Auburn coach Alex Golesh has been constructing his staff on the Plains at a fast and furious pace since he was appointed as the Tigers’ new coach two weeks ago. After finishing the regular season with a 9-3 record as the head coach of the USF Bulls, Golesh succeeded Hugh Freeze as coach of the Tigers.
Golesh was linked to several vacant jobs in college football, including the Florida Gators and the Arkansas Razorbacks, before he opted to take the Tigers’ job.
Alex Golesh Details Why He Chose Auburn Over Other SEC Jobs
During Friday’s segment of “The Next Round” show, Golesh detailed why he turned down the Florida Gators and the Arkansas Razorbacks jobs before ultimately taking the Auburn job.
“For us, it was gonna take a unique opportunity that is aligned from the top to the bottom,” Golesh said. “An opportunity where you have a legitimate chance to win at the highest level. This was the one place that I felt was aligned, there were real resources to be able to hire a staff, recruit the way you gotta recruit, and retain the way you gotta retain.
“Beyond anything else, you have an opportunity to go and win a national title. Legitimately, a place where one, it’s been done at and two, everybody is aligned and going in the same direction, where you can actually go and win a national championship.”
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After Golesh passed on the two SEC jobs, the Gators hired Jon Sumrall from the Tulane Green Wave, while the Razorbacks hired Ryan Silverfield from the Memphis Tigers.
Golesh Explains Declining Auburn’s Bowl Invite
During a news conference on Monday, Golesh explained why, despite the Tigers finishing with a 5-7 record, they declined a bowl invitation after several six-win teams withdrew.
“To be able to get everybody back together and figure out who the heck is going to coach them and how you actually would do that, the timing of it all was just not practical,” Golesh said. “It just wasn’t realistic. Would you love to go play a game? Absolutely. Would you love to go compete and win a game? Absolutely. But the timing of it all was just not realistic.”
The SEC released its 2026 schedule, and Golesh will have one of the toughest slates in the conference, with road games against the Tennessee Volunteers, Georgia Bulldogs, Ole Miss Rebels, Mississippi State Bulldogs, and Alabama Crimson Tide, including the Iron Bowl.
