USF’s Alex Golesh beats FAU’s Tom Herman with a frosty handshake after the Bulls’ 44-21 win over the Owls

College football rivalries in the Sunshine State haven’t been must-watch lately, but a frosty postgame handshake between USF coach Alex Golesh and Florida Atlantic Coach Tom Herman is likely to create some buzz in Saturday morning’s pregame shows.

The bulls dominated the second half of Friday night’s game in Boca Raton and won 44-21. But instead of seeing a traditional handshake between coaches, Golesh reached out to Herman and he didn’t stop to have a conversation.

Herman tried to shoo Golesh away to talk and the two exchanged a few more words, but the USF coach didn’t stop and continued to shake hands with Little owls players as he left the field.

“Not a lot of back and forth,” Golesh told reporters of what was said between the two coaches. “Nothing, really. We said a year ago that we would come back to get it and we came back to get it. Whatever was said, I’m fine.”

Herman told FAU media that he “wished” there had been a conversation between him and Golesh.

Last year, FAU beat USF 56-14 in Tampa and turned it over late, attempting and recovering a punt in the fourth quarter of explosive victory.

Herman has had other interesting handshakes with opposing coaches in the past. The former 49-year-old Texas Longhorns The coach is 6-14 in his two seasons with the Little owls. Golesh, 40, is 11-10 as South Florida’s coach.

FAU joined USF in the American Athletic Conference two years ago. USF leads the all-time series 4-2.

“I think it’s been said that we’re recruiting against each other,” Golesh said. “I think it’s been said that we don’t like each other. I have a lot of respect for the staff. I think they are doing a very good job. I don’t think we’re recruiting against each other. I can’t think of one guy we had to go beat.

“I have a lot of respect for a lot of these guys, but I said we’re going to come back and get him. Last year, at the end of the game, we embarrassed ourselves at home. We came and got it, and we’re going to continue to do that.”

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(USF coach Alex Golesh photo: William McLelland / Imagn Images)