Alex Golesh is the new head hog in the Natural State. Arkansas is hiring the South Florida head coach and former Tennessee assistant as the program’s newest head coach according to a report from Trey Schaap.
Golesh is in his third season as head coach at USF where he’s helped lead the Bulls to a 22-15 record. The offensive minded coach inherited a terrible situation in Tampa with the Bulls posting a 1-11 record the year before his arrival. But Golesh got USF back to a bowl game in his first year as head coach.
USF went 7-6 in each of Golesh’s first two years as head coach before taking another leap this season. The Bulls broke onto the scene back in September with an upset win over Florida and looked like a legit group of five College Football Playoff contender. But an upset loss against Navy earlier this month dashed the Bulls playoff hopes.
There’s no official announcement from Arkansas so it’s unclear whether Golesh will coach South Florida this weekend. The Bulls are 9-3 (5-2 American) and face Rice in their regular season finale in Tampa.
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Golesh inherits an Arkansas program that’s struggled in recent seasons under Sam Pittman. The Razorbacks went 4-8 in 2023 before rebounding with a 7-6 record a season ago. However, Arkansas has fallen off in a major way this season and is 2-9 entering its regular season finale against Missouri.
Arkansas has been better than its terrible record indicates. The Razorbacks have los six one-score games this season including in matchups against Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas A&M.
Golesh spent two seasons at Tennessee as Josh Heupel’s offensive coordinator from 2021-22, helping re-build the Vols’ program and one of the nation’s best offenses.
