Alex Golesh came off the field Monday after USF’s first practice in pads and made a simple declaration.
“We looked like a ball club today,” he said.
He praised the Bulls’ energy, attention to detail, intensity, and, well, just about everything. However, he got particularly energized when talking about both sides of the line.
“I think the biggest story for us right now is what the offensive line and defensive line are doing, and that competition. There are so many veteran guys in those two groups, and they are competing,” he said.
“It is like a straight-up brawl. We've had three inside drills. I go down there and literally I pray, going into it and pray in the middle, I pray at the end, ask for my sins to be forgiven, to make it really healthy. It's a violent, violent mess.”
Alex Golesh Monday media after first practice in pads. Says the team “answered the bell” today. @USFFootball pic.twitter.com/RbOyU0mPMJ
— Jim Louk (@USFjimlouk) August 4, 2025
It’s fair to say that neither line was a team strength in Golesh’s first two seasons as head coach. A major off-season goal was to get older (check) and bigger (double check).
The Bulls made big use of the Transfer Portal, particularly on the defensive line.
They brought in Dre Butler (Charlotte), Josh Celiscar (Texas A&M), Dennard Flowers (Murray State), Devin Lee (Vanderbilt), Jacob Merrifield (Florida Atlantic), and Traevon Mitchell (West Florida).
Not counting incoming freshmen on the offensive line, USF has 15 players who have combined for 249 college football games.
You want beef?
Eleven of those players weigh 300 pounds or more.
Combined, they weigh a whopping 4,693 pounds.
“When the energy is right with those two groups and the entire thing is different, you inevitably win some on both sides,” Golesh said. “When those two are competing at an elite level, and that happened today, it was violent in there but controlled.”
Senior offensive tackle Derek Bowman has played in 39 games during his career. He is intent on making his final collegiate season his best.
“The old guys in the offensive line room, we've kind of made that our mission that we're going to set the tone of practice every day. We're going to set the culture. We're going to control how things go, because we want the outcome to be the way we want it to be,” he said.
It's the same mindset on the defensive line, and that strength up front reverberates through the entire defense.
The more pressure the line can bring on the passer, the better it is for the secondary.
“It’s been a lot of people back there getting on in the backfield,” cornerback De`Shawn Rucker said. “Those are my best friends, like they're gonna help me.”
Perhaps the most encouraging aspect is that the players aren’t taking anything for granted – including playing time. It’s push, push, push.
“We're pushing at every single spot,” Golesh said. “Cole (Best) and Mike (Lofton) are competing at center. That competition these young tackles are pushing them to come along. Tommy's (Shrader) has come in and pushed Zane Herring and pushed Jack Wilty,” Golesh said.
“Then you got Cole Skinner, who's pushing both those guys. It's a really, really competitive deal.”