Former Vols OC Alex Golesh gives his thoughts on the future of Tennessee football
Alex Golesh stepped down as the Tennessee Vols' offensive coordinator earlier this month to become the new head coach at South Florida. Golesh was an important part of the Vols' success in 2022 — he called plays and was critical in game planning. With Golesh now at USF, Tennessee needs to hire a new offensive […]
Alex Golesh stepped down as the Tennessee Vols' offensive coordinator earlier this month to become the new head coach at South Florida.
Golesh was an important part of the Vols' success in 2022 — he called plays and was critical in game planning.
With Golesh now at USF, Tennessee needs to hire a new offensive coordinator. The feeling is that quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle will be promoted to offensive coordinator, but that's just speculation at this point as UT head coach Josh Heupel has been preoccupied with bowl prep and roster management.
Regardless of who is hired as Tennessee's offensive coordinator, Golesh thinks the program is quickly moving in the right direction.
Golesh spoke to The Athletic's Joe Rexrode this week and he made it clear that he thinks Heupel has the Vols on the right track.
"I think Josh is doing an incredible job, and he’s just being who he is," said Golesh. "He’s really, really positive. He’s really, really real with the kids."
"What Josh has been able to do in terms of being real, the kids actually having fun, I think Tennessee football has been very much a cool changeup to what college football is right now," added Golesh. "And of course, you’ve got alignment from top down, (athletic director) Danny (White) is doing an incredible job. From an NIL perspective, everything is in great shape. So I believe great things are coming."
Golesh's note about Tennessee's NIL (name, image, and likeness) efforts should especially excite fans. Recruiting at its core is about relationships. And Heupel has proven he can effectively build those relationships. Plenty of other head coaches, however, are also great at building relationships. And when everything is close to even for a recruit, NIL could be what determines if a player goes to Tennessee or to one of the Vols' SEC rivals. Fortunately for the Vols, it sounds like their NIL is in "great shape".
Sometimes when coaches leave a program, they'll allude to some negativity that they left behind. But that isn't the case with Golesh. And that's a great sign for the future of Tennessee football. There's no doubt that Heupel is doing things the right way in Knoxville.
Featured image via Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
