Tom Herman's time in college football stretches a bit longer, and a bit more extensively, than that of South Florida coach Alex Golesh.
The two are not without their similarities.
Coincidentally, both coaches share time on staff at Ohio State -- though not overlapping and for different head coaches -- as well as growing up in Ohio despite Golesh being born in Moscow, Russia.
Their backgrounds are that of offensive coaches and coordinators.
So, there are layers to their simmering feud leading respective Group of Five programs inside the Sunshine State.
Their frosty postgame scene Friday night after Golesh's South Florida squad stampeded Herman's FAU team has circulated throughout the weekend.
Now Herman, a former OSU offensive coordinator with head coaching stints at Houston and the University of Texas prior to his FAU post, is offering his viewpoint on the postgame handshake-non-handshake following USF's 44-21 shellacking of Herman's Owls.
"I appreciate you giving me a brief opportunity to clarify; I've heard kind of the same, like I was mad about something or some two-point conversion," Herman said in his Monday press conference. "I was worried about the next offensive drive. I thought that was just the math of what their two-point chart said [for the Bulls to try a 2-point attempt up 44-21 in the game's late stages].
"So, they kicked our butts, especially in the second half -- like we did to them (in 2023).
"Like I have in all my years as a head coach, I jogged off or jogged to the middle of the field and actually got the words, 'Good game' out of my mouth and was about to compliment him, especially on the second half, and he slapped my hand down."
Herman didn't overtly question Golesh's upbringing with the postgame scene, but he emphasized he was not developed to ignore the customary gesture.
"And, the way I was raised, when you slap another man's hand down, you stick around and talk about it," he said. "And so I turned back to finish; I was confused. I wasn't mad at anything. And so I turned back and wanted to figure out what the confusion was about. He continued to walk away and, like I said, I've moved on. I appreciate you giving me an opportunity to clarify, but we'll meet again someday and we'll figure it out at that point."
Herman then was reminded that this didn't seem like an isolated event after last year's postgame scene, an exchange that unfolded after FAU throttled USF, 56-14.
"I know how I handle postgame handshakes, win lose or draw," Herman said, "and most coaches that I've been a part of or interacted with, that's how I'll continue to do it and not worry about how other people do it."
Golesh on Friday night said that his Bulls had returned to this game with a singular purpose -- and also issued a warning to FAU for the future.
"I said we were coming back to get it," Golesh explained after the win. "Last year at the end of the game, we got embarrassed at home.
"We came and got it. And, we'll continue to do so."