This is an opinion column.
Well done, John Cohen.
The Auburn athletics director threw all the pressure on his shoulders to make a critical football coaching hire.
And, by all indications, he’s delivered.
Alex Golesh is the man tapped to revive an Auburn football program lost in Siberia — fitting since the coaching up-and-comer was born in Moscow.
That Moscow.
But now he’s the right guy to fix the mess made by the last two mistakes that led Auburn to the pine barrens of the SEC.
The South Florida coach has all the right boxes for an Auburn AD who weathered a historic coaching change blizzard with impressive skill. If his friend and rival Greg Byrne is known as “The Ninja” for his quiet hiring moves, Cohen’s just joined the dojo.
While everyone was distracted by Lane Kiffin’s nonsense in Oxford, Cohen made his hire without much fanfare. Tulane’s Jon Sumrall was the leading name for most of this month-long search, so the news Saturday of his impending hire at Florida likely created some angst in Auburn.
A sloppy, sixth-straight Iron Bowl loss ended any hope for interim coach DJ Durkin. Those awake at 12:35 a.m. Sunday morning likely saw a post from AuburnOn3 reporting that a team meeting was called for 10 a.m. to introduce the new coach.
But who?
The name didn’t drop until 9:55 a.m.
Touchdown, Cohen.
This is not just about the process that clearly broke fewer eggs than Auburn’s coach-less SEC counterparts.
Golesh is legit and ready for the jump to the big leagues.
He also brings a crucial resumé line that will play well with anyone skeptical of this Tampa import.
Golesh put Alabama in a blender a few times with two different programs.
Remember that emotional 2022 Tennessee slaying of the Crimson Tide? Golesh was the offensive coordinator and playcaller for the Vols when they slapped 567 yards on Alabama in a 52-49 win.
South Florida, a once-promising program floating somewhere in the Gulf, hired him a few months later. His predecessor, Jeff Scott, went 4-29 in the previous three seasons. The Bulls were the punchline of the FBS.
Golesh was the only one laughing after three seasons. He went 7-6 in each of the first two years before leading USF to a 9-3 season this year, which included wins over Boise State and at Florida.
He also gave Alabama hell, twice.
That rain-soaked, 17-3 game in Tampa from 2023 was a Golesh game. There wasn’t much offense, but the game was tied 3-3 at halftime as Alabama went more than 40 football minutes without a touchdown. A year later, USF trailed just 14-13 five minutes into the fourth quarter before Alabama pulled away.
Mighty Alabama was sick of little old South Florida, and Golesh had a lot to do with that.
That’s one check mark on his list that Sumrall lacked. Lane Kiffin, too.
Another one goes to his mentality.
Cohen spoke a lot about finding a coach with “an edge” and nobody will deny Golesh brings that. Just see the postgame “handshake” after USF beat Florida Atlantic last season.
That’s edgy.
Golesh, as the kids say, has that dog in him. He didn’t like the way FAU coach Tom Herman and his team ran up the score on the Bulls a year earlier, so Golesh wasn’t going to hug it out after exacting revenge with a 44-21 response.
He’s also not a has-been who peaked a decade ago.
Even better? I can’t find a single picture of Golesh on a golf course. He’s not registered on the USGA’s handicap database, AL.com can confirm.
Auburn hired a football coach this time.
They did it quietly.
And they found someone young enough to understand the sport’s shifting landscape but accomplished enough to be worthy of the job.
Hand up, I was critical of Cohen for the way he launched this search on Nov. 4.
But he nailed this hire when it mattered most and in a messy marketplace that’s quickly turned into a circus.
Well done, John Cohen.
