The Auburn Tigers reportedly hired Alex Golesh as their next head football coach on Sunday, and there are answers and questions in the immediate aftermath of the USF Bulls headman's seemingly imminent arrival in East Central Alabama. USF went 9-3 in 2025 but missed the American Conference Championship Game.
Auburn Undercover's Nathan King revealed that defensive coordinator/interim head coach DJ Durkin's status on Golesh's staff is unclear, writing that "There is not yet word on whether Golesh intends to keep DJ Durkin in place as Auburn's defensive coordinator." Clarity on that could come soon.
King also revealed that Golesh was not the team's primary target. Instead, it was Tulane Green Wave head football coach Jon Sumrall, who was reportedly hired to become the next head coach of the Florida Gators on Sunday, too.
"Auburn Undercover was told Golesh interviewed for the job early in the process. He was rumored to be accepting the vacant position at Arkansas, but after Tulane coach Jon Sumrall began to trend to Florida, Cohen returned to Golesh and offered him the job, sources told Auburn Undercover," King wrote.
Auburn has hope of retaining players with Alex Golesh
AL.com's Peter Rauterkus reported, with optimism, that the Tigers' offense could rebound quickly under Golesh -- and that the program could retain some of the receiving talent that never got off the ground much with Jackson Arnold as QB1 most of the season.
"With some of the wide receivers Auburn already has on the roster combined with the offensive players Golesh could potentially bring from USF, it may not take long for him to turn the offense around at Auburn," Rauterkus wrote.
"With that costing Auburn in many games over the past three seasons, a spark on offense could be the one thing missing for the Tigers to be contenders, especially if the defense can continue its success under Golesh’s watch."
Reservations about a too-good-to-be-true Group of 5 coaching stud coming to Auburn and dominating must permanently permeate on the Plains.
But this, on paper, is a fantastic hire by John Cohen if it's completed, and a pleasant surprise for a fanbase that was expecting a Durkin promotion.