USF at crossroads as Bulls await the next moves by Byrum Brown and Alex Golesh

USF head coach Alex Golesh sounded a little wistful at his regular Tuesday media briefing, the final one of the regular season. He also didn't sound like someone looking to take another job, despite widespread Internet rumors to the contrary.

More on that in a bit.

But first, Golesh addressed the question of whether quarterback Byrum Brown will return to USF for his final season of eligibiity or jump to the NFL. As much as the Internet would like immediate answers, it will have to wait. The answer will come when it does.

"Byrum is going to play football for a really, really long time, I would tell you he's got a huge ceiling. Like I said, weather ready to go. I think that's something that you sit down when it's over, and he would be the first to tell you, lthose conversations are for when the season ends," Golesh said.

"You sit down and you get real evaluations from professionals in that league. You consult with people that are professionals at it -- us included, myself included -- and you make the best choice. The choice that I'm going to make, or help make, for every young guy in this program is whatever's best for them."

But all the professionals and coaches do is lay out the realities of what comes next, and then the choice is up to Byrum. He has all the measurables to be an NFL player: size, experience, accomplishment, and athleticism. Pro Football Focus gave him an elite 9.21 overall rating. Even with that, however, deciding what to do is not that simple.

The timing matters, too.

"The draft class has a lot to do with it. The need (of specific teams) in the draft has a lot to do with it. So there's more factors than just, is he ready?" Golesh said.

"He's going to be a pro. He's going to be a pro for a really long time. It's just a matter of, is it right now? Is it a year from now? He'll make the right decision for him."

Meanwhile, Golesh appears to be facing a timing issue of his own.

While much of the college football fixates about Lane Kiffin's next move, Golesh's name is showing up for just about every significant job opening.

We know about Oklahoma State and Arkansas. Chris Vannini of The Athletic (a pay site) reported that Auburn "continues to show a lot of interest" in Golesh, Tulane's Jon Sumrall, and a bunch of other guys.

Florida could be in the mix if the Gators lose out on Kiffin, although hiring a Group of 5 coach might not go over well with Gator Nation after the disastrous Billy Napier episode.

And, of course, USF is fighting like the dickens to keep Golesh.

Billy Sexton, the kingmaker among college football coaches, represents Golesh and just about everyone else in the sport. It's likely the multiple listings generated from someone in his camp because, obviously, more suitors (alleged or actual) would drive the price up.

However, just like his quarterback, the decision on how to proceed belongs to Golesh. And when I said he sounded "wistful" at then startn of this piece, it seemed more about the multiple players who will take their final walks across the Raymond James Stadium field on Saturday's Senior Day than a man saying goodbye to his current job.

"I tell these guys every Friday night how grateful I am for them, and grateful for the guys that stayed, grateful for the guys that chose to come because when I got here, it was a it wasn't cool to stay, like, if you can get out, you were getting out," he said.

"And there's a handful of guys that that said, 'You know what? We we believe in the message or, heck, we just like going to school here. And so every situation is a little bit different. But as time went and guys became developed into really good players chose to stay I think it speaks to our culture. And when you ask, when you ask, man, what does it mean to me, it means that they bought into something bigger than themselves. They bought into giving more of themselves than ever taken from the program."

It's not just the guys who are playing their final home game for the green and gold. The same thing applies to his two recruiting classes, as well as the highly regarded one set to commit in early December.

Golesh built this program from the ashes, and he knows that. USF is on the map now and bigger days are coming. Would he give that up just to start over at a power conference school where he would have to start over again?

I mean, Auburn fires coaches as often as most people change shirts. Oklahoma State and Arkansas are massive rebuilds. Florida? Maybe. We'd be foolish to discount the potential of the Gators.

But would Golesh leave for any of those programs? We may know something by this weekend as those openings quickly start to close.

Until then, like we said, the answer will come when it does.