Imaginations will run wild until USF opens the Bulls 2023 football season presented by Tampa General Hospital at Western Kentucky on Sept. 2. That's when theory becomes reality. So, we have just a handful more days to toss around some tantalizing and thought-provoking questions.
What will Coach Alex Go-Go-Golesh's offense look like?
Will it be faster than a speeding bullet? Can it outpace the equivalent of Usain Bolt propelled by hurricane-force winds? Is it like a Maserati on the Autobahn's open straightaway? Who wins a race — the Road-Runner (Beep! Beep!), a cheetah or USF's offense?
Hyperbole aside, it's clear that something VERY different is brewing with USF's offense.
It's easy to get excited when examining Golesh's track record at Tennessee. As the offensive coordinator and play-caller in 2022, he helped the Volunteers rank No. 1 nationally in scoring (47.33 points per game), yards per game (538.1 yards per game), points per possession (3.24) and yards per play (7.35) during the regular season.
Prior to Golesh's arrival, Tennessee was the nation's 108th-ranked offense. It quickly advanced to No. 7 (2021) and No. 1 (2022) in his two-season tenure.
Golesh carefully deflects any direct Tennessee-to-USF comparisons, saying that offenses mature and evolve, personnel groupings are different and experience matters.
But the core principles are iron-clad. Yes, the Bulls will go fast. They will put opponents on alert, while always looking to create a hesitant defensive moment, a busted assignment or a mismatch that allows a USF player to run free toward the end zone.
After spring drills and training camp, USF players already are believers in the possibilities.
"We're looking to step on the gas and keep our foot down,'' quarterback Byrum Brown said.
"It's ridiculously fast, like backyard football,'' tight end Gunnar Greenwald said.
Bulls' offensive lineman Zane Herring, a transfer from Florida State, was initially skeptical.
"Coach Golesh told me, 'We run fast and we run tempo,' '' Herring said. "I was like, 'OK, I've run tempo. I've run fast.' And he said, 'We run like really fast.' OK, we'll see. It can't be that fast.
"I've been through it now. We … run … fast. I think we'll be able to tire out the defenses.
"I don't even know how to explain it. The ball gets out and you're hustling down the field for the next play, getting your feet set, getting in your stance quicker than normal and just going. That's how much time you have to register what you're doing and see where the defense is. We catch them off-guard a couple of times and it's good. It's really good.''
The Revolution Begins
In 2008, Golesh was a defensive graduate assistant, helping with linebackers, at Oklahoma State. He had a front-row seat to college-football history.
The Big 12 Conference was overrun with quick-thinking, quick-moving quarterbacks — Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, Texas' Colt McCoy, Missouri's Chase Daniel, Baylor's Robert Griffin III, Oklahoma State's Zac Robinson, Kansas' Todd Reesing and Texas Tech's Graham Harrell to name a few — that resulted in a seismic offensive change.
The Big 12 had seven quarterbacks with at least 3,000 passing yards (led by the 4,720 of Bradford, the Heisman Trophy winner) and five who accounted for at least 30 touchdown passes. Oklahoma, the eventual national runner-up to Tim Tebow's Florida Gators, scored at least 60 points in each of its final five Big 12 games. Up-tempo and no-huddle weren't unique. They were the norm. Those who didn't keep up were at risk of being blown out.
"At that point, I found out what a no-huddle offense really was,'' Golesh said. "That was the peak of everybody averaging 50 points a game and it was just, like, normal. The offenses were getting out of hand, which was cool.''
The concepts remain brilliant in their simplicity:
*If you go fast offensively, the defense might be unprepared or confused. It could lead to fatigue, mistakes, blown assignments or mismatches.
*If offenses spread the field with multiple offensive looks, it places more stress on the opponent, which suddenly must defend every blade of grass along the width of the field.
Of course, it's never quite that simple.
It requires precise execution and superb conditioning. It needs a smart quarterback who is in synch with a fleet of alert playmakers. It works with the confidence achieved only by relentless preparation and repetition.
"We're deeper than I thought at running back, tight end and receiver,'' said Golesh as he surmised the USF offensive arsenal. "With that being said, you can do more and different (things) than maybe some places I've been. It's all a big mix of growth.
"We were way different at Tennessee than we were at the place down the road (UCF). We were certainly different at the place down the road than we were at Iowa State. It's always going to look different, but it'll be fun and there will be balls thrown all over the place. It won't change the core foundation in terms of spreading people out, playing fast and using the whole width of the field. Who those bodies are and what you do schematically, it will evolve. The schemes will adjust so you can find the best way to get the ball to your playmakers in space. That's the science behind it.''
Innovation remains fluid. There's always another ball play.
"We have a cool staff of young coaches who come in sometimes and say, 'Man, you've got to see this,''' Golesh said. "Usually, it's the Chiefs or the Niners, somebody doing something unique and different. And I might say, 'Yeah, that looks cool. Let's figure out a way how it fits us. Let's figure out a way to do it.'
"I steal more plays than probably most people. Sometimes, I'll claim it as my own or sometimes I've given somebody credit. We all do that. I love sitting there, watching ball, drawing up plays. As I've become a head coach, I have less time to just sit in the office and watch film. Maybe at some point, somebody will pay me to do that.''
For now, Golesh and his staff are translating those space-age principles to USF's offense.
Bulls In Attack Mode
To get an idea of what might be ahead, let's check in with the USF defense.
"We see this pace every day at practice,'' cornerback Aamaris Brown said. "It can definitely get hectic out there. You better be paying attention at all times.''
"You feel like you're under attack,'' defensive tackle Rashad Cheney Jr. said. "After seeing that tempo, I feel like we're ready for anything.''
USF defensive coordinator Todd Orlando said dealing with Golesh's up-tempo offense has been an excellent teaching tool.
"It really puts pressure on the kids — and the (defensive) play-caller, too,'' Orlando said. "It forces you to do things two or three times faster than you're normally comfortable doing them. That strains you in every way imaginable.
"If that offense is sound, executing properly and pushing it to the limits on every play, all it takes is one (defensive) player to not communicate or not get a call or a check. Then you get exposed. But it's really good stuff to go up against for us. The offense has learned what it can do. And I think the constant pressure on our defense has helped some guys to rise up and show a lot of growth.''
As the Bulls continue to work on their craft, Golesh said it will become more efficient. It's a commitment to all styles of football. Bulls' offensive coordinator Joel Gordon said the running game is a huge component and the ability to consistently convert third-and-short situations has been emphasized. But those situations — like all the others — will be executed at warp speed.
"You can always make things better,'' Golesh said. "Can the ball be snapped a microsecond faster? Things like that. Our offseason probably looked different than most because of the time we invested in studying what everyone's job was individually, then getting them to come together collectively in practice to execute it. Everything we did in the offseason was done for a reason — to prepare for the real thing.
"The key is how little you need to think because you have done this so many times. The repetition and training kick in and that allows you to play fast. You're not frozen by thought. You just react. My job as the head coach is to train the players where that anxiety just melts away. They're not worried about what they have to do next. They know. They can just go out there and play.''
What will the fans see?
"I think a lot of defensive players, bent over on their knees, breathing really hard,'' tight end Jayson Littlejohn said.
"Lots of touchdowns,'' center Mike Lofton said.
"Fast-paced, a new and improved USF Bulls team,'' offensive tackle Donovan Jennings said. "Fun football.''
That's what USF's Go-Go-Golesh offense is all about.
– #GoBulls –
