Rising college football head coach explains why ‘bad programs stay bad’

USF’s Alex Golesh proves process-driven culture can change everything.

South Florida Bulls head coach Alex Golesh explained his process-driven approach and his plans to rebuild the AAC program. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

The South Florida Bulls were left for dead not long ago. From 2011 through 2022, the program posted eight losing seasons and endured five years of three wins or fewer. Once seen as a potential power in Florida, USF’s football program had faded into irrelevance.

That perception changed quickly under second-year head coach Alex Golesh. His Bulls opened this season with back-to-back victories over Boise State and Florida, handing both ranked teams an early exit from the AP poll. USF is now ranked No. 18 and preparing for another top-five opponent in Miami.

Golesh, born in Moscow and raised in Ohio after his family immigrated with little more than $400, has worked nine coaching jobs in 20 years. Now he has South Florida positioned to do something it has never done before: win a conference championship and fight for a College Football Playoff berth.

Golesh Describes Building A Sustainable Program From Scratch

Golesh inherited a team with only four wins in three years. He said during a conversation with CBS Sports that the Bulls “hadn’t been to a bowl game since 2018 and I think was really just looking for somebody that could really build this thing into a sustainable program.”

He credited USF’s leaders for making the job appealing. “The one thing that made this job unique two and a half years ago is the commitment… they said, ‘Man, we’re ready to draw a line in the sand, and we’re going to build a football stadium right out here. We’re going to build the nicest operations building maybe in the country.

South Florida Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown leads the team in both passing and rushing after two games. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

"And then we’re going to fund this thing to where you can go hire whoever you need to, build a recruiting department the way you need to, build a player development department the way you need to, and support these guys.’”

For Golesh, that meant an opportunity to start over. “We truly had to start from scratch. I think that’s the part that was so intriguing about this job is you had the opportunity to start from scratch. They were going to give us time to go do it.”

A Process-Driven Culture Over Results-Driven Chaos

For Golesh, sustaining success comes down to culture. “If you’re going to build something and truly build something sustainable, build something for the long haul, you’ve got to have a process-driven approach to this and you’ve got to be able to create a process, set standards within that process.”

He emphasized that results cannot dictate the program’s mindset. “The ability to be process driven rather than result driven and truly being able to be bought into a process without being emotionally attached to the end result… because if you aren’t, you’re going to ride waves of success and failure and never really have a true foundation.”

South Florida Bulls head coach Alex Golesh is off to a 2-0 start in his third year leading the AAC program. | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

It’s a philosophy Golesh believes separates contenders from pretenders. “I’ve always said this, and I truly believe this. I think that’s why bad programs stay bad and good programs stay good because there are constant examples of what real process, what real habits look like.”

USF has quickly become one of college football’s most surprising stories. If Golesh’s process continues to pay off, the Bulls could add another ranked win against Miami and strengthen their case as the Group of 5’s playoff representative.

South Florida will face No. 5 Miami on Saturday in a game that could either validate their breakout start or expose the extent of the work still ahead.