TAMPA, Fla. — The University of South Florida football team has named its new head coach, and his story starts in Russia.

Spectrum Sports 360 Katya Guillaume asked Alex Golesh, “How was that growing up in Russia”

“My parents dropped everything and moved to Brooklyn at the time and then…man that was, Brooklyn is a tough place to be, especially when you ain’t got a whole lot other than your family and then we ended up moving to Columbus, Ohio,” the new coach said, recalling his time growing up. 

A time that would end up changing his life forever.

He continued, “I remember playing with the nerf ball on the cement and tackle and banging up knees and scrapping elbows and that’s where I learned to fall in love with it.” 

Now we're here, standing in his new office for this next chapter he’s excited to begin.

He said, “We just got here right so they just boxed up my office in Knoxville and unboxed it.” 

He’s made a few stops before coming to South Florida, but home is really where his wife and two kids are. 

Showing the trio off from the picture frames around his office, he said, “These are my little people…yeah my little people, they look like me. This is Corbin, she’ll 11 now and that’s Bear he’s eight now and that’s my Alexis there.” 

Lasting memories are on full display all over his office. 

“Pretty authentic shot of my man Bear there, I always enjoyed that picture,” Golesh.

His new quarters may still be under construction, but the important things are up. 

“These are Buckeyes," he said, picking up on of many he keeps in a jar right behind his desk. "Our radio guy Bob Kesling at Tennessee, his dad dotted the eye in the marching band at Ohio State so he had two buckeye trees in his back yard and he gave them to me when I first got to Tennessee and they’re supposed to be good luck. They’ve been pretty good luck for the last two years," and he’s brought them here to South Florida.

Walking in the halls of the USF athletic building, trying to hold back some emotions, he said, “I feel like I’ve earned the opportunities that I’ve had but genuinely grateful for them so.”

“This is your new home," Guillaume asked. "Walking down these halls, what does being here mean to you?

“Yeah, really humbling," he said. "This is one that I really wanted, this is one that I was really hoping would work out and it’s pretty incredible walking around here as the head football coach.”

Coach Golesh said he has dreams and aspirations of building this team to what he believes is their full potential.

“When I was in school and had just started coaching, South Florida was at the penuchle of college football and I’ve always seen this program from afar as that’s the benchmark, that is the standard of what South Florida is," he said. "We talk a lot about standards and that is the standard of where we gotta be, we should be a playoff contender every single year, we should be at the top of the American every single year and when I sat down with the administration and listened to their vision and asked a lot of questions, then listened to their vision again and asked a lot more questions, I saw that their vision aligned with my visions and that’s the reason I wanted to come.” 

He also spoke with Guillaume about things that inspire him. He brought up seeing his parents make that transition from Russia to the US when he was young and how hard they fought for what they have now. He said that inspired him to want to work hard and now he is seeing the benefits of it. They spoke about things he's enjoyed since making the permanent move down, you can catch that interview on twitter @katyaontv.