For USF’s Alex Golesh and his peers, bowl season has become ‘bonkers’

TAMPA — Having spent the previous several days working at a pace devoid of reason or restrictor plates, Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell downshifted last Thursday, albeit briefly.

The ReliaQuest Bowl signing ceremony represented a pit stop from the annual bustle — a grind prix, if you will — that major college coaches navigate in December. As he momentarily exhaled and took questions from local reporters in a Raymond James Stadium club area, Fickell was asked if he had read the NCAA proposal that would allow athletic departments to compensate athletes via a trust fund.

“I could have last night. I got home at 10 o’ clock,” Fickell said. “Before I fell asleep, I could have read it, but I didn’t want to read. I didn’t want to talk. I even asked my wife to not ask me about my day.”

At some point, Fickell and his peers will get a chance to decompress for more than a few fleeting minutes. Now is hardly that time.

There are recruits to visit. Practice plans to assemble. Bowl obligations to honor. Exit interviews to conduct with current players. Not to mention an unwieldy transfer portal — crammed with thousands of names — to study.

Any spare time for sleep is gravy.

“The calendar’s just bonkers. All of it is bonkers,” USF coach Alex Golesh said.

“It’s crazy. I’m going to write a book at some point. I don’t know if anybody will buy it, but (there are) some interesting nights where you’re trying to handle it all, manage it all.”

At a time when the typical college coach’s plate remains full year-round, December brings a platter. Some recent calendar modifications have transformed the job from unrelenting to nearly unamanageable in the year’s final month. Not that many coaches will elicit sympathy in light of their seven-figure salaries; it’s what they signed up for.

Question is, will the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/usf-alex-golesh-peers-bowl-110000936.html

Author : Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Publish date : 2023-12-15 11:00:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.