Alex Golesh has been through enough National Signing Days during his coaching career to understand the deal. There are no losers on a day like this – at least not that they will admit.
“Every coach is going to stand up here and tell you they won Signing Day,” he said. “So, I will tell you that we’re well on our way to winning this period.”
That is, of course, what he is supposed to say.
As he solidified his third recruiting class at USF though, there is reason for more than the standard optimism.
The Bulls added two players to the 25 they assembled during the early signing period in December. Both of them on the defensive side of the ball – Dorian Mallary, a two-way performer from Fort Myers, and defensive lineman Richard Scott, who helped lead St. Thomas Aquinas to its sixth consecutive state championship.
Mallary threw for more than 3,000 yards and ran for more than 700 as a quarterback for his team. He projects as a defensive back with the Bulls.
The Bulls also added 13 transfer players, and could add a few more when the portal window opens again on April 16-25.
Golesh and his staff concentrated on acquiring players from Florida and Georgia who played for winning programs. Of the 13 transfers, for instance, seven were from Florida and three were Georgia.
“I said when we got here, we were going to build a build a program, rather than a team. And I feel like each year we've taken less and less transfers, but the transfers have been more and more targeted,” Golesh said.
“You know, you look at the transfers, seven of the 13 are Florida kids. Another what? Three are Georgia kids. Again, you see the footprint where we're trying to invest all of our time, and we kind of attacked positions of need there. We don't necessarily want to live in the portal, but we want to be able to continue to fill gaps.”
The current roster has 31 seniors, which helps for leadership. The young talent brought in for this class is highly regarded. Rivals, On3, and 247 Sports – sites that really dig deep into the weeds on recruiting – rated USF as the second-highest outside of the Power 4.
American Athletic Conference rival Memphis is the only Group of 5 team ranked higher than the Bulls. The Tigers inked coveted quarterback Antwann Hill.
Don’t think Golesh hasn’t noticed the first three games on his schedule next season: at home against Boise State, then road games at Florida and Miami. His players can expect to be pushed in practice and conditioning with those games in mind.
“We've got to create incredibly hard situations for these guys to go through, from a mental and physical side, to prepare us for what's coming these first three weeks of the season,” he said.
“As you look at the schedule, that'll be a hot topic as we get closer, but it's gonna be gauntlet that we got to be ready for, and it started three weeks ago when they got back from the bowl game.”
Do the Bulls have the athletes that can handle that stretch?
That question won’t be answered for a while. For now, though, they’re undefeated on signing day.