After USF walloped UTSA, Alex Golesh had some things to get off his chest

Alex Golesh's post-game news conference started like any other following USF's rollicking 55-23 rout of UTSA on Thursday night at Raymond James Stadium.

However, about five minutes into discussing the game, the topic and tone took a sharp detour. Golesh took strong exception to what he felt was the implication from UTSA coach Jeff Traylor that the main reason the Bulls are good is because they have the American Conference's best roster that money can buy,

"I do want to say I respect Coach Traylor so much. I respect the program that he's built from the ground up. I just want to guard, and I've kept my mouth shut on it all week, but I do want to guard the comments made about that, and I understand what he (Traylor) is doing. He's trying to generate more for his own program, but don't do it at the expense of us. Don't do it at the expense of commenting about the resources we have, about what our roster looks like, and how much money is spent on a roster, your prerogative is to go build your own program," Golesh said.

"I think when you're talking about money on a roster, you're taking away from the fact that there's a bunch of dudes in that locker room that have poured into their process. There's a bunch of coaches that have demanded it of them. And I think when you make comments like that, that that rosters are bought. It discredits the fact that there's recruiting, that there's relationships being built, that there's development and coaching going on."

On a San Antonio radio show, Traylor tried to highlight the difference in what USF invests in football compared to his school.

After saying South Florida "is the best team in our league," Traylor explained why he believed that.

"They have done a great job. They've invested like incredibly well in their program. Do some research on the amount of money that's on that roster. It's really mind boggling. They look the part. Alex spent his money very wisely and he's got a great roster," Traylor said.

USF has made no secret of its ambition to invest heavily in athletics, particularly football. The result has been a program with the resources to rise from the ashes in less than three years. But that's not the only reason the Bulls are 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the American.

To imply, as Traylor did, that it's just about buying the best players in the NIL era, isn't right. Plenty of programs have excellent players, but it's what happens after the coaches get them on campus that turns excellent players into excellent teams.

"I think when you're talking about money on a roster, you're taking away from the fact that there's a bunch of dudes in that locker room that have poured into their process. There's a bunch of coaches that have demanded it of them," Golesh said.

"And I think when you make comments like that, that rosters are bought, it discredits the fact that there's recruiting, that there's relationships being built, that there's development and coaching going on. And I'm good with lobbying to make sure that you have the resources you need. I genuinely am."

USF doesn't have to apologize one iota about recognizing how the game has changed in college athletics and responding accordingly. If that makes some of the Bulls' conference breathren jealous, well, OK. It's been a long time since USF has been the target.

"I have so much love and respect for Coach Trayler and what he's done and how he's done it, because he does it the right way. He's a good man, and he has a hell of a football program," Golesh said. "But don't discredit the fact that our guys work as hard as anybody in the country. Our guys have developed, and yet we've got resources because, because we've made a commitment to building a special football program here, in a special athletic department here," Golesh said.

"But don't act like anybody's buying players around here, because that ain't the case, and that's never been the case. We recruit, we retain, we develop, we pour into our players. We love our players, but we demand a lot of our players and we love them harder than anything we'll ever demand of them."