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Forbes
2 hours ago
- Health
- Forbes
USF Receiver Christian Helms And Coach Alex Golesh Winning Big Within Community
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.'
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Longhorns safety Michael Taaffe shares his story with Texas Exes in Tyler
TYLER, Texas (KETK) — One of the best stories in college football has been Texas Longhorn safety Michael Taafe, who went from walk-on to one of the leaders on the Texas defense. Michael Taaffe honors those who died at Camp Mystic with special tie during SEC Media Days On Saturday, he was in East Texas, getting another chance to share his journey. It was all part of the annual Texas Exes Tyler-Smith County Chapter scholarship dinner, hosted at the Hollytree Country Club. This event helps raise money for East Texas students. Every year, they invite a special guest speaker, but Taaffe is the first ever current football player to take part in this ceremony. Taafe, who played high school ball for Austin Westlake, committed to Rice in 2020, but decided to go to U-T when they offered him a walk-on spot on the 40 acres. He excelled in his red-shirt freshman season and earned a scholarship before the Alamo Bowl. Since then, he has been an integral piece in bringing the Longhorns program back to prominence, and an example of what can be accomplished when you take a chance on yourself. He was also grateful for this opportunity and excited to be here in the pineywoods. Taaffe and the Longhorns will open the 2025 season with a rematch against last year's national champions, as Texas travels to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. OSU knocked Texas out of the college football playoff in the semifinal round last year. These two will kick the season off at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30, and you can see all the action on FOX51. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Iowa football QB entrenched in position battle after big quarterback domino falls
With the transfer portal constantly in flux and players now circumventing the portal by becoming a walk-on, quarterbacks are shuffling faster than a three-step dropback. The latest quarterback domino to fall is former BYU QB Jake Retzlaff joining Tulane as a walk-on. By withdrawing from school, he could walk-on at a new program without penalty. This route allows Retzlaff to bypass the transfer portal and join a new program. Retzlaff joins Tulane's QB room, which is also accompanied by former Iowa Hawkeyes and Northwestern Wildcats quarterback Brendan Sullivan. The addition of Retzlaff now entrenches Sullivan in yet another topsy-turvy quarterback room, rather similar to his final year at Iowa, when he took over for Cade McNamara. Jake Retzlaff withdrew from school at BYU just over a week ago amid honor code violations that would have led to a suspension. The suspension was stemming from a civil suit for sexual assault. The lawsuit has since been dismissed. While at BYU, Retzlaff threw for 3,595 passing yards and 23 touchdowns to 15 interceptions. Brendan Sullivan, who spent two years at Northwestern, followed by 2024 at Iowa, has thrown for 1,778 yards, 13 TD, and 8 INT during his collegiate career. He has added 407 rushing yards and 7 rushing TDs. Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald7 This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Former Iowa QB entrenched in new quarterback position battle at Tulane
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Steelers WR Calvin Austin III Still Feels He Has Much to Prove: ‘Not Glamouring Over Last Year'
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin III is keeping his head down following a breakout season in 2024. PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin III had the best season of his NFL career last season, but he still feels like he has a lot to prove heading into Year 4. Advertisement 'Not glamouring over last year. I remember the fact that I'm a walk on,' Austin said. 'I have notes in my phone, texts and stuff. I remember people didn't think I would be here. My family, my dad, some of my coaches were the only people to believe in me. So that's what really is my motivation year after year and is why going into this season, it's not anything different or new for me.' Austin has steadily improved every step of his football career. He started his collegiate career at the University of Memphis as a walk-on and slowly earned himself a role. Over his last two seasons, he had 137 catches for 2,202 yards and 19 touchdowns, finishing among the top receiving leaders in Memphis history. The start to Austin's NFL career was not ideal, either. He missed the entirety of his rookie season due to a foot injury and then posted just 17 catches for 180 yards and one touchdown in Year 2. However, he finally broke out in 2024, recording a career-high 36 catches for 548 yards and four touchdowns. Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin III in a game against the Buffalo Bills on Aug. 17, 2024 — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now Those aren't elite numbers, by any means, but it was a step in the right direction for him to have the career he envisions at the next level. Advertisement Austin will have a chance to continue building upon that production in 2025, too. Pittsburgh's wide receiver room is quite thin once again after trading George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys last month. He knows that, which is why he plans to keep his head down just as he always has and prove his doubters wrong. 'All I know is working,' Austin said. 'I feel like that speaks to the core of me and why I feel like just, in general, I've never reached a point to where I'm like, 'OK, I think I'm doing pretty good.' There's always something more I can improve on. That's the only way I've got to be where I'm at.' This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers WR Calvin Austin III Still Feels He Has Much to Prove: 'Not Glamouring Over Last Year' Advertisement Related Headlines
