Former Tennessee Vols offensive coordinator Alex Golesh will return to Knoxville this fall when the Auburn Tigers visit Neyland Stadium on October 3.

Golesh, who served as the Vols’ offensive coordinator from 2021 to 2022, was hired as Auburn’s head coach this offseason after spending the last three seasons as the head coach at USF.

Some former SEC players are trying to frame Alex Golesh’s return to Tennessee as a “revenge game”

Golesh departed Tennessee at the end of the 2022 season on great terms with Vols head coach Josh Heupel.

It wasn’t a “bad blood” situation — not even close. Golesh had aspirations of being a head coach and he received a great opportunity at USF. It’s not like Golesh was looking for a way out of Knoxville. He wasn’t jumping at just any opportunity.

But despite those facts, former Auburn offensive lineman turned college football analyst Cole Cubelic and former Alabama quarterback turned college football analyst Greg McElroy are trying to sell Golesh’s return to Knoxville as a “revenge game”.

“It’s a revenge game for Golesh… there’s no doubt,” said McElroy this week on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.

“There’s going to be meaning with that game,” chimed in Cubelic. “There’s no doubt… One side can outthink the other easily. Josh or Alex could outthink themselves in that game without even knowing they’re doing it to themselves. There will be a little extra to that one, there’s no doubt.”

Cubelic didn’t lean into the revenge game narrative quite like McElroy, but I still think the takes are misguided. And look, I think McElroy and Cubelic are great college football analysts. I feel like I learn something insightful about the X’s and O’s of the game every time I listen to those guys. But no one nails every take (I’m preaching to the choir), and I think they’re missing the mark here.

What would Golesh be getting revenge for? He’s done nothing but praise Heupel since leaving Tennessee.

“Our relationship (Heupel and Golesh) was really good because there was no ego,” said Golesh when he was hired at USF in 2022. “There was a complete trust in each other. And when he turned over the play-calling to me, I think for him it was a level of trust that he showed in me. I think I earned that trust.”

Golesh also praised Heupel in 2024 for the way the Tennessee coach handled the early days of NIL.

“I saw how a collective got established (at Tennessee),” said Golesh. “I saw how Josh handled the team and the NIL part of it. As you saw teams crumble all around us, I thought he (Heupel) did an elite job of managing what was going on. And so for me, I felt like, alright, I’ve got a really good idea of how I would manage it (NIL).”

There’s a lot of respect between Golesh and Heupel. Sure, both coaches will badly want to win that game, but it’s going to be more about what it means for each team’s season, not because of some bogus “revenge” factor.