The dark days of USF football are over and last season ushered in a new, fun era of football brought by USF Coach Alex Golesh and led on the field by first year starter Byrum Brown.
The season was marked by ups and downs, as the Bulls struggled out of the gates at 1-2, found their stride and rattled off some important conference wins, before ultimately winning the final game of the season to gain bowl eligibility and defeating Syracuse in the Boca Raton bowl 45-0.
Attending AAC media days for USF was Head Coach Alex Golesh, DB Ben Knox and QB Byrum Brown. Knox missed all of last season with a knee injury and witnessed USFs improvement week by week, unfortunately from the sideline, but still was able to see how Coach Golesh was able to institute a culture that resonated with his teammates and led to success.
“Coach Golesh came in and established a different kind of mindset, he came in and established that he wanted the team to be a process driven team and be player led. We bought in and some of the results paid off, some of the games we struggled in were some of the games we struggled in were games that we were still identifying who we wanted to be,” Knox said.
One of the leaders in driving that mindset was Byrum Brown who took the reigns in his second season with the Bulls and never looked back, finishing the year as a top of the line starter in the AAC, throwing for 3,292 yards 26 TDs and 11 INTs, showing little to no signs of being a first year starter. Bursting onto the scene alongside him was Sean Atkins, recording 92 receptions for 1,054 yards and 7 scores and providing a #1 target option for Brown in his first year at the helm.
Having a QB in their first year as the starter is going to take a group effort to establish a culture and have success in that first year. This past season for the Bulls was the perfect culmination of guys being able to buy in and find success, even amidst some early season struggles, according to QB Byrum Brown.
“Truly a blessing to help lead the team, but it wasn’t just me, it was the whole team buying in, offense, defense, special teams and coaches. We’re just really looking forward to this upcoming year, last year we did alright, but we know we can do much better,” Brown said
Last year’s 7-6 finish was the best final record for USF since 2018, and their first Bowl win since 2017, however Golesh and Co. went back to work in the offseason, and this team comes in reloaded heading into 2024. In the portal department, USF brought in 14 players via the transfer portal, including RB Ta’Ron Keith via WKU and Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen via Purdue. Out of high school, USF landed 27 overall commitments, highlighted by 4 Star TE Jonathan Echols and 3 star LB Rodney Hill.
Per 247, USF brought in a top 50 recruit class in the nation and following their best season in recent years, a top 50 class now supplements a squad that already has top tier veteran leadership. Between the new additions adapting to the culture quickly and continuity that remains, QB Byrum Brown heads into the 2024 season excited, knowing that the offense has a chance to do something special
“The offense is gelling nicely, they came in ready to work, we haven’t had any issues, and they’ve bought into the culture and the way we do things. This offense is going to be very electric and we’re ready to put that onto the field,” Brown said.
Electric is one way to describe an offense that ran a play every 20.9 seconds, which ranks second in the country in terms of fastest offense, trailing only Jacksonville State. That speed at which the offense operates is combined with a dual threat offensive attack which sees a balanced split between run and pass plays, with the Bulls rushing it 54% of the time and passing 46%.
To operate an offense that moves at an extremely fast pace and is able to put out a variety of different play calls requires personnel who are able to produce in that setting, the Bulls have that and are able to use their no huddle offense to their advantage, which according to USF QB Byrum Brown leads to a lot of big plays for this offense.
“You get the defense tired and they can’t really communicate when they are tired and they can’t really think the way they want to think. It leads to more missed assignments and allows us to play fast, know what we’re looking at, know where we are going with the ball and get us off the field as quick as possible by scoring,” Brown said
USF will have a difficult schedule this upcoming season, facing off against UM and Alabama in non-conference play and Memphis and Tulane in AAC play, which checks in as the 3rd hardest G5 schedule with an SOS score of 16.71, trailing only ODU (17.88) and Tulane (17.29).
Although USF may have a tough schedule, the talent that remained from last year and that was brought in this offseason is undeniable and will make USF a tough opponent for any team in the country, Alabama and UM included, and that’s why QB Byrum Brown believes that the National Championship is in play this season for the Bulls.
“The goal is the national championship, we’re not shooting for anything less than that. We know we have to just take it one game, one practice at a time, so we are eager to go into fall camp, first game and do what we do,” Brown said.
The next chapter of Bulls football will be unlocked on August 31st, with the season opener from Raymond James Stadium against Bethune Cookman, with kickoff set for 7 pm EST.
