USF football player goes from former walk-on to record holder

TAMPA, Fla. - Sean Atkins has heard it all before.

"I'm not big enough, not fast enough and stuff like that," explains the USF junior wide receiver.

 Atkins' head coach at USF, Alex Golesh, has a very different way of describing him. 

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"He's tough, he's smart, he's gritty, he's a great teammate and he's competitive," said Golesh. "He is everything that you could ever ask for in a teammate."

It's that kind of belief in Atkins that first made Golesh recognize the 5'10'' receiver when he took the job last year. 

"When I got here, I saw a guy that had confidence, but no one had ever validated to it," said Golesh. 

And Golesh wasn't far off. 

Coming out of Viera (Fla) High School, Atkins was not heavily recruited by college football teams. 

In fact, he began to give up on his football dream while applying to other schools around the state. That is, however, until USF offered Atkins a preferred walk-on spot on the team. 

"I kind of bet on myself because I always wanted to play Division I football," said Atkins. "Even if I don't go and play, I want to try."

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That bet on himself, meanwhile, is now turning into something out of a Hollywood script. 

"I love young guys that have, one, overcome something and, two, that have a story to tell and play that way," said Golesh. 

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Sean's story goes like this. 

As a walk-on without a scholarship, Atkins was working 40 hours a week as a food runner at a local restaurant to help pay for school and make ends meet. 

In 2021, however, Sean's hard work would pay off when he was put on scholarship. Still, the wide receiver continued to put in work at the restaurant until Alex Golesh came to town and recognized Atkins' potential. 

"He was like 'We need you to stop working. We need you to focus on your body and get your process right.' So, that's what I did," Atkins recalls. 

Now, four years after walking on to the USF football team, Sean Atkins' process is performing better than ever. 

This season, the junior receiver has 69 receptions, and counting, which is good enough for most all-time in program history over a single season. 

"That's just something that you can always look at and tell your kids about," said Atkins. "That's something that meant a lot to me as a testament to my hard work."

What started as a bet on himself, is now paying off for Sean Atkins. 

"It's just about trusting in your path and not really focusing on anyone else's path and just continuing to go in, day in and day out, and prove to yourself that you can accomplish anything you want to," said Atkins. 

As a semifinalist for the Burlsworth Award, given to the country's top walk-on player, Atkins' story is one that may still go down in history. 

"How hard you work is just something that carries with you for the rest of your life," said Sean. 

Of course, at USF, Sean's story already has and will continue to do so.