It seems you're both falling victim to the light switch over-simplification.
Coach speak in the off-season is not limited to "on" or "off." "We suck" or "happy talk." You can hear, and we have heard, coaches give nuanced and balanced assessments.
Golesh, in specific, tends to provide details. He gets specific. For instance, in this interview, he said:
- The progress is more directed than a year ago
- Last year was about teaching and learning; this year is more about perfecting
- Hendon's leadership this off-season is proving valuable, helping greatly with the whole team
- Mixon is first guy to correct Hendon's errors and is first guy to laud when he does something great; we have great chemistry in the QB room; Mixon to his credit has not accepted the backup role, he still strives to make himself the best QB he can be
- Lot of public pressure on Tillman this year, like never before, as a result of his breakout season last fall. We're coaching him through it. He seems to thrive on it.
- The receiver room in general is guys who are hugely different from each other. Together, they're awesome. Webb, Nimrod, Squirrel, maybe the three hardest-working guys on our offense. Watching them grow has been awesome. The first thing we'll look for is have them see success, so there's not a confidence issue going forward.
...and so on through the rest of the interview.
So give Golesh credit. He's providing the details and not just waving his hand with some "happy talk" pablum.