Former Tennessee coach Alex Golesh to square off with Josh Heupel and the Vols in Neyland Stadium in 2026
The former UT offensive coordinator is coming back to face his old team.
Former Tennessee offensive coordinator Alex Golesh was always going to end up at a notable program after he left Knoxville. That became clear with how he morphed USF from a doormat to a contender in the American in short order.
And now, his ultimate destination has become clear, and it’s someone on the Vols’ 2026 schedule – the Auburn Tigers.
According to Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports, Golesh has accepted the head coaching position at Auburn.
Alex Golesh and the Auburn Tigers are set to come to Neyland Stadium in 2026
Tennessee is set to face Auburn as part of the new SEC nine-game schedule in 2026 and beyond. The Vols will host Auburn, LSU, Kentucky, Alabama, and Texas while traveling to Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt.
With Golesh making his return to Knoxville, the storyline here doesn’t need much explanation, does it?
Golesh joined Josh Heupel’s staff in 2020 with UCF as their tight ends coach and c0-offensive coordinator. He came to Knoxville in 2021 when Heupel was hired by Tennessee, where he served as offensive coordinator for the 2021-22 seasons. He helped the Vols’ offense reach its peak in 2022, as Hendon Hooker morphed into a Heisman contender (and likely finalist had he not suffered an ACL tear against South Carolina late in the season) and Jalin Hyatt won the Biletnikoff Award.
Golesh left for USF following the 2022 season and turned what was a one-win USF team in 2022 into program win a winning record over each of the last three years. He finished with a 9-3 record this season in Tampa that included a win over Florida in the Swamp.
If anyone knows Heupel and his tendencies well, it’s Golesh, and that will make the matchup an especially tricky one when the Tigers come to Knoxville next year. And while many Tennessee fans have been rooting for Golesh’s success in Tampa, that will now surely come to a quick end when they’re watching him pace the opposite sideline next fall.
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