There was a strong push down on the Plains for interim head coach DJ Durkin to become the full-time head coach, but once Lane Kiffin went to LSU and Jon Sumrall chose Florida, the program was quick to land USF head coach Alex Golesh.
Golesh wasn’t able to lead the Bulls to the American title and the College Football Playoff this season, but the former Tennessee offensive coordinator has SEC experience and a high-powered offense that could get the Tigers back to contention, and quickly.
Golesh’s offense will translate immediately, but how quickly Auburn starts to improve will be determined by the roster, not just who Golesh brings with him from USF or through the transfer portal, but who he keeps in the Plains.
The top priority for Golesh the moment he arrives at Auburn is to keep Cam Coleman on the roster. The former five-star wide receiver hasn’t been prolific in his two seasons of college, but that is a product of subpar quarterback play. Coleman is oozing with talent and is a surefire first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Golesh had multiple talented receivers at USF who could follow him to Auburn, and the veer-and-shoot offense that he ran with Josh Heupel in Knoxville, then branched off to USF, doesn’t necessarily require elite route-runners. Still, dynamic wide receivers help to elevate the offense, and there aren’t many receivers in the country as dynamic as the 6-foot-3 Coleman.
It won’t be easy to hold onto Coleman, but Golesh has to do everything he can to keep him on the roster for 2026, especially if quarterback Bryrum Brown is following him from Tampa.
Auburn won five games this season and only one in the SEC. Yet, the Tigers had one of the most fearsome defenses in the conference. That’s a big reason that Durkin nearly got the job full-time.
While that defense starts with Keldric Faulk, who is undoubtedly leaving to become a first-round pick, sophomore linebacker Xavier Atkins is a superstar in the second level. The LSU transfer is undersized at 6-foot, 210 pounds, but he’s a tackling machine, leading the defense with 84, and adding nine sacks for good measure. Atkins can be a foundational piece at the heart of a defense, and Auburn will need to keep him in place throughout this transition.
The 2025 Auburn recruiting class was loaded, and five-star defensive lineman Jared Smith and Malik Autry were the headliners. However, four-star safety Eric Winters has emerged as a key contributor in his freshman season, playing 258 snaps across all 12 games.
While he needs to continue to improve in coverage, Winters is a stout run defender and strong tackle from his safety spot. Autry and Smith still have game-breaking upside, but Winters is the most proven contributor from the freshman class.
With Faulk heading to the NFL, Golesh should fight to keep his counterpart in place. Crawford has benefited greatly from the attention that Faulk draws, but he’s a force off the edge in his own right, leveraging his 6-foot-4, 245-pound frame to rack up a team-high 43 quarterback pressures with a 15.5 percent pass-rush win rate.
Crawford could also leave for the NFL or the transfer portal and be a highly sought-after player either way. He’ll need to prove he can still be effective as the No. 1 on a defensive line, drawing the double teams and extra attention, but it’s clear he can dominate one-on-one matchups and wreak havoc in the backfield.