Alex Golesh Is betting on familiar USF faces at Auburn and It could be risky

It was expected that Alex Golesh would raid USF through the Transfer Portal when he went to Auburn. The high school recruits he convinced to become Bulls were fair game too.

Six now-former Bulls have committed to join Golesh at Auburn and no one will be surprised if Byrum Brown and Keshaun Singleton join the party. Class of 2026 prep recruits TE DJ Broughton, OL Mykall Lundy-Foster, and quarterback Rhys Brush flipped their USF commitments to the Plains.

Safety Fred Gaskin also has scheduled a visit to Auburn. On3.com predicts receiver Chas Nimrod, who has entered the portal, will wind up in Tiger stripes.

Is it wrong? No. All is fair in love and the portal.

But is smart for Golesh to bring in so many Bulls? That's the bigger question.

Golesh did a good job at USF but -- how can we put this politely --the players he is bringing to Auburn were all key pieces of a team that couldn't win the American Conference. They couldn't beat Memphis or Navy with a potential College Football Playoff berth on the line.

How are they going to do week in and out against the SEC, arguably the best overall conference in the land? After all, USF was blown out at Miami last season whenb the Bulls tried to punch above their weight. The talent gap was noticeable.

SEC rosters are filled with 5-star and 4-star talents. Golesh built his USF rosters with 3-star guys, and while those ratings are not always accurate, they are generally a good barometer.

Golesh got the Auburn job because previous coach Hugh Freeze was unable to correct a downward spiral that has now reached five consecutive losing seasons. After sizing Golesh up, it has been reported that at least 30 Tigers have entered the portal -- including mainstays like receiver Cam Coleman and quarterback Deuce Knight.

The locals aren't pleased.

To be fair, Golesh had to out-recruit some power conference teams to get many of his players to USF. Neptune had 24 offers coming out of high school, including Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. Echols was a 4-star recruit with offers from Alabama, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and many others.

Nimrod played 23 games at Tennessee before transferring to USF

And yes, Golesh was the offensive coordinator at Tennessee. He understands the SEC and what he's getting into. The 2026 schedule includes this murder's row: Vanderbilt, at Tennessee, at Georgia, LSU, and Ole Miss.

Then there's that game at the end of the schedule: at Alabama. You may have heard that Auburn fans REALLY want to win that game. So do Alabama fans. Losing that game has bad implications.

It would be childish for Bulls fans to root for Golesh to fail. But if he does, Auburn fans will go over all those USF imports with a magnifying glass, coupled with all the defections from Auburn when Golesh arrived.

Then they'll remember he couldn't beat Memphis or Navy when it counted.

That's when the pitchforks and flaming torches would come out -- figuratively, of course.

Maybe.