Napier's Thoughts on Golesh, Brown as Gators Set to Host USF

Napier knows that USF goes as far as their senior quarterback will bring them. Brown's thundering energy is the engine that makes the team work.

"Big, physical player, will drop his pads," Napier said. "Tackling him—there are some physical things that come with that. I think he does break tackles. He has the ability to outrun angels. And he has arm talent. It’s a good scheme fit, in my opinion.

Napier also looked back to Golesh's days as Tennessee's offensive coordinator when he had another dual threat quarterback in Hendon Hooker. Napier and Golesh matchup up one time while Golesh was at Tennessee, with the Volunteers coming out with a 38-33 win in 2022.

“If you go back to the Hendon Hooker days at Tennessee, the quarterback was a little bit more of a run threat. I think there are some similarities in that regard. He’s a good competitor as well. You see the leadership. Just watching the Boise game, you can see the energy there."

The Hendon Hooker comparison is an interesting one. Hooker and Brown stand and weigh similarly. However, each possessed something the other didn't. Hooker relied mainly on his arm and the ability to throw outside the numbers in Tennessee's offense.

Meanwhile, Brown possesses a strong arm but prefers to make a quick read and rumble downfield, picking up chunk yardage and steamrolling defenders. Yet, the similarity exists of needing to cover the entire field. Admittedly, in college, there are some quarterbacks without the arm to make every throw. For example, many consider the deep out as the definitive test of arm strength, outside of the go route.

HC Alex Golesh

Most people could not find USF on a map, thinking the campus is in Miami and not Tampa. Alex Golesh, to his credit, seems like the right fit for a job that can be equal parts successful and utterly frustrating. Coaches like Skip Holtz, Willie Taggart and Charlie Strong all enjoyed an eight-win season there.

Similarly, each also dropped that many games in a season at USF. When people think of the next tier of Florida college football, they usually mention UCF, due to their success. Now, we're not counting their fictional national championship, but USF gets overlooked. Golesh is trying to build something new.

With Napier and Golesh, there's a commonality of sorts. Neither is the traditional Florida coach, from the area. In fact, Golesh isn't from any football area; he was born in Russia. Yet, each are managing to thrive in relatively new environments.

"South Florida has got a really good football team. Coach Golesh has done a nice job evaluating high school players and then doing a good job in the portal," Napier said. "You know, this is a veteran team; there are a lot of upperclassmen that can contribute. I do think the defensive group is stingy. I think they play with effort and toughness.” I think they’ve got a really good sticky group in the back end from the coverage standpoint. I do think the backers are explosive, and then there are quite a few front players that play, so there's some depth there."

Just think a year ago, Napier's body language and speech patterns at press conferences told the story of a man that looked like he was headed out of town, unable to give answers about his team or explain losses. Now, the tide turned, and you can see the confidence that wins provided.