'They believe': South Florida's hot start is no fluke

"TAMPA, Fla. -- USF coach Alex Golesh repeated the same thing after both of his team's first two wins -- a stunning blowout in the season opener against Boise State, and another shocker last weekend against Florida -- "This ain't the same ol' South Florida, my brother!" The 2-0 Bulls are ranked for the first time since 2018, notched the first win in school history over the Gators and are an early favorite to win the Group of 5 automatic berth into the College Football Playoff."

"But there is more meaning behind those words, more than just a statement about big nonconference wins. Those nine words are a nod to one of Golesh's close friends. On the side of his headset, Golesh has the initials AAR, for the late USF men's basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. Golesh and Abdur-Rahim were hired within three months of each other, similar coaches with similar beliefs, tasked with the same goal: Get USF to shed its underachiever status."

"Abdur-Rahim had done it at his previous stop at Kennesaw State, developing the Owls from being a one-win team to reaching the NCAA tournament. Golesh had inherited a one-win football program and looked to Abdur-Rahim for advice. A few days after Abdur-Rahim was hired, Golesh went to see him in his office. "They had literally just done at Kennesaw what we were trying to do, build it the right way," Golesh said."

USF opened the season with a blowout over Boise State and followed with an upset of Florida, improving to 2-0 and earning a ranking for the first time since 2018. The win over Florida marked the program's first victory in school history versus the Gators. The Bulls emerged as early favorites to claim the Group of 5 automatic berth into the College Football Playoff. Coach Alex Golesh repeatedly uses the phrase "This ain't the same ol' South Florida, my brother!" as a salute to the late men's basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, whose initials Golesh wears on his headset. Golesh and Abdur-Rahim were hired within months of each other, formed a close relationship, and pursued parallel turnarounds after Abdur-Rahim rebuilt Kennesaw State and led USF to its best season in 2023-24.

Read at ESPN.com