HERD HERE FIRST (Pregame Podcast - Bethune-Cookman)

When he could wedge it in — sometime after the spring game and before the conga line of official-visit recruiting weekends — USF head coach Alex Golesh celebrated his 40th birthday.

He spent four days at Anna Maria Island with his family, watching the Gulf of Mexico waves roll in, enjoying some quiet dinners and sharing a shark-fishing expedition with his son, seven miles off the coast.

It was the chance to exhale — and maybe reflect a bit.

"I've started to notice some gray hair and some gray in my beard — and that's more alarming to me than turning 40,'' Golesh said with a smile. "I've always thought of myself as the young guy. This was the first birthday where I thought, 'Man, am I really on the back end of it now?' And that's a different kind of thought.''

Golesh, a notorious grinder and stress eater, has taken some positive steps. He has lost 25 pounds, a product of a daily walking regimen around campus and a healthier diet (fasting until lunch, while cutting out fried foods, monitoring the carbs and eating from the carefully planned menu of Conner Blake, Senior Director of Football Sports Nutrition).

"As I think about it, this is the happiest I've ever been,'' Golesh said. "I'm generally always happy, but I've never had this level of being content with my life, where I am professionally, socially, where I am as a dad, as a husband, as a person trying to get better.''

The gleam in his eyes didn't last long.

"But you know what?'' Golesh said. "We've still gotta win games. So let's go!''

Let's go, indeed.

It's Year Two for Golesh and Year 28 for USF's program. Beginning with Saturday night's season-opener against Bethune-Cookman University at Raymond James Stadium, the mission is clear. The Bulls are looking to build upon last season — a 7-6 turnaround effort that concluded with a 45-0 win against Syracuse at the Boca Raton Bowl — and become legitimate contenders for the American Athletic Conference championship.

USF figures to again stage an entertaining show with its go-go up-tempo offense. There's do-everything quarterback Byrum Brown, record-setting receiver Sean Atkins and a rugged running game. Meantime, USF's defense was retooled with new faces and a renewed vigor for creating havoc.

"We have incredibly cool relationships and trust within this team … and that's a reflection of our coach (Golesh),'' Atkins said. "Whenever you make a play, he's the first one running up and jumping with you. He's more excited than we are. Just the love he has for each one of us, it's special. And the way he operates, it's just this really cool brand of swagger.''

Preparation Leads To Confidence

Swagger.

At all levels of sports, the term has become overused.

But for Golesh, the aura seems real.

Following the bowl-game thumping of Syracuse, during the ESPN post-game interview, Golesh casually said with a punctuating head nod, "We just went and whooped that ass, didn't we?''

The next morning, Sirius Radio commentator and former coach Rick Neuheisel, still in a state of wonderment, described Golesh's statement as "savage.''

Six weeks ago at the AAC Football Kickoff in Dallas, Golesh was asked about USF's challenging non-conference schedule and the Bulls "having to play Alabama and Miami."

Without missing a beat, a straight-faced Golesh replied, "Bama and Miami gotta play South Florida.''

"AG (Golesh) … he's a guy you want to grow up and be like,'' Bulls receiver Michael Brown-Stephens said.

Golesh said everything he does is based on honesty, authenticity and direct no-nonsense communication — "Be Who You Say You Are,'' anyone? — instead of calculated messaging. He does have planned talking points for the keys to winning, the post-game or the Monday meetings.

Otherwise? It's from the heart.

"I want to walk into a room and have confidence, but that is a direct reflection of preparation,'' Golesh said. "We talk a lot about real confidence and you only get that through preparation. You must earn the right to have real confidence. Lots of people have fake confidence. But when you have real confidence, it's evident when you walk on the field and it exudes through who you are.''

Golesh said his daily routine is planned each day — to the minute. Before Golesh's first USF training camp, a reporter reached the generous one-hour agreed-upon allotment of interview time.

"I've got just a few more questions. How much extra time can you give me?'' the reporter said.

"As little as humanly possible,'' Golesh said, smiling but deadly serious.

As game week hits its stride, Golesh said he and his staff will cover every possibility, drawing on the down-and-distance research done in the offseason. He'll play mock games to himself on Thursday nights before shutting it down early for an extra 45 minutes of sleep. But on Friday nights — game's eve — he won't stop his preparation until he feels "completely dialed in … and the time of that changes from week to week.'' On game day, during every contest of his career, he has never felt nervous.

