At this point, it's not a matter of "if" Tennessee Vols offensive coordinator Alex Golesh will be a college football head coach, it's "when".

Golesh has been a key part of the Vols' offensive success this season.

Sure, it's Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel's system, but that system is ever evolving and Golesh has a huge influence on that evolution.

The Vols' offensive success this season combined with Golesh's impressive personality has made Tennessee's offensive coordinator a popular name in head coaching searches.

So it shouldn't be a surprise that Golesh was recently named by ESPN as a potential fit for the now vacant South Florida head coaching job (Jeff Scott was recently fired).

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg mentioned Golesh as a potential option for USF this week.

From ESPN:

USF must reboot its profile in the new-look AAC if it wants to become a more attractive candidate for power conferences. USF has big plans for its football investment, including an on-campus stadium targeted for completion in 2026. Coaches typically flock to jobs in Florida, especially one in a city like Tampa. Kelly should have a good pool of choices, which include former head coaches such as Tom Herman and Scott Frost, current FBS coaches such as Coastal Carolina's Jamey Chadwell and Toledo's Jason Candle, rising-star coordinators who have worked in Florida, such as Tennessee's Alex Golesh and Oregon's Kenny Dillingham, and perhaps former FBS coaches-turned-assistants such as Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

Of all the jobs that have been mentioned over the last several weeks, South Florida probably makes the most sense for Golesh.

For starters, he has a year of experience coaching in Florida after spending the 2020 season with Heupel at UCF (though that season was certainly unique due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

It's also not a Power-5 job so the expectations wouldn't be quite as high (it would give him some time to install an up-tempo offense, something that doesn't happen overnight).

This is basically the path Heupel took. He was an offensive coordinator for two years in the SEC (at Missouri) and turned that experience into a job as the head coach at UCF (after three seasons he left for Tennessee).

Golesh is on that same trajectory. Vols fans should hope he sticks around for at least one more season (continuity is important…and he did just get a raise), but it's inevitable that Golesh is going to be a head coach. And it will likely be sooner rather than later.

Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports