TAMPA, Fla. – After the Bulls clinched bowl eligibility with a win over visiting Charlotte on Thanksgiving weekend 2023, Alex Golesh made it known that while a .500 regular season and a bowl represented a nice start to his tenure, it was far from the goal of a program that went a miserable 8-38 the previous four seasons.
The message was repeated last year when the Bulls again broke even in the regular season and won a second straight bowl for another 7-6 mark.
Golesh is now in the midst of his third year at USF and more is expected. He told his team as much prior to spring drills and again following the spring game at the end of April.
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“There is this gap that we have to close as we go into the summer,” he said. “Starting from scratch in in every imaginable way and winning back-to-back bowl games, there’s this next step we have to take.”
The chasm may not be very wide, but it can be a chore to get to the other side. Many programs do not take the next step. Many do, though it may take a couple of more years. Some continue to ascend, and to considerable heights.
“The gap is not huge, but it is the hardest gap to close,” said Golesh, who certainly knows from his days and an assistant under Matt Campbell at Iowa State and as a coordinator with Josh Heupel at Tennessee, from where he arrived. “(Closing the gap) is being competitive and winning bowl games to winning championships and playing meaningful games into January. We will get there when we get there, but I think this is as close as we have been.”
It is about attention to detail and not permitting something to snowball out of control when things may not be going so well.
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“A lot of the mistakes we made last year, some of the plays we gave up could have easily been prevented,” said safety Jaelen Stokes, a grad student looking forward his fifth and final season at USF. “I think that’s the gap coach is talking about. Close the gap right there and I think we will be where we want to be.”
Indeed, it is a critical summer that in less than three months will give way to preseason camp. That will be followed by a non-conference schedule that includes a visit from Boise State and trips to Gainesville and Miami in as many weeks.
“Closing this gap will require so much work and require so much grit, discipline and buy-in,” said Golesh. “It is going to be a challenge every single day from this point until we get to the end of August and line up at RayJay against a playoff team in Boise State.”
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