Former Tennessee Vols OC Alex Golesh reached a very big mark at USF in 2023

The South Florida Bulls have been a very bad football program.  And it's been a hot minute since that hasn't been the case.  

Before former Tennessee Vols offensive coordinator Alex Golesh was announced as the Bulls' new head coach on December 4, 2022, South Florida was mired in a one of the worst stretches of futility in all of college football.  The Bulls managed just four wins over a three-year period, going 1-8, 2-10, and 1-11 in 2020, 2021, and 2022, respectively.  

However, Golesh has come in and made a quick change for the better in Tampa.  That change was apparent on September 16, when the Bulls held the Alabama Crimson Tide in check for a full four quarters, falling 17-3 at Raymond James Stadium.  It was a one score game until Alabama added a second touchdown with only 33 seconds left in the game.  

That was an immediate sign that things were improving, but sometimes a team can rise up and play an inspired game.  Fortunately, that performance did not end up being a flash in the pan for the Bulls, as they ended up reaching something that seemed almost silly to consider in previous years: bowl eligibility.  

It took some grinding in the second half of the season to get there.  South Florida fell to 3-4 after a 56-14 loss at home to Florida Atlantic.  However, the Bulls managed to rally to win three of their last five, with wins over UConn, Temple, and the season finale last weekend against Charlotte 48-14 to reach magic win number six. 

Tennessee's offense was electric with Alex Golesh in charge last fall. With the obvious caveat of key roster turnover this year in Knoxville, the Vols' offense hasn't come close to reaching the heights in 2023 that it did last year.  

That being said, it's still great to see Golesh succeeding in Tampa, where hopefully he can continue to help the arrow point upwards for the Bulls in his second season next year.  Hopefully that will also be the direction of Tennessee's offense in 2024.