After the Iron Bowl ended on Saturday Night, all focus for the Auburn Tigers turned to hiring their next head coach. Many thought that DJ Durkin could be the instant solution for the Tigers as he did an impressive job after Hugh Freeze was fired, and could keep a ton of the talented pieces in place. The Auburn Tigers instead went out and landed one of the top candidates in the cycle hiring USF head coach Alex Golesh.
"We are thrilled to announce @CoachGolesh as the 33rd head coach of Auburn Football."@JohnCohenAD pic.twitter.com/Jq1bRNqbVx
— Auburn Tigers (@AuburnTigers) November 30, 2025
Alex Golesh scared the daylights out of Alabama making him a great hire
When you take the Auburn job, aside from winning games and competing for the SEC Championship and the College Football Playoff, nothing is more important than beating Alabama. If the goal is to finally close the gap on the Crimson Tide than the decision to hire Alex Golesh makes perfect sense.
During his time at USF, Alex Golesh faced the Crimson Tide twice with a far less talented team, yet he gave the Crimson Tide everything they could handle. Golesh's first matchup was in Tampa against Nick Saban, and he gave the Crimson Tide such problems that they benched Tyler Buchner for Ty Simpson, attempting anything to survive what would've been a stunning upset.
In 2024, Alex Golesh took his team into Tuscaloosa and had Alabama on the ropes for 3 quarters before Alabama's talent took over and won the game.
At USF, Alex Golesh has built some outstanding offenses, and after watching the likes of Payton Thorne, Jackson Arnold, and Ashton Daniels hold back a ton of talent, Golesh will be welcomed at Auburn. The first task for Golesh is now retaining some of the Tigers' best players, but if he can return this core group while landing a solid quarterback, this team could compete for the SEC as soon as next season.