TAMPA, Fla. — The USF football program has been a mixture of red hot and ice cold for most of Alex Golesh's first season as head coach.
At 4-5, they're still in striking distance of the program's first bowl game since 2018. Golesh said the up-and-down nature of their season proves that they're still learning how to win.
"You’ve seen us go play two weeks in a row as bad as you can imagine. You’ve seen us play four weeks in a row where you’re like, 'Man, we look like something,'" Golesh explained at his weekly press conference. "So I think until we grow up in terms of what process really looks like week to week and truly buy into the fact that you’ve gotta be process-driven rather than result-oriented, then we’re going to be this roller coaster."
Golesh doesn't have to look very hard to see another coach who's in the same position. Men's head basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim is also in his first year at USF. The Bulls hired him after he took Kennesaw St. to its first NCAA tournament in program history. Abdur-Rahim said he and Golesh talk regularly about their roads to success.
"Some of this stuff you gotta go through on your own. You gotta learn on your own," Abdur-Rahim said. "Every now and again I might shoot him a text here or there. 'Hey, I see this, stay encouraged.' I’ve said this before: we live in this very, work in this very microwavable environment, and everybody like wants [success] yesterday."
Abdur-Rahim took over Kennesaw State's program as a first-time head coach in 2019. This is Golesh's first season as a head coach, and he says he's all ears to the advice of his hoops counterpart.
"You don’t change. You hold that standard," Golesh said about what guidance he received. "And I certainly respect it because he literally just went through it. You saw living proof, evidence, at a job that hadn’t been great that he has made great."
Despite having more head coaching experience, Abdur-Rahim said he's still learning.
"To be able to have [Golesh] to bounce stuff off of culturally X’s and O’s-wise, execution-wise… it’s invaluable for a coach."
Golesh joked that he might pursue another career when his football days are over.
"I think at the end of my time, I’m gonna go coach hoops and give my two cents," he laughed. "There’s way less guys to manage. Probably be a blast. I do know this- attitude and effort, you play defense, and you got a shot. Just gotta recruit. How many shooters you gotta recruit? Two?"
USF football hosts Temple Saturday at noon, while the men's basketball team opens the regular season Thursday when they host South Carolina St. at 7 p.m.
