Auburn hires new head coach Alex Golesh, former USF coach and SEC assistant
By David Wasson
Published:
The 2025 college football coaching carousel dominoes kept falling at a brisk pace Sunday morning, as Auburn hired current USF coach Alex Golesh as the new leader on the Plains.
Golesh was tapped to replace Hugh Freeze at Auburn, hours after the Tigers finished the regular season with a 5-7 record and a 27-20 Iron Bowl loss to arch-rival Alabama.
Golesh had reportedly been close to choosing Arkansas as his destination over the weekend but instead chose Auburn as his first SEC coaching stop. The 41-year-old, who was born in Moscow, Russia, previously served in the conference as an offensive coordinator at Tennessee from 2021-22.
Golesh moved from Knoxville to resurrect a moribund USF program in 2023, winning 23 of 38 games there in 3 seasons. The Bulls went 7-6 in 2023 and 2024 and recently completed a 9-3 campaign in 2025 that saw them ranked inside the Top 25 several times.
Golesh replaces Hugh Freeze, who was fired by Auburn on Nov. 2, a day after the Tigers lost at home to Kentucky. Freeze went 15-19 in his 3 seasons on the Plains with a 6-16 SEC mark. Auburn is now on its 4th coach in 5 seasons.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
