‘I’ve kept my mouth shut on it all week’ – Former Vols OC Alex Golesh goes viral for post-game comments about opposing head coach
Former Tennessee Vols offensive coordinator Alex Golesh went viral this week for his post-game rant after USF’s win over UTSA.
USF head football coach Alex Golesh had to get some things off his chest on Thursday night after his team’s 55-23 win over UTSA.
Golesh, who served as the Tennessee Vols’ offensive coordinator from 2021 to 2022, fired back at comments that UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor made about USF’s roster earlier this week.
“They have done a great job,” said Traylor of USF during a radio interview. “They’ve invested incredibly well in their program. Do some research on the amount of money that’s been spent on that roster, it’s real mind-boggling. And they look the part. Alex spent his money very wisely, and he’s got a great roster.”
Alex Golesh takes exception to the idea that USF bought its roster
Golesh opened his post-game press conference on Thursday night by responding to Traylor’s comments.
“I respect Coach Traylor so much,” said Golesh. “I respect the program that he’s built from the ground up. I’ve kept my mouth shut on it all week, but I do want to guard the comments made about — and I understand what he’s doing. He’s trying to generate more (NIL money) for his own program, but don’t do it at the expense of us. Don’t do it at the expense of commenting about the resources we have and about what our roster looks like and how much money is spent on a roster.
“Your prerogative is to go build your own program. But I think when you’re talking about money [spent] on a roster, you’re taking away from the fact that there’s a bunch of dudes in that locker room that have poured into the process. There’s a bunch of coaches that have demanded it of them. And I think when you make comments like that — that rosters are bought — it discredits the fact that there’s recruiting, that there’s relationships being built, that there’s development and coaching going on.”
“I’m good with lobbying to make sure that you have the resources you need,” continued Golesh. “I genuinely am. And I say it wholeheartedly that I have so much love and respect for Coach Traylor and what he’s done and how he’s done it — because he does it the right way. He’s a good man, and he has a hell of a football program. But don’t discredit the fact that our guys work as hard as anybody in the country. Our guys have developed. And yeah, we’ve got resources because we’ve made a commitment to building a special football program here, and a special athletic department here. But I don’t want to act like anybody’s buying players around here, because that ain’t the case, and that’s never been the case. We recruit, we retain, we develop, we pour into our players.
“When you start talking about other people’s rosters to try to benefit yourself, I think you tread water that implies that there’s not an elite level of work here. And there’s a ton that went into not just the recruiting and the retaining and the developing and the relationship building, but the fact that there’s a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that has gone into those resources. And a lot of lot of lunches and dinners begging for resources. So just don’t discredit what these kids have done, and what this coaching staff has done in terms of building a program that’s sustainable, that’s respected, where kids play really, really hard. And that’s just my two cents on it.”
I definitely don’t think Traylor was trying to discredit Golesh’s program. But I also completely understand where Golesh is coming from. It’s easier than ever — thanks to the abundance of advanced metrics and information — to look at football like it’s a game played on paper. But it’s not.
It never will be. Stats, contracts, and data are fun to look at, but that’s not what sports are about. It’s ultimately about the process — do you show up each day, ready to live in the moment and do what that day requires to be great? The hours and hours of work that are put in each day are what lead to wins on Saturdays.
Talent is obviously required to win championships. And it costs significant money to land that talent. But the talent and the payroll don’t matter one bit if the coaches and the players aren’t fully invested in the process behind the scenes.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports Tennessee Vols as ‘I’ve kept my mouth shut on it all week’ – Former Vols OC Alex Golesh goes viral for post-game comments about opposing head coach.
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