He has no counter measure for the cone of uncertainty, no quick-strike approach to offset the blitz of dread bearing down on his players.
In the most volatile week of his head coaching life, USF coach Alex Golesh and his staff are devising a game plan on the fly. As Hurricane Milton’s ruthless rain bands and gusts draw closer, the Bulls’ 40-year-old leader finds himself drawing up contingencies instead of corner routes, assuaging fears instead of 4-3 defenses.
“There is no playbook,” Golesh told local reporters Tuesday via Zoom.
“You’re doing whatever you think is best, and I think it goes back to just about anything else we’ve done: What’s best for these kids? That’s my job, to make sure our kids are safe and our kids have an opportunity to be successful. There isn’t a playbook.”
For now, the Bulls’ improvised strategy for a conference clash with Memphis that may or may not take place involves evacuation. The Bulls were set to board buses early Tuesday afternoon for Orlando, where they will lodge and prepare as best they can for a game that has been moved from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
For now, the game is still slated for Raymond James Stadium (tickets already purchased for the game will be valid for Saturday), with broadcast details yet to be announced. School and league officials will revisit the status of the game at some point Thursday, once Milton — projected to make landfall somewhere on Florida’s west coast late Wednesday or early Thursday — has passed through and the aftermath has been assessed.
Until then, Golesh and his players will do their darndest to forge ahead and stay focused, even as the repercussions of another monstrous storm weigh heavily on their collective conscience.
“You’ve got to be able to maintain focus, and there’s so many other factors in these young guys’ lives right now that that’s the hardest part of our job, I feel like,” said Golesh, whose staff put together three different itineraries for the week to adapt to game-time or location alterations.
“Obviously, you add this component to it, that’s all that I have preached, demanded, talked about. It’s our players, but honestly our staff as well. We’ve got families, we’ve got little ones, we’ve got several wives that are pregnant on the staff — things that are real-life situations that you’re pushing through.
“You’re trying to be sensitive to the reality of the situation, but you’re demanding focus from your players, and it’s incredibly hard.”
Golesh said families of all staff members — and any staffers residing in a mandatory evacuation zone — were invited to join the team in Orlando. Meantime, coaches have endeavored to help players’ families in every practical way, from providing bottled water to assisting with the care of pets.
“I’m trying to really make the important things the important things, which is our players’ safety, our coaches’ families’ safety, whatever we can do for our players’ families’ safety,” he said. “I was talking to my wife last night, and she told me, ‘You take care of your team; I’ve got our team.’”
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In this case, both of those teams are staring head-on at an overwhelming foe.
The entire bay area is under a hurricane warning and a storm surge warning. Area schools, universities and tourist attractions have shut down in preparation for Milton. The Bucs even relocated to New Orleans for the week in preparation for Sunday’s game against the Saints, while the Lightning traveled Monday to Raleigh, North Carolina, in preparation for their season opener Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Pinellas and Pasco counties have issued mandatory evacuations for zones A, B and C. Hillsborough has ordered evacuations for residents in zones A and B, as well as mobile and manufactured homes.
And though the hurricane is expected to weaken a bit as it reaches Florida, forecasters still predict storm surge of 10-15 feet.
“We’ve had two really, really good, focused, high-energy, detailed practices back-to-back here, and I just told our guys that we are having to deal with something, and we can either say, ‘Woe is me,’ or we can use it to our advantage,” Golesh said.
“Meaning we’re going to be all together, we’re going to be able to continue to do football, we’re going to continue to be able to meet, and if we can stay focused through, we’ll give ourselves a chance to be successful.
“But it’s really hard, and that’s the biggest challenge for us.”
Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com . Follow @TBTimes_Bulls
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Joey Knight is a sports reporter who helps cover all sports teams in Tampa Bay, from high school athletes to professionals. Reach him at jknight@tampabay.com.
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