"Right now, I am watching Bethune, watching Bethune, watching Bethune, going through a checklist of situations,'' Golesh said. "By game time, I feel like I know what's going to be called. So yes, I feel very confident … because I am prepared. Intelligent football players talk about winning in the margins, in all kinds of specialized situations. And that's the level of preparation I want from our players. It always has to be about the players.''

Taking Care Of The Players

The players come first.

That's another way to describe Golesh's influence.

He's always cognizant of the proper messaging.

"You've got to be careful of what you say and your emotional attachment to what you say,'' Golesh said. "You better think twice when you say something in front of the team or the staff. As the head coach, you are always on, every word, every gesture. You're never unnoticed.''

Receivers coach L'Damian Washington said he sometimes marvels at Golesh's subtleties.

"He doesn't take any (crap),'' Washington said. "He instinctively knows when somebody needs to be ripped or called out, then when it's not right to point something out in front of the team or embarrass somebody. He just has a feel for it.

"He also makes sure that every player who walks into our building gets a high-five or a handshake before every meeting, so they know they're a person, too, and their coach knows exactly who they are. Know what I mean? It's small, but huge.''

Washington said he also appreciates how much Golesh listens to his staff and how open-minded he is about potential changes. Washington said because of Golesh's background — two decades as an assistant coach, performing every task from fixing coffee to coordinating an offense — he knows that everyone in the room has something to offer.

"He's extremely detailed and the most hard-working person I've ever been around in my life,'' said Bulls tight ends coach Jack Taylor, elevated from last season's analyst role, who has worked with Golesh at three different programs. "You just try to match that level of detail, that level of intensity, that level of work.

"When you have someone like that leading an organization — the first to arrive, the last to leave — that is going to inspire everyone to give all they have. I can assure you this team will be properly prepared.''

Bulls tight end Weston Wolff said he'll always remember the double meaning of a Boca Raton Bowl win against Syracuse. It was symbolic of how far USF's program had come — a plus-six in the victory total — but it wasn't nearly enough.

"Coach (Golesh) said it was a decent year, but not exactly how we want to define our program,'' Wolff said. "So, we almost immediately went back to focusing on our process. To achieve the bigger goals, you've got to do everything right every single day. You've got to strive for constant improvement.''

Healthy And Happy

Constant improvement.

In that vein, Golesh did a lot of self-examination during the offseason.

He questioned every aspect of his day-to-day process, finally concluding that he "has wider eyes now … I see more.'' Instead of building the structure of practices and lining up the coaches properly, he's more locked into the defense and special teams. He has changed things that need changing. He's building off last season's successes, such as the mentality of attacking the day, not dwelling on the past or projecting too far in the future.

Golesh, who was Tennessee's offensive coordinator before arriving at USF, said he was intent on "not taking a (head-coaching) job until I felt I was ready.''

"I felt like I belonged from the minute I walked in here,'' Golesh said. "You have to feel that way or you'll get exposed really quick. Now you do need validation or proof of concept (by winning games), but there was a lot of foundational work to be done here, too.''

The foundation has been laid.

With an up-and-coming team, major recruiting momentum and a $340-million, 35,000-seat on-campus stadium and operations center on the way in 2027, Golesh finally allowed himself some offseason time for a long-ignored project.

Taking care of himself.

"Twenty years of not doing that, really,'' Golesh said. "Late nights and stuff to do and food there (to eat). My wife (a dietician) always said, 'Dude, you've got get yourself right.' ''

Golesh is working out more than he has in years. He has a treadmill in his office to use when he's watching film. He still has some snacks in his desk drawers — "Sour Patch watermelons for Byrum Brown and white chocolate covered pretzels for LD (Washington),'' Golesh said — and he might occasionally sneak a few to go with his ever-present Red Bull.

"Do I get ice cream with my little man (son)? Yes,'' Golesh said. "We'll go out to eat and relax occasionally. I'm not living and dying with a super-strict diet, but I'm way more cautious and I'm not eating everything I can get my hands on.

"We're all a product of our process and our habits. So, I think I've established a good process and good habits (nutritionally). It's on me to follow through.

"I feel good. I actually feel great. With where we plan to take this program, I think we've got a ton of good things to look forward to. USF is one heck of a place and I'm grateful to be here. Everything that we were promised, everything we have asked for, it has happened. We've only started to accomplish what we want to accomplish. But you know what? It's always about the next game.''

It's Year Two.

Alex Golesh, 40 years young, is ready.

Let's go!

-#GoBulls–