USF football plans to ‘max out’ on NCAA revenue sharing with players

ARLINGTON, TEXAS — As college football programs prepare to share revenue with players as soon as next year, USF expects to be competitive — not just with mid-major peers but with anyone in the nation.

“We’re in the fight,” Bulls coach Alex Golesh said during the American Athletic Conference’s media days. “We’re going to max out everything that we’re legally going to be allowed to max out.”

Key word: legally.

Golesh hedged his comments because of the industry-wide uncertainty over revenue-sharing. Attorneys are still finalizing a settlement in the House v. NCAA lawsuit and related cases that will provide a roadmap for teams to start paying players. For Golesh, a key unknown is whether that cap will be a set figure for every team (say, $22 million) or a set percentage of each school’s revenue.

If the system allows the Bulls to share $22 million with players — the same as Georgia or Florida State or anyone else — that’s “the standard that we’re working towards,” Golesh said. If it’s a percentage, then the Bulls’ target might have to be lower.

“We will be as competitive as we possibly can,” Golesh said at the Loews Arlington Hotel.

Here are some other (lightly edited) highlights from the Tampa Bay Times’ sit-down interview with the Bulls’ second-year coach.

USF’s roster and talent level

“Seventy-eight percent of our roster is new in my 19 months here. It equates to 62 scholarships, plus however many walk-ons.

“I think physically, we are way more ready. A year and a half in training and in nutrition and hydration done the right way, we look better. Does that equal wins? I don’t know. But it certainly, you feel like it gives you a better chance. It gives you a fighting chance.”

The biggest off-field strides USF had made in his tenure

“I think the resources that our administration has been willing to pour in — which was a huge reason why I took the job — you look at it. It’s probably not publicized enough, but being fully funded in the sense of Alston (educational) award money, cost of attendance, certainly nutrition. We’ve spent more money on feeding our guys in the last year than we did in the five years prior combined.

“Not just having it available but making sure that they’re eating. Not just making sure they’re eating but having a full staff of dietitians to educate them, to fulfill what the coaches are saying and make sure that it’s actually being done, starting with education first. The guys not just understanding what they need but then giving them the resources to actually get it.

“Small things like hydration testing every morning, making it a point that the guys are hydrated. It sounds really small, but you’re preventing soft-tissue injuries. You’re preventing things potentially happening on the field. You’re operating at the highest clip you can as an athlete.”

His biggest adjustment as a first-time head coach

“Me personally, being down on the field for the first time in a long time. That’s the one thing that’s maybe not talked about enough or undersold. You’re so used to being in the box. You’re playing a video game. You’re able to make adjustments easily. You’re able to communicate flawlessly. There’s no exterior factors.

“To be back on the field in the emotion and the swing and in the constantly knowing that every minute of every decision matters, you know, the impact of every single decision. You only ever worried about half of it, even though you say, ‘Man, you should do this, or you should do that.’ Now, it’s you.”

The Bulls’ recent changes in name, image and likeness

“We’ve moved Andrew Warsaw into the general manager role of the NIL portion on the university side. Fowler Avenue’s still the collective that we work with. But we can now control it in-house, so therefore Andrew Warsaw has moved into that role. He still is the chief of staff for football but is overseeing it for the university now and essentially has assembled a team under him to help with the day to day, and then obviously there’s a non-revenue sport component to it as well.”

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