TAMPA, JAN. 20, 2023 – South Florida Football Head Coach Alex Golesh and Head Strength and Conditioning Coach George Courides (core-EEE-dis) announce the Bulls’ full strength and conditioning staff as offseason workouts get underway ahead of spring football beginning in March.
Courides, who came to USF after six seasons serving on the strength and conditioning staff for Iowa State football (2017-22), will work with four other staff members on the Bulls’ physical development throughout the year.
David Norris joined the USF staff as director of applied science/speed development after spending the 2022 season at Stanford as an assistant sports performance coach. Prior to joining Stanford, Norris was an assistant strength and conditioning coach for San Jose State (2021) football, in addition to working with track & field and women’s soccer. He has previous experience at Baylor, Florida Atlantic, Wagner, the U.S. Army Military Academy and the College of William & Mary. Norris played football at UAB and Richmond and is BSc, CSCS, and USAW Level 1 certified.
Frank Failace was named director of football sports performance and comes to USF after serving the last four seasons as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for ECU (2019-22) football. At ECU, he also had athletic performance oversight of ECU track and field (sprinters/hurdlers), along with women’s lacrosse and men’s golf. Failace has also served as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Atlanta Legends of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) and spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons as an intern with the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and is also Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified (SCCC) per the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa).
The Bulls also named Matt Garcia and Cody Hopkins as assistant strength and conditioning coaches.
Garcia comes to USF after serving an internship on the Ohio State strength and conditioning staff in 2022, working under nationally recognized strength coach Mickey Marotti. A graduate of Mount Union, Garcia previously served an internship at Iowa State, where he was part of developing the most successful graduating class in program history, and at his alma mater Mount Union. He earned a degree in exercise science with a minor in psychology from Mount Union, where he played running back and was part of the 2017 Division III National Championship team. He also was an all-state athlete at Phoenixville (PA) High School, where he set the program’s single season rushing record in his senior season.
Hopkins spent the 2022 season as a development performance quality control analyst at Nebraska, where he oversaw the training of the primary skill and big skill positions. He also served on staffs at Iowa State and South Dakota and began his coaching career as an intern at Florida State, where he worked with Seminole football. Hopkins played fullback at Wayne State College where he earned his exercise science degree and a minor in coaching.
Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Courides worked with Golesh for three seasons (2017-19) at Iowa State and was part of the major turn-around that saw the program go from three wins to a Fiesta Bowl victory.
Prior to his arrival in Ames, Courides served two seasons as a full-time intern in the NFL, working for the New York Jets strength and conditioning staff (2015-16). Courides also served as the head strength and conditioning coach at Phoenixville Area High School (Pa.) in 2015 and was a graduate assistant for the East Stroudsburg University strength staff in 2014.
He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), earned both his bachelor’s degree (2008) and master’s degree (2015) at East Stroudsburg State where he was a member of the rugby team, helping the team win the 2007 Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union (EPRU) title.
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 26th season in 2022 while completing construction on a $22 million Indoor Performance Facility. The Bulls have posted 15 winning seasons and earned 16 All-America selections, including 2021 consensus All-American Brian Battie, while seeing 32 first-team all-conference selections. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft and has made 10 bowl game appearances (going 6-4 in those games), posting a program-record six straight appearances from 2005-2010 and most recently making four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18. The Bulls posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016 while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during the 2007 season.
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