As the opening game for USF football nears, the Bulls' "process" gets more refined

It’s Week 0 around the USF football offices and practice fields, which means the long wait to see how the Bulls do this season is nearly over.

Week 0 refers to this coming weekend’s soft launch of the season, when the main event – well, only event -- will be Florida State against Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland. Most everyone else, USF included, kicks off on Week 1 seven days later.

But don’t expect the Bulls to be lounging by the pool while the Seminoles play. Head coach Alex Golesh loves to use the word “process” to describe how his team prepares for each practice and game. So, it’s no surprise that the process includes using this time as a dress rehearsal for the opening game against Bethune-Cookman University on August 31.

“We'll do a mock game-type situational practice on Saturday, one week out, and work a lot of end-of-game-type situations to get our substitutions and all of that kind of finalized,” he said.

“And then we’ll get rolling like a normal game. We get ready for platoons next week. The main difference between camp and now is looking at the game a little bit more.”

Fall classes begin at USF on August 26, and that will be an x-factor in terms of how players manage their time after spending the last three weeks immersed in football. It was no problem finding time to watch extra tape, get treatment for injuries, or whatever else needed to be done.

Players have had a rigidly scheduled to-do list for each day of the week during camp, but that all changes next week. It doesn’t mean the to-do list goes away, of course. Players will have to balance the demands of academics with football. That’s where self-discipline comes in.

“So, the challenge is to get their process now back. You know, they've had potentially three weeks in a hotel (during camp) where they wake up, breakfast is there, there is a shuttle over here, and then they have their football all day long,” Golesh said.

“But the challenge again, to them, from our perspective, is what your normal Tuesday process will be. What is your normal Wednesday process going to be? What will your normal Thursday process be in terms of preparation for a game?”

Oh yeah, the game.

On Saturday, the Bulls will use that mock game as a blueprint for what they’ll do to be ready to play when it counts.

“They’ll get themselves up at the hotel and get ready for what a game would be,” Golesh said.

“You know, as much as you feel like we've got a veteran team, a lot of the veterans are not guys who were with us a year ago.”

It’s all part of the process.