GAINESVILLE, FL – SEPTEMBER 06: South Florida Bulls head coach Alex Golesh points downfield during a college football game between the South Florida Bulls and Florida Gators on September 6th, 2025 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL. (Photo by Chris Leduc/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Cole Skinner could have easily retaliated against Florida’s Brendan Bett for spitting at him last week in Gainesville. Instead, the USF offensive lineman kept his composure and went back to work – 15 yards up the field thanks to the personal foul – and helped lead the Bulls on their game-winning drive in an 18-16 victory over the then-No. 13/15 Gators.
Skinner’s discipline at a critical juncture with his team trailing by a point, the clock ticking down and with 90,000 on their feet in the Swamp underscored how USF has gone about its business so far this season.
“Every time a situation comes up, we coach the heck out of what composure looks like, what discipline looks like,” said coach Alex Golesh, whose No. 18/23 Bulls play at No. 5/6 Miami on Saturday. “We haven’t been perfect here by any means, but any time it happens somewhere else, we coach the heck out of it.”
Golesh pointed out that his team makes time on Mondays and Thursdays to view situational details such as the two-minute drill and use of timeouts. They also view composure-related instances that have occurred on the football field, wherever it may have been. One conveniently took place during the NFL season opener between the Eagles and Cowboys. Philly defensive lineman, Jalen Carter, spit at Dallas quarterback, Dak Prescott, and was tossed from the game before the first play from scrimmage.
“Any time there is a situation that comes up, we show it, we talk through it and we make the (players) talk through it,” he said. “Ironically enough, we had a great teaching clip a couple of days before (the Florida game) at the highest level. I give Cole a lot of credit. This is the elite way to handle it. Let the refs handle it and take the yards. That’s winning in the margins.”
The Bulls’ depth chart for the Miami game lists 36 players that are either a senior or a graduate. Many are transfers who Golesh and/or members of his staff had some connection to. Such targeted transfers, as the third-year coach likes to refer to them, not only are brought on board to help plug holes and provide depth, but are also young men who fit what Golesh is building at USF. Combine such players with those who have been with the program for the entirety of the coach’s tenure in Tampa, such as the junior Skinner, and you have a largely veteran group that not only understands the message that is being delivered, but carries it out on daily basis.
“I think it speaks a lot to our culture and where we have worked to get to as a program,” said center Cole Best, who is one of the Bulls’ graduate students and who began his collegiate career at USF in 2021. “I told Cole after the play, ‘Man, that just saved us with you being smart.’ Speaking to his character and our culture and how we carry ourselves, I was beyond proud of him and the way he handled that. It ended up paying off huge for us in the end.”
Leaders being leaders
Golesh, who was hired by USF in December 2022 after spending two seasons as the offensive coordinator on Josh Heupel’s staff at Tennessee, has often spoken about building a player-led program. In other words, the leaders need to be the leaders while upholding the standards set forth by the coaching staff – a staff that had offseason turnover limited to one full-timer – while educating and guiding the younger players.
“We are going to go as our older guys go,” said Golesh. “If those guys can be our best leaders, on top of being our best players, we will have a chance to do some really cool things. Through fall camp and the first two weeks, those guys have been our best players and also our best leaders.”
GAINESVILLE, FLA. – Byrum Brown of the South Florida Bulls reacts during the second half of a game against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 06, 2025 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
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After two weeks and two wins against then-No. 25/25 Boise State at home and UF in the Swamp, Golesh might be doing his best coaching. Or at least he has the chance to do so.
“Any time you have a win, it gives you an opportunity to coach even harder in the sense that, as guys feel really good, and you want them to be confident, it is easier to pinpoint and ticky tack small things for opportunities to get better,” he said. “I give our kids a ton of credit for taking the coaching. They have been really, really easy to coach. They are really, really engaged right now. More than anything, I give a lot of credit to the leadership on our team.”
The older guys, a group that includes senior quarterback Byrum Brown, who arrived at USF as a freshman in 2022, sixth-year linebacker Mac Harris, whose first season with the Bulls was in front of empty seats during pandemic-restricted 2020, and corner De’Shawn Rucker, who spent three years at Tennessee where he knew Golesh before transferring to USF in 2024, are the ones adjusting the thermostat. Such leaders, a couple of whom spoke to the media at USF on Tuesday in front of far more people and far more cameras than typical, are the ones making sure things do not get too hot or too cold. Rather, keep the focus where it needs to be, which not on the attention they are suddenly receiving.
“We are not looking at it,” Rucker said of the attention. “I think that’s when a lot of teams mess up, with a lot of distractions. We haven’t arrived yet. We still have a lot to prove, and we haven’t even begun conference play yet. We still have a lot to attack this year.”