The breakthrough season was nearly sabotaged before it started. Alex Golesh, in his first preseason camp at USF, recalls seeing center Mike Lofton go down.
His entire offense’s spirits seemed to collapse with him.
“That was really the first time it hit me what this young guy means to not just the (offensive) line room, but the whole offense,” said Golesh, who didn’t specify the injury Lofton sustained that day.
“He went down, and when I tell you it was like, they were all looking around. … You could see the entire offense was like, ‘Man, what is about to happen here?’ It lost a ton of confidence immediately, so that’s how you know what he means.”
The epilogue is equal parts iron and irony. The behemoth who was hurt in fall camp barely missed a down the rest of the way.
Grimacing his way through a sprained left shoulder, throbbing hips and sore ankles, Lofton played 1,050 snaps at center — the most of any Football Bowl Subdivision player in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus. By his recollection, he exited for two plays at Navy and three at Memphis. Otherwise, he was a mainstay in a Mach-3 offense that led the nation with 82.1 offensive plays per game.
“It’s kind of just, like, mental toughness,” said Lofton, who spent the bulk of his childhood in New Port Richey and attended Mitchell High through his sophomore year. “You’ve got to tough it out, just got to play for the guys, too. … win as many games as we could, and I just wanted to be a part of it.”
The odds of Lofton approaching that total this fall — as one of 20 graduate students on the USF roster — seem slim. The Bulls are far deeper on the offensive line than they were in 2023, and Golesh may be inclined to pull his starters and preserve their legs in blowout scenarios. On Wednesday, Golesh singled out the offensive line as one of the bright stories of camp to this point.
“I’ve been really pleased with that group,” he said.
At the literal center of its resurgence is Michael Connor Lofton, who transferred to USF in 2022 after two underwhelming seasons at UCF. After logging three starts at guard in 2022, his career seemed to gain a fresh lease on life with Golesh’s arrival.
He embraced the “process” preached by Golesh, not to mention every teammate he encountered in the Selmon Athletics Center. In an effort to develop durability, Lofton shunned his go-to fast foods (namely McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A) and pledged allegiance to the advice of the team nutritionists. He evolved into a beast in the weight room (a 685-pound squat) and a teddy bear in the meeting rooms.
“Same guy every morning,” Golesh said. “Shows up, hugs everybody, wishes everybody an elite morning. You can tell he’s tired at times; he’ll create the fakest energy you’ve ever seen. But he understands that, “I’ve got to bring the energy, I’ve got to bring the juice.’ Just a dude you appreciate.”
In the 2023 season opener at Western Kentucky, on a searing afternoon, Lofton played all 95 offensive snaps in the first substantial action at center of his college career. He remained a fixture for the ensuing 12 games, despite playing half the season with a bum shoulder.
“It got to a point where, during the season, you don’t really pay attention to the rep count,” said Lofton, the oldest of four children. “It’s just like, ‘Wow.’ Especially, Western Kentucky it was like, ‘Wow, I really just played (95) snaps?’ But as the season went on, it’s kind of like, you just focus on that opponent, and you’re going until the wheels can’t go anymore.”
Or until you lose the trust of your quarterback or coordinator. That never occurred with Lofton, who estimates he made only 10 faulty snaps to 3,000-yard passer Byrum Brown.
“Mike makes it easy. You trust the guys that you believe in their process,” Golesh said.
“You trust that he’s going to get you in the right thing. So, as a play-caller, you know when you maybe are just off a little bit, you feel like he’ll get you to the right spot. … The run call maybe isn’t perfect for what you’re getting; he’ll get you to the right deal. Same thing in the protection world.
“He’s so keyed into what’s going on, but that’s how he prepares. And obviously, physically, that’s how he prepares.”
The result is the rock of USF’s offense, indefatigable — and indispensable.
“He’s just a hard worker,” veteran defensive tackle Doug Blue-Eli said. “He sticks into his craft, too, tightens it up just like I do. So, just to go against a guy that’s ready to work, doesn’t back down from anything, that’s good, and that’s what gets us better.”
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