As Alex Golesh leaves USF for Auburn, here's what Tigers fans should expect

To our Auburn friends.

Congratulations on landing Alex Golesh as your team's head football coach. As those of us who watched him for three years at South Florida can attest, you got a good one. He's got swagger, guts, and a plan that was working very well at USF.

He'll bust his tail on recruiting, and you'll love his go-go offense -- once your team gets the hang of it. That could take a little while, but USF figured it out and your guys will too.

Having said all that, let me offer a cautionary tale or two.

He will not turn your 5-7 team into SEC champions overnight, so that will require something that sometimes eludes you -- patience. You need to be realistic for at least a year or two. Auburn hasn't won more than six games in a season for the last six years.

Since 2021 your Tigers are 11-29 in conference play, including 1-7 this year. Golesh will be your fourth head coach since 2020, and that's not counting the three interim coaches you team employed during that time.

I mean, seriously, you lost to Kentucky this year. And when in heaven's name did Missouri become a better SEC team than your storied program? No wonder you wanted Alex Golesh.

You think you guys have had it rough the last few years? You should have seen the dumpster fire Golesh inherited at USF. The Bulls were 4-29 in the three seasons before he arrived in Tampa, and three of those wins were over FCS teams. When he arrived on campus to meet his new team, USF had six -- SIX -- offensive linemen on the roster.

Out of that scrap heap he and his staff put together a pair of 7-6 seasons to start before going 9-3 this year. But that brings me to another point.

He is a fearless play-caller even when -- how should I put this -- a little less bravado would be in order. Against Memphis this season, in a game that could have catapaulted USF into the driver's seat for a berth in the American Conference championship game, he got in his own way.

The Bulls led by 14 points entering the fourth quarter on the road. But rather than realizing the clock was his friend, Golesh kept his foot on the gas and it backfired. The defense wore down and Memphis rallied for a 34-31 win.

Against Navy, after the Bulls had clawed back into first place in the Group of Five playoff standings, he outcoached himself again. On 4th-and-1 at the Navy 31 yard line late in the second quarter, he eschewed the field goal attempt from Nico Gramatica -- you may have heard of that family -- and went for the first down.

Well, OK. You know he's going to give the ball to his best player, right? Well, this is Alex Golesh, and he will take any risk.

He got cute and inserted offensive lineman Cole Skinner into the backfield to carry the ball instead of his 6-foot-2, 235-pound, fringe Heisman quarterback Byrum Brown. All they needed was a foot, but Navy sniffed out the ruse and smothered Skinner short of the first down.

USF lost by three points, and that's why you have him now. Had the Bulls won, they would be in the American title game and possibly headed to the playoffs. He would not have pulled a Lane Kiffin and abandoned his team at that moment -- at least I don't think so.

So, Auburn, be prepared for a wild ride. This cat will do anything, like the time in USF's opening game against Boise State. Preparing to punt near midfield in the third quarter, he inserted true freshman quarterback Locklan Hewlett in to kick -- hoping the Broncos wouldn't notice since it was the first game of the year and the Bulls hadn't punted.

They didn't. Hewlett, off the fake punt, threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to power USF's upset win.

He doesn't play cautious or scared. And for what it's worth, his outmanned Bulls battled Alabama close on two occasions. In 2024 at Bryant-Denny Stadium, USF trailed by only five points with less than six minutes to play before the Bulls gave out.

Just know what you're in for. Be prepared for anything, and that way you'll never be surprised.