Alex Golesh downplays idea that staff familiarity with Tennessee will give Auburn an advantage in Week 5
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Alex Golesh was Josh Heupel‘s offensive coordinator during his first 2 seasons at Tennessee in 2021 and 2022, before he took the head coaching job at South Florida.
After 3 seasons in Tampa, Golesh came back to the SEC, this time as a head coach at Auburn, and take a guess where the Tigers will be playing in Week 5 of Golesh’s first season on the Plains?
You got it — Tennessee. It’ll be a homecoming of sorts for Golesh on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) when Auburn and Tennessee hook up at Neyland Stadium, and it’ll also be a chance for Golesh to build on last week’s victory over Vanderbilt.
That was Golesh’s first SEC win at Auburn, and now he’ll try to lead the unranked Tigers (3-1, 1-1 SEC) to an upset of Heupel’s 17th-ranked Volunteers (3-1, 0-1). Not only do the 2 coaches have history, but there’s some other coaches on Auburn’s current staff who used to coach under Heupel, like Kodi Burns, Tim Banks and Parker Ball.
So, it’ll be a reunion for more than just Heupel and Golesh, and there were some questions from reporters at the start of the leadup to the Week 5 game about if that familiarity with Heupel’s system could help Auburn this Saturday in Knoxville.
“I think it would give you an advantage if they didn’t also have so much familiarity with your staff,” Alex Golesh told reporters on Monday. “I think the longer you do this, the more you end up with crossover like that, where there’s several guys in this league that started together, and then kind of spread out. I think, to me, it’s more fascinating to see how we all evolve, whether it’s offensively, defensively, but how you kind of go make it your own. I think really good football coaches are able to adjust to their personnel every year, are able to continue to grow. They certainly have. We certainly have.”
What does Heupel think, now on the other sideline from Golesh and those Auburn assistants? Is there an advantage in facing a coach who he’s so familiar with?
“It works both (ways). It balances out,” Heupel told reporters on Monday.
Golesh’s history aside, Saturday’s game will be won on the field, like every game, as the Tigers try to shock the Vols in Knoxville. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about Auburn’s chances to pull the road upset in Week 5:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
