Joey Johnston
Athletics Senior Writer – GOUSFBULLS.COM – THE HOME FOR ALL THINGS BULLS SPORTS
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With USF football training camp officially concluding Saturday — giving way to a “mock game-week” then an actual game-week in preparation for the Aug. 31 season-opener against Bethune-Cookman (7 p.m./Raymond James Stadium) — head coach Alex Golesh said he’s pleased with the progress of his Bulls.
“We’ve been in the hotel for two weeks and it was happening really fast for some of the freshmen,” Golesh said. “But we got a lot of good work in and I’m proud of where we are at this point. We still have a long way to go.
“But that’s the challenge for our guys, who have never had to deal with (outside) expectations and the expectation coming from within our walls, where the standards have been raised and attacked like crazy, where every single little thing is getting coached at a high level. Every coach in the country would say it, and we got good work in, but I truly believe we have a long way to go. So, every day is huge.”
Asked for the stars of training camp, the players who consistently caught his eye, Golesh hit on nearly every position group:
* Jhalyn Shuler, last season’s leading tackler, and Mac Harris have provided leadership at linebacker with Jamie Pettway and Lex Long pushing the competition considerably. Golesh said Shuler has “gained a bunch of weight and has done a phenomenal job of leading and holding himself to a high standard.”
* Defensive tackle Bernard Gooden, who did not play last season as he sat out after transferring from Wake Forest, has “done some incredible things” and “brought a real pass-rush element” to his interior position. Golesh said versatile defensive lineman Decarius Hawthorne (known as “Hawk”), a transfer from Florida Atlantic, has been “really impressive.”
* Golesh said he loves the cornerback group as a whole, particularly newcomers such as Tennessee transfer DeShawn Rucker (“phenomenal … and we saw that in the spring, too”), James Madison transfer Brent Austin (“impressive so far and he’s going to help the depth”) and Orlando Jones High School signee James Chenault (“for a freshman, he has been really, really impressive”).
* Veteran center Mike Lofton has “taken his game to another level.”
* Sixth-year running back Kelley Joiner, 25, has become “the best version of himself and he’s so fun to watch.” Golesh said Joiner is “the type of player we thought we were getting one year ago before we started moving him around (to different positions).”
* The Bulls look exceptionally deep at wide receiver — a far cry from last season’s training camp — and Michael Brown-Stephens could be ready for a breakout campaign if he stays healthy, Golesh said. Record-breaking Sean Atkins “has been super steady” as usual, but Golesh also has been impressed by Joshua Porter, a freshman from Fort Meade High School. “He’s a local guy from Polk County that we took with the hope he would develop into a really good wideout,” Golesh said. “He’s one camp in and he is going to factor himself into playing a bunch of football for us. He has been quite impressive.”
* Other receivers mentioned by Golesh: Purdue transfer Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen and Houston transfer Josh Hardeman, plus JeyQuan Smith, Tyree Kelly, Keshaun Singleton (all sophomores), along with “uber-talented” freshman Brandon Winton of Knoxville, Tenn.
* And then there’s quarterback Byrum Brown, now a sculpted 227-pounder, who has “steadily continued to lift his game and you’re starting to see the confidence come out of him … after a year ago, when he was still trying to figure out what the heck was going on.”
Brown, who set USF season records for passing yards (3,292), touchdowns (26), completions (276) and completion percentage (64.6) while tying the game record for touchdown passes (five), has been named to five national award watch lists (Manning, Davey O’Brien, Johnny Unitas, Walter Camp and Maxwell). Don’t be surprised if Brown shows up as a dark-horse candidate for the Heisman Trophy on some of the voluminous preseason projections by national media members.
“I could talk forever about that guy,” said linebacker Harris.
“What more can you say about Byrum?” added defensive tackle Gooden.
There will be much more to say about Brown, maybe even on a high national level when he tangles with other high-profile quarterbacks in USF’s non-conference schedule (Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Miami’s Cam Ward).
“Physically, I feel great,” Brown said with his trademark smile. “Just being able to see the improvements in your body, from pictures in the past, it’s a testament to Coach Geo (George Courides, head strength and conditioning coach), our nutritionist and our whole training staff.
“The whole team has gone through that same (body) transformation, so I’m eager to get on the field, Week One, and play against Bethune-Cookman.”
Brown described USF’s training camp as “productive.”
“We’ve definitely added some things and really dove into the finer details, the fine print of what we’re doing,” Brown said. “I think we’re doing a great job of executing at a high clip as well.
“I think Coach Golesh and Coach Geo have done a tremendous job of making sure that we’re keeping our bodies right with fall camp. We have some more things to clean up and fix, but we’re all anxious. I think we’re looking forward to moving ahead to (next week’s mock game-week preparations) because that means it’s one week closer to game day.”
Golesh said the latter portion of training camp was spent on situational football, particularly red-zone performance (which was the focus of almost an entire day’s work), one of the main points of emphasis for improvement.
“We’ve talked about winning in the margins and that requires a lot of specialized work, a lot of detail,” Golesh said. “Now we’re getting closer to the rhythm of a normal week and we’ve spent a lot of time getting ready for that rhythm. It has been a good training camp and I’m really pleased where we are right now.”
