that, where is that, and why are they literally beating everybody’s ass?’” Golesh said.
Now, with a seven-win go-around and recruiting momentum under his belt, Golesh thinks the ceiling for USF’s future is limitless.
“I think what makes this place really unique and different, honestly than a lot of places I’ve been, is there’s no ceiling here,” Golesh told me. “… The future of what we’re building here, and it’s not just the stadium, it’s the football complex that’s going to be as good as there is in the entire country… there is no ceiling.”
Most preseason publications peg USF as an eight-win team heading into Golesh’s second season.
The Bulls return the third-most production of any Group of Five team, with 79% of its total output coming back to Tampa.
Golesh’s defense will be anchored by pass-game disruptor Aamaris Brown and linebacker Jhalyn Shuler, who helped create 24 turnovers a year ago.
In 2007, USF was ranked No. 2 in the BCS rankings in its 11th season ever.
To Golesh, there’s no reason the Bulls shouldn’t be able to get back to that spot, and compete for national championships on an annual basis.
“I truly believe this place can win a national championship, and I don’t know how many Group of Five schools in the country can say that,” Golesh said. “In 10, 20 years, we’re going to be in a relevant conversation for every year to have a chance to go compete for a national championship.”
To view my full conversation with Golesh, click here.
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me by email at adam@brenemanmedia.com.
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Shoutout to Connor Krause for helping to write this newsletter and putting it together!
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