Welcome, Alex Golesh

After a gut-wrenching loss to Alabama in the Iron Bowl, the Auburn faithful braced for a disappointing Sunday with expectations that DJ Durkin would be named head coach. Instead, and almost unbelievably, John Cohen and Auburn came through with the hire of Alex Golesh as the 33rd head coach of the Auburn Tigers.

Golesh agreed to a six-year deal worth $7.4 million annually, including significant incentives tied to nine and twelve-win seasons.

Alex Golesh arrives at Auburn with one of the more unique paths in college football. A first-generation American, he was born in Moscow, moved to Brooklyn during the fall of the Soviet Union, and eventually fell in love with college football while playing high school ball in Dublin, Ohio.

After getting his start as a graduate assistant at Northern Illinois and Oklahoma State, Golesh spent more than a decade as a position coach with stops at Toledo, Illinois, and Iowa State, building a reputation for player development and tight end play. He served as the co-offensive coordinator and TE coach under Josh Heupel at UCF, and followed Heupel to Tennessee in 2021, taking over as offensive coordinator and primary play-caller.

Following Heupel

Under Golesh, Tennessee's offense transformed. He took the No. 108-ranked Vols offense to No. 7 in 2021 and No. 1 in 2022.

In 2020, Tennessee averaged just 21.5 points, 204 passing yards, 141 rushing yards, and 5.2 yards per play. When Heupel and Golesh arrived, the offense jumped dramatically: in 2021, the Vols averaged 39.3 points, 257 passing yards, 217 rushing yards, and 6.5 yards per play.

In 2022, the numbers skyrocketed. Golesh’s unit put up 46 points, 326 passing yards, and 200 rushing yards per game, earning him a finalist spot for the Broyles Award, which recognizes the nation’s top assistant coach.

Josh Heupel deserves credit as an offensive-minded coach, and it’s important to understand that Golesh didn’t put up these numbers by himself. However, Golesh was the primary play-caller, and Tennessee’s offense has taken a nosedive since his departure. In 2023, the Vols were reduced to 31.77 PPG and 448 total YPG, a drop of nearly two touchdowns and more than 75 yards per game. Tennessee has improved this year, but they still haven’t come close to the record-breaking success they had with Golesh.

Head Coach: University of South Florida

In the years before Golesh joined USF as head coach, the team was dreadful, going 1-8 in 2020, 2-10 in 2021, and 1-11 in 2022. Upon his arrival, he immediately turned the program around, producing back-to-back 7-6 seasons in 2023 and 2024, and finishing the 2025 season at 9-3, including upsets over ranked Florida and Boise State. By comparison, it has taken Auburn over four years, since wins over Ole Miss in October 2021 and Texas A&M in 2024, to notch just two victories against ranked opponents. Hugh Freeze finished his tenure 1-12 against ranked teams, and since December 2021, Auburn is 1-19 against ranked opponents.

Under Golesh, USF owned the No. 2-ranked offense in the nation, averaging 501.7 YPG, and ranked No. 4 in scoring with 43.0 PPG. Walk-on quarterback Byrum Brown became the 12th player in FBS history to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Brown still has one year of eligibility, and it remains unclear whether he will follow Golesh to Auburn.

Auburn will need the same revival Golesh delivered at USF. He reached bowl eligibility in all three seasons there, demonstrating the kind of culture overhaul necessary to turn around a struggling program. The Tigers are on the brink of a fifth consecutive losing season and clearly need that kind of reset.

Final Thoughts

Golesh is a program builder, not a self-titled "guru." He has no controversies on his record and didn’t need a PR team to ease tensions in order to take the job. He’s a player-driven, process-oriented coach, seemingly chiseled from the Auburn Creed, who has shown success at every level. Credit to John Cohen for not fumbling this opportunity as Ole Miss, Arkansas, Penn State, and others have.

In addition to a mountain of other things that need to happen, I’d like to put in a special request for Golesh. Auburn has been repeatedly gashed by tight ends this year, ever since Michael Trigg shredded the defense in the opener against Baylor. With Golesh’s track record in tight end development, my hope is that UGA can no longer gobble up every NFL-ready TE recruit and that Auburn finds another CJ Uzomah.