USF is wrapping up its fall football camp and is about ready to focus on what the Bulls need to do to defeat Boise State in the season opener on August 28.
That was the declaration Monday by head coach Alex Golesh, who is entering his third season on the job.
After giving the lads a day off on Tuesday, Golesh said, “two huge days (remain) for us with a situational football standpoint.”
He called it “technically fall camp.”
That situational football work that Golesh referenced is more complicated than you might at first think. Unlike power conference programs, which mostly play their games on Saturday, teams in The American play games at the whim of the TV gods.
For instance, USF has two Thursday games and two Friday outings. That’s one-third of the Bulls’ schedule on off-peak times. That can mess with a team’s regular preparation.
“It'll be it'll be a Sunday on a Friday (game week) and then a Monday on a Saturday,” he said.
It can be discombulating.
“These last couple of days, the main focus has been detail,” he said. “Detail in the sense of how do I line up? What's my technique? What is actually going on from a situation, a football standpoint, and being able to play down to down to down?
“Being able to play situations from a two-minute drill, to a four-minute drill, to tight zone to third down, and being able to get in and out throughout in practice. Those things today were a huge emphasis.”
Golesh and the Bulls believe they are ready to take the next step toward competing for a championship. While consecutive 7-6 seasons marked two bowl victories stopped the bleeding this program experienced before Golesh arrived, he has made it clear that breaking even is not the standard he expects.
He said the fall camp has lived up to that expectation.
“I'm really, really encouraged by the want-to from this team right now. We've gotten to where you walk into the locker room, you walk into the building every day, and there's a genuine sense of excitement, a genuine sense of we get to go to work today,” he said.
“And not that it hasn't always been that way, but it's certainly been two and a half years of building to that. I think the intent has been awesome. I think our older guys have really stepped up to provide leadership for these young guys, these super, super talented young guys that are still finding their way.”
While the coaches studied tape of Boise some during the summer, the emphasis in fall camp has been about how to play rather than who the Bulls will play on August 28.
That is about to change.
“I want to make sure we finish the right way these last two days of camp, and then we'll turn our focus over to Boise State full force,” Golesh said.
“And that will be exciting.”