After just over two seasons, Auburn decided to pull the plug on the Hugh Freeze era on The Plains back in early November.
Freeze put together a 15-19 record leading the Tigers, who were never able to duplicate the success offensively that Freeze had become known for over a career that included previousy head coaching stops at Arkansas State, Ole Miss, and Liberty prior to taking over the Auburn program.
Per his contract, Auburn is on the hook to pay Freeze $15.8 million as part of his buyout, with no mitigation. Freeze inked a six-year $49 million deal to take over Auburn back in 2022 when he took over for Bryan Harsin.
On the final day of November, Auburn announced they had completed their search, and finalized a deal with Alex Golesh. Golesh had been a candidate at multiple other high profile openings, and had an offer to take over at Arkansas before deciding on the Auburn job hours after they had led the Bulls for a final time.
Golesh inked a six-year deal worth $7.4 million per season and the contract is heavy on incentives.
The former Tennessee offensive coordinator under Josh Heupel, Golesh quickly rebuilt the program at USF, taking them to back-to-back bowl games after a pair of 7-6 finishes his first two seasons before a breakout 9-3 campaign that saw them open the 2025 season with back-to-back ranked wins against Boise State and Florida to open the season.
On this Staff Tracker page, we will keep track of who Golesh is bringing to Auburn to fill out his staff.
ROLE
COACH
PREVIOUS STOP
TBAJoel GordonUSF OC
TBAKodi Burns
USF Co-OC / WRs
TBATyler HudanickUSF OL
ROLE
COACH
PREVIOUS STOP
TBADeMarcus Van DykeUSF CBs
Defensive AssistantBrad Wilson
USF Linebackers Assistant
ROLE
PERSON (PREVIOUS ROLE)
TBAAndrew Warsaw (USF Associate AD / Chief of Staff / NIL GM)TBAAlex Fagan (Director of Scouting)Head S&CGeorge Courides (USF head S&C)
HEAD COACH
HUGH FREEZEOFFENSIVE COORDINATOR / RUNNING BACKSDERRICK NIXDEFENSIVE COORDINATOR / LINEBACKERS DJ DURKINSPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATORCHAD LUNSFORDTIGHT ENDSBen AigamauaQUARTERBACKSKent AustinWIDE RECEIVERS Marcus DavisOFFENSIVE LINEJake ThorntonOUTSIDE LINEBACKERSRoc BellantoniDEFENSIVE LINEVontrell King-WilliamsCORNERSWesley McGriffSAFETIESTJ RushingHEAD S&CDom StudzinskiDirector of ScoutingTim BaggettAssistant director football technologyBen BarronDirector of HS relationsBrendt BedsoleAssociate AD / Chief of StaffMatt BevinsDirector of player developmentJorrell BostromS&C AssistantSam BrennerSTARS CoachBuddy BroskyRecruiting AssistantHaylee BrownDirector of football creative videoTyler Cole
Defensive analystJack CurtisOffensive Skill QCHeath DedeauxAssistant OLBsWayne DorseyFootball Technology assistantRyan FitzpatrickDirector of Football EquipmentTyler FondrenS&C AssistantMatt GebertPlayer Development GAGreer GilbraithDirector of football nutritionDanielle GillenDirector of football technologyMatt HardDirector of football recruiting and relationsMaurice HarrisS&C AssistantBJ HayesAssistant director of player developmentTerrance HeadAssistant OLDarren HillerS&C InternRuss HowardOffensive InternSean JacksonDefensive GAJake JiannoniSenior director of recruiting and developmentEthan JohnsonDefensive GALawrence JohnsonS&C AssistantCaleb JonesS&C AssistantDavasia JonesAssistant AD of Football CreativeAlex KellerAssistant DLBrett KulkaAssistant director of operationsTucker LaGroneAssistant director player personnel and scoutingGrant MillerAssociate AD / GMJohn MillerSpecial Team AnalystPaxton MontgomeryAssistant director of player personnelAaron PittardGM of Player PersonnelWill RedmondDirector of football videoWill ReidDefensive analystAntwaine RichardsonDirector of football operationsMikel RiggsLBs AnalystBraden SheldonDirector of player personnelRyan SmithAssistant RBsMichael SpurlockAssistant QBsJesse StoneOffensive line QCKam StuttsDirector of player engagementEvan TylerAssistant TEsLeander WallaceDirector of recruiting research and strategyKenyatta WatsonDirector of recruiting operations and football eventsBianca WebbOn-Campus recruiting coordinatorReilly Wooten
