‘DNA Similar to Tennessee,’ Napier Says of USF

As No. 13 Florida (1-0) continues to prepare for its home game against USF on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. (SEC Network, 98.1-FM, 103.7-FM/850-AM WRUF), Gators coach Billy Napier continues to see a familiar SEC opponent the more he watches the Bulls.

Napier said he sees similarities between Josh Heupel’s Tennessee design and USF (1-0). A significant reason why these two mirror each other is the man in charge, Alex Golesh, the UF coach said during his Week 2 SEC teleconference appearance Wednesday.

Before taking over as USF’s coach, Golesh worked as an offensive coordinator under Tennessee coach Josh Heupel for two seasons (2021-22). He first teamed up with Heupel a year earlier at UCF as a co-offensive coordinator.

Since being hired at USF in December 2022, Golesh has been applying what he learned from his previous partner and mentor to Tampa. 

Napier has noticed.

“Coach Golesh’s experience at Central Florida and at Tennessee, being the coordinator, and ultimately as the head coach, calling the offense, and we have history,” Napier said. “Obviously, he was at Tennessee our first year, and then we play against that system a couple of times a year. So, I do think there’s a little cat and mouse there in general. But I just think as a program overall, you see a little bit of their DNA is similar to Tennessee.”

Napier compared USF quarterback Byrum Brown to former Tennessee quarterback and 2022 SEC Offensive Player of the Year Hendon Hooker. Under Golesh’s offense, Hooker had a breakout senior season, when he completed 69.6% of his passes for 3,135 yards, 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions. 

Both signal-callers have been labeled dual-threat quarterbacks for their ability to run and pass. The only difference is that Brown utilizes the run game a lot more, making him a much bigger threat.   

“Big, physical player, will drop his pads. Tackling him, there are some physical things that come with that. I think he does break tackles. He has the ability to outrun angles. And he has arm talent,” Napier said about USF’s second-year starter. 

“It’s a good scheme fit, in my opinion. If you go back to the Hendon Hooker days at Tennessee, where the quarterback was a little bit more of a run threat, I think there’s some similarities in that regard. He’s a good competitor as well. You see the leadership.”

Another shared trait between Tennessee and USF is how fast they want to play on offense — and how it impacts their defenses. Both teams are high-tempo offenses, which means they don’t use a huddle between plays and hardly waste time before snapping the ball.

Most of the time, when teams run a fast offense, it negatively impacts the defense because it has less time to recover between drives. But Tennessee and USF are proving that wrong.

“I’ve always been impressed with how Tennessee plays defense, given their tempo on offense,” Napier said. “Typically, that’s a weakness — most teams have played that brand of football. So I think they’ve been able to get the personnel in there and have an identity on defense. And statistically, last year they were really good.”

On the bright side, Napier has played against Heupel-led Tennessee teams for the last three years, which may help game plan.

“I think each week there’s always some carryover,” Napier said. “We have a history with that structure, that tree of coaches. That’s more common than you would think.”

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