South Florida CEO of athletics issues statement on Alex Golesh
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In the face of reports linking coach Alex Golesh to the Arkansas vacancy, South Florida CEO of Athletics Rob Higgins issued a statement on Wednesday confirming that Golesh has been “presented with outside opportunities,” but said Golesh has been fully transparent and communicative with the USF administration.
A report from Football Scoop on Wednesday stated that Golesh and Arkansas were “finalizing negotiations” to make him the school’s next head coach. At the time of publication, no announcement had been made.
In his statement, Higgins did not directly refer to Arkansas, nor did he hint at Golesh’s future. He did, however, state that South Florida is “ultra-prepared for every scenario” moving forward.
His full statement is below:
Since Saturday’s game, Coach Golesh has been presented with outside opportunities that he has been transparent about with us. We are respectful and supportive of Coach and his family in their decision-making process. We’ll remain in constant communication. Bulls Nation, rest assured, we are ultra-prepared for every scenario that could unfold in the coming hours/days. Our commitment and investment has never been higher and we’re also laser-focused on being great stewards of our resources. Most importantly, the future of USF Football has never been more bright! Go Bulls!
Golesh, 41, is in his third year as the head coach of the Bulls. After a pair of 7-6 seasons to begin his tenure — both of which featured bowl victories — Golesh has the Bulls sitting at 8-3 this season. They won at Florida earlier this year, something Arkansas has only done once in 6 tries.
He’s a former assistant of Tennessee coach Josh Heupel.
He would replace Sam Pittman, who was fired on Sept. 28 after posting a 32-34 record across 6 seasons with the program. Arkansas closes out the 2025 season on Saturday against Mizzou, where it’ll look to avoid what would be the third winless season in SEC play in the last 8 years.
When Golesh took over the Bulls in 2023, the program was coming off a 3-year stretch where it went 1-22 in league play. They went 4-4 in league play his first year at the helm.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
