USF Receiver Christian Helms And Coach Alex Golesh Winning Big Within Community

Forbes

2 days ago

In his first four seasons of football at USF, Christian Helms got into exactly one game. The intense heat and intensity of preseason camp, injuries followed by lengthy stretches of rehab, a coaching staff change and a pandemic-disrupted season. He did it all as a walk-on.
It seems like a lot to endure. Alas, it was a piece cake compared to what Helms' father, Chris, has been going through the past roughly three years. Indeed, the elder Helms' spirit and drive may only be matched by his son's dedication and commitment which, by the way, goes light years beyond the gridiron.
'My father handles it in a way that many people would not expect,' said Helms, of Chris' end-stage kidney disease and large chunks out of each day devoted to dialysis treatments. 'You never see him complain. Sure, there are times he can get emotional, but he never complains. He puts his head down and takes care of what he needs to take care of.'
Helms, who has been healthy the past two years while regularly performing on USF's specialty units and taking snaps as a receiver under coach Alex Golesh, his third head coach since his freshman year of 2019, has been more than doing his part to help his father and others in need of an organ donor. An NIL opportunity with LifeLink, a non-profit that promotes organ and tissue donation, has served as a tremendous platform.
'There are a ton of people I have met that need organs,' said Helms, who is also the son of Darlene and older brother of Zach and twin sisters Sophia and Amelia. 'Someone I know recently received a kidney and I was super happy. Just knowing if I can spread the word about being an organ donor and change someone's life, not only will it benefit me and my family one day, but it can benefit thousands.'
Helms has been benefitting others through his diligence with LifeLink, Habitat for Humanity and various fundraising initiatives, including helping raise awareness for Parkinson's Disease. He also provides instruction to football players of various age groups, including helping younger players learn and enjoy the game.
Speaking of enjoyment, a special evening will take place at USF on August 24 when the football program takes part in what has become an annual Victory Day under Golesh, who is in his third year leading the Bulls. It is an evening when Special Olympics Florida participants mingle with players and engage in football activities while enjoying the sights and sounds of the band and cheerleaders.
'It is so much fun to see the smiles, not only on the faces of those participating, but parents, family, friends, and everyone who is there to support them,' said Helms.
It brings a smile to Golesh's face. Indeed, it is an evening that represents an opportunity to do far, far more than take a breather from the grind of preseason practice. Wherever his career has taken him, giving back is at the top of his checklist.
'I recognize the fact that we are the doorstep of the university and it's an opportunity to give back to a community that is always there supporting us,' said Golesh. 'It is such an opportunity to change peoples' lives for the better, and the older I have gotten, the more I have thought about the impact that I have an opportunity to make on young people. It's a pretty incredible job.'
The above merely touches on why Helms and Golesh are among nominees for the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team.
Community service recognition
AFCA nominated 197 players and 14 coaches across all NCAA divisions and the NAIA for its Good Works Team. Nominees are chosen based on their 'commitment to community service and leadership beyond the gridiron.'
Helms, who was born about 15 miles east of downtown Tampa in Seffner, is also on the Wuerffel Trophy watchlist. Much like AFCA's Good Works Team, the award, named after former Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel, recognizes those who selflessly serve within the community.
'Christian is a young man who thinks about others way before he thinks about himself,' said the 41-year-old Golesh, who launched his career in 2004 as a student assistant at Ohio State, where he received a bachelor's in education two years later. 'He has had some tough situations with his dad and dealing with that, and he literally is team-first 100 percent of the time. It's the same for him in the community. He continues to find ways to give back and find ways to be involved in the community.'
Beginning in 2019 under Charlie Strong and through the next three seasons under Jeff Scott, Helms took the field once. Torn thumb ligaments required surgery during his first year on campus, and a broken foot cost most of the 2021 season. After Golesh arrived, Helms tore his left labrum in spring 2023.
'I was nervous,' he said of that of the labrum injury. 'Roster cuts are a real thing.'
However, Helms worked like the dickens to get back on the field, had a productive summer, built trust with a new staff and has since had a consistent role on the team. The 2025 season will be his seventh with USF, which is the result of a redshirt season, multiple injury setbacks and the free year of eligibility coming out pandemic-disrupted 2020. Not that continuing his career at USF was a sure thing. After all, Helms was in the transfer portal following the 2022 season when he thought maybe, just maybe, enough was enough.
'Not playing anymore crossed my mind,' he said. 'I did not touch a football for a couple of months and everything began happening with my dad at about that time. I thought maybe it was time to move on and be there for my family. However, my family pushed me back (into playing football).'
With the relationship he has since built with Golesh, members of the coaching staff and his teammates combined with his continued excellence in education – he was awarded a scholarship in June – the decision to remain at USF has proven to be beyond wonderful.
'It was about just knowing that I am in a good spot with the education I have received and coach Golesh and the coaches he brought in,' said Helms, whose girlfriend, Vivianne Bessette is a USF alum and a defender on the Tampa Bay Sun soccer team. 'I could tell from day one it was going to be a good relationship.'
Golesh, of course, is in a business where success is based on wins and losses. As he learned through his coaches from the youth level on up, success does not have to be limited to what is reflected on the scoreboard or in the conference standings for three months in the autumn.
'I started as a high school coach with a self-guided mission to give back and give back to young people what was given to me by my coaches,' said Golesh, whose staff includes one of those coaches, his offensive coordinator at Dublin Scioto (Ohio) High, Jeff Jones, serving as the Bulls' director of player development. 'My coaches changed my life and gave me a purpose."
That purpose includes, but is certainly not limited to, the aforementioned Victory Day at USF.
"Beyond family and faith, there is so much of us to give,' said the husband of Alexis, and father of daughter Corbin and son Barrett.
Another degree, and hopefully more wins
Helms is looking forward to something that is scheduled to happen and something that he will work like mad to make happen. He is on track to receive his third degree at the end of the fall semester, and we are not talking about completing courses in the basics of chipping and putting or some such, though he would love to sharpen his game on the links to compete in a sibling rivalry with Zach, who begins college at USF (pre-med) later this month.
Rather, Helms' degree will be in psychology. That would follow the master's in exercise science he received last year and an undergraduate degree in health sciences he completed in 2023.
'It has been very fulfilling and I will graduate with my third degree in December,' he said about his academic career. 'I look back when I started in 2019 and then the next year was a blur with the pandemic when football taken away and I was trying to take science classes online. Then there was a new staff and a shortened season. It was unreal.'
Here he is in 2025 winding down a remarkable journey, one that he wants to conclude with a larger number in the win column for his Bulls, who went 7-6 with bowl victories in each of Golesh's first two seasons.
'The only thing I ask is to win more games and win some hardware,' he said. 'It would be a fairytale ending.'
Then again, it may just be the beginning for Helms, and Golesh will be there to help him in any way possible.
'Christian is a really, really special human being that is going to be super successful when he is done (at USF),' said the coach. 'I will help him in every imaginable way and would hire him in a heartbeat.'