Credit: John Reed-Imagn Images
By Chris Marler
Death, taxes, and an Auburn head coaching search roughly three or four years after hiring a new guy on the Plains. Like the Olympics, a Kanye West meltdown, or a J-Lo engagement ending, you can almost set your watch to the Auburn LinkedIn account getting active every four years.
The firing of Hugh Freeze was long overdue. His record was abysmal, the offense was somehow even worse, and every time he was asked about either of those things he would find a not so creative or subtle way to blame his quarterback. I thought Freeze would work at Auburn, to be honest. The man was a self proclaimed quarterback whisperer and offensive guru, and unlike the guy before him, he was given every possible resource he could ever want.
Freeze fit into the culture at Auburn perfectly, I thought. An overly vocal Christian man with some loose morals and very public skeletons in his closet. He knew how to recruit, coach up inferior talented teams, and again – recruit.
Auburn lost seven games this season with six coming by one score or less. The largest margin of defeat was to No. 3 Georgia by ten points.
Last time Auburn hired a head coach, they were very clear about wanting someone with the traits and work ethic that were opposite than his predecessor. In that instance, it was a non-stop recruiter who will build this roster to be a top 15 talented unit in the country and not get in the boosters’ way of getting in the head coach’s way.
To an extent Auburn is once again in a similar situation. As different as Hugh Freeze was to Bryan Harsin, it’s safe to say bringing in a Russian born Ohio State alum that cusses and scores incessantly is just as stark a contrast.
In 1991, 7-year-old Alex Golesh watched tanks roll through Red Square.
His family escaped to America with $400.
Now Alex is the head football coach at USF, even though he never played college ball.
🧵THREAD pic.twitter.com/0FaBvAtWFj
— Thad Wells (@ThadWells) October 4, 2025
That’s about as big of a culture shock and clash as you can imagine in Auburn. And that’s good because it’s exactly what they need if they want to get this program back on the right track.
I was surprised when Auburn made the announcement they were hiring Golesh. His name hadn’t circulated very much during the carousel, and when it did it was usually just in relation to Arkansas. But make no mistake about it, Alex Golesh is a great hire.
Golesh showed up to the opening presser after being up for 48 hours straight while working out an agreement with Auburn and finishing up the regular season with South Florida. Golesh was fantastic in his first meeting with the media, and won over everyone after informing the room that unlike Freeze, he doesn’t play golf at all.
Alex Golesh to the team in the meeting:
“I don’t f*cking golf, I don’t f*cking fish, I don’t have hobbies, I coach ball.”😤
WMFE🦅
— Auburn Central (@AUBCentral) December 1, 2025
Breathe it in Auburn fans: that’s fresh air.
Golesh is everything that Hugh Freeze lied about being. The offensive guru that can turn things around quickly? That’s Golesh. In the three seasons prior to him arriving at South Florida, the Bulls went 4-29. Under Golesh they had three straight winning seasons and bowl appearances, and finished 2025 at 9-3. Remember, he’s still a very young head coach, but he’s very familiar with this league and with winning in it. Before going to USF, Golesh spent two seasons at Tennessee as their offensive coordinator.
The Vols finished No. 1 and No. 7 in those two years respectively. South Florida finished 2nd in FBS this season in scoring with 43 ppg. They were in the top 33 in the country all three years under Golesh. Meanwhile, Auburn never ranked above 71st in scoring during the Freeze era.
Golesh’s offenses have routinely averaged more than 35 ppg and 450 ypg at USF. The talent he will inherit at Auburn will possibly be even more than he had to work with at Tennessee in 2022.
Program Builder 📈 pic.twitter.com/J1aTWeUicR
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) November 30, 2025
That’s where the fun begins. Golesh walked into one of the top 15 most talented rosters in America. There are former blue chip recruits and elite playmakers everywhere, especially on offense. The moment Golesh took over this job, the biggest task he had in order to make his life easier and win immediately wasn’t centered around recruiting but rather retention.
There are a lot of names he will want to keep out of the portal and stay home at Auburn, but there were two that matter more than anyone else. Cam Coleman and DJ Durkin. One of those has already committed to staying at Auburn, as just last week DJ Durkin assumed the defensive coordinator position for a second consecutive coach. Then there’s Coleman, a former five star WR who ranked just barely behind phenom Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State. There are some that believe he could be offered upwards of $3 million if he were to enter his name in the portal.
I’m over Golesh but not necessarily over the entertainment his time at Auburn will provide me over the next few years 😉 https://t.co/P9iNnhghOX
— TallyBull (@TallyBull) December 9, 2025
Just like Lane Kiffin being able to retain Blake Baker, Golesh keeping Durkin is already arguably a bigger win than they had at any point during the season. And for an offensive guy like Golesh, having a veteran coach who was probably the second choice for the job you got only adds strength to your staff.
Auburn will enter Golesh’s first season coming off of five consecutive losing seasons and six straight losses in the Iron Bowl. The bar at the Barn is set lower than it’s ever been. Golesh doesn’t need to win the national title in year one or beat Bama to win over the fanbase. He needs to just not be anything like the last guy. That means no blaming players, no crying over close losses, and most importantly – no golf.
Final thoughts on the hire.
He will win IF…
He can retain a majority of the current roster and find a quarterback. Freeze failed for a lot of reasons that weren’t Jackson Arnold. But going 0-2 with portal QB signings certainly was at the core of the failure. There’s talent on the roster right now at QB. Freshman Deuce Knight has a very high ceiling. It will be interesting to see what the plan is for a new coach trying to keep him at Auburn, while also needing to build immediate depth and get “his guy” in the portal.
Alex Golesh says his intent “is NOT to blow the [quarterback] room up.” pic.twitter.com/LOM1cp9ltT
— The Barn (@TheBarn_Auburn) December 10, 2025
He will be fired IF…
Auburn isn’t bowl eligible by year two and in contention for nine wins by year three. Freeze’s leash was much longer than it should’ve been because of how angry everyone around the program was over the Bryan Harsin debacle. There’s a lot of disdain for Freeze’s time in Auburn as well, but I doubt Golesh will get the same leniency if he fails like Freeze did out of the gates. Losing six straight to Alabama and finishing with five straight losing seasons is unacceptable at Auburn. They will not spend a ton of time waiting on empty promises anymore.
Bold Prediction…
Golesh will beat Alabama or Georgia by year two. Statistically speaking both of those streaks have to end at some point. Golesh is a good coach, and his offense will give a lot of people fits. It gave Alabama fits for two years in a row. He also gave Nick Saban nightmares while he was the offensive coordinator at Tennessee scoring a combined 75 points in his two games against the Tide in 2021 and 2022. He did not do the same against Kirby Smart, but it will be interesting to see how he fares against Auburn’s biggest rivals in his first couple of seasons. The good news for Golesh is that he’s never had anywhere close to the resources and advantages he will get at Auburn, and one of those is playing home games at Jordan-Hare.
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