TAMPA, Fla. — USF spring football practice doesn't officially begin until next month, but you don't have to look far to find the players. Most of them are in the weight room bulking up, or on the practice field doing conditioning work.
This week, the offensive linemen were busy doing some heavy lifting.
"This is my last run, so I really want to go out with a bang," offensive lineman Mike Lofton said after his workout.
The Clearwater-native started his college career at UCF. Now, he wants to use his sixth and final season to continue to elevate the Bulls program.
"Especially with the guys that have been here through everything," Lofton said. "The guys that, when I came here, they were still here before me. It’s really important for all of us. We want to set this place back on the right track."
Zane Herring and Derek Bowman are also sixth-year offensive linemen. Bowman, a transfer from Houston, says it feels like this group has been playing together their entire careers.
"We have to play five positions as one," he explained. "Having that brotherhood and that reliance on the other four guys that are playing with you creates a tight bond. And we’re all just some good dudes [haha]. We've got a good room."
Herring battled a serious shoulder injury his freshman season at Florida State. He suffered a knee injury last year at USF. But neither one derailed his career. Herring says he's going to make the most of his last ride.
"My dad always taught me, if you’re going to do something, give it 110% and give it your all," Herring said. "With all the injuries, all the bumps in the road, it’s just a blessing to even come out here and do this again. I just don’t want to live with regret for the rest of my life and not be able to do this."
USF head coach Alex Golesh is entering his third season leading the Bulls program. He said he doesn't use many slogans but admits to having one favorite: "Be who you say you are."
It lines the fences of the practice fields and is written on the back of the players' workout gear.
"If you say that you’re going to come into work, then show us that you’re going to come into work," Lofton said when explaining what the slogan means to him and his teammates. "If you say that you’re the best in the country, show us that you’re the best in the country. I feel like that ultimately just shows what coach Golesh is."
"When there’s true ownership in this team from within that locker room that’s when we’ll take the next step. And I think we’re inching closer to that," Golesh added. Spring football practice kicks off March 25.
Over the last two months, the ABC Action News I-Team has sent the names and information of nearly 300 people who were stuck in an "adjudication hold" to the Florida Department of Commerce. But now, some people have followed up to let the I-Team know after sharing their stories, they are finally getting the relief they desperately need.
