Auburn hires South Florida's Golesh as new coach

Auburn hired South Florida's Alex Golesh as its next head football coach, the school announced Sunday.

Golesh agreed to a six-year deal with the Tigers, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel. The 41-year-old coach went 23-15 over three seasons at South Florida and just led the Bulls to a 9-3 record -- their best season since 2017.

"Auburn football is one of the proudest, most tradition-rich programs in all of college football and my family and I could not be more excited to join the Auburn family," Golesh said in a statement. "This will be a player-driven program, and no one will outwork our staff. Auburn has won, can win and will win championships. Let's get to work."

Golesh takes over an Auburn program that has endured five consecutive losing seasons under former coaches Hugh Freeze and Bryan Harsin. Freeze was fired on Nov. 2 after a 4-5 start and went 15-19 over two-plus seasons. Defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin led the Tigers (5-7, 1-7 SEC) on an interim basis for their final three games.

"[Golesh] has produced wins and record-setting results throughout his entire career," Auburn athletic director John Cohen said in a statement. "... Alex is known nationally for his player development prowess, ability to shape creative and explosive offenses, and his relentless approach to building winning programs. I was also struck by his coaching experience on both sides of the ball. In our conversations, he showed the determination and edge that this program demands of its head coach."

Golesh will bring an exciting offense to The Plains and produced the No. 2 total offense (501.7 yards per game) and No. 4 scoring offense (43 points per game) in FBS this season. The Bulls opened their season with wins over Boise State and Florida and rose to No. 18 in the AP Top 25 during a 6-1 start before losses to Memphis and Navy knocked them out of the College Football Playoff hunt.

He inherited a USF program that slumped to 1-11 with a winless run through American Conference play in 2022 and had won just four games over three seasons under former coach Jeff Scott. Golesh pulled off a quick turnaround, becoming the first Bulls coach to lead the program to bowl eligibility in each of his first three seasons.

South Florida CEO of athletics Rob Higgins posted to X on Sunday that the Bulls' search for a new coach is "already underway" and that "we have always stayed ready for every scenario, including this one."

Defensive line coach Kevin Patrick, on his third stint as a South Florida assistant, will lead the Bulls in their upcoming bowl game as interim coach, Higgins said.

"We love Coach Golesh and are beyond grateful for what he has done for our program," Higgins said. "Rest assured, we did everything within reason over the last few months to try and keep them here. We will be cheering them on always!

"... Bulls Nation, our next head coach will build upon what Coach Golesh and his staff have helped start. We will all help take our USF Football program to championship heights as quickly as possible together! ... This new chapter will be our best chapter. All Gas. No Brakes!!!!"

For Golesh, the move to Auburn is a return to coaching in the SEC after previously serving as Tennessee's offensive coordinator and tight ends coach under Josh Heupel in 2021 and 2022.

Golesh was also a serious candidate for the Arkansas head coaching vacancy before choosing to take over Auburn. The Razorbacks hired Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield on Sunday.

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg contributed to this report.