AuburnUndercover spoke with the top high school coaches in the always loaded Tampa/Orlando in person.
They raved about Alex Golesh and his Auburn staff. The Tigers are about to make some hay in that region in the years to come.
SEFFNER (Fla.) ARMWOOD
Coach Evan Davis
“I’m super excited. Coach Golesh was phenomenal (when he was at USF). I think it was brilliant to keep (coach DJ) Durkin and the defensive staff there. They’ve gelled amazingly. Me and my family actually went to visit for a spring practice. Our quarterback (Rhys Brush) is an early enrollee up there. He was committed to USF and then went up to Auburn with them. I think the sky is the limit up there. It’s kind of scary of what he can perform there. I think the roster was a lot better than what people might have thought. And now in this day and age, with the transfer portal, they brought the whole offensive staff and the QB (Byrum Brown) that’s been in the system. And that defense was pretty dang good for Auburn last year already. And coach Golesh always has a vision. He’s one of the best I’ve ever been around.”
TAMPA (Fla.) CARROLLWOOD DAY
Coach Marshall McDuffie
“Obviously coach Golesh I know him really well. His kids actually attended Carrollwood. Phenomenal dude. He did an amazing job at South Florida. He knows ball. Great, high level recruiter. He’s relatable to kids. Obviously he has coaches on his staff that have ties down South. I think they are still going to do a good job of getting the best kids from Florida.”
TAMPA (Fla.) PLANT
Coach Hank Brown
“I didn’t have the opportunity to know Alex (Golesh) when he wasn’t not at USF. When he got to USF he made all the stops and he spent over an hour with me. Sat on the couch here (in my office) and we just chopped up ball, chopped up life. His goals, his dreams at USF. He’s very engaging. Exciting guy. It felt we were friends for 30 years. He’s a good dude. And continues to build great relationships. To continue to have that open rapport as a head coach. Some of the guys I deal with on a daily basis don’t have the time to talk in that nature. He literally always stays in engaged in conversations with me. That’s stayed at Auburn. He’s had full conversations with me. Just talking about kids, players, family. His ability to connect is going to help build his brand. War Eagles and all that stuff. (Auburn Director of High School Relations Jeris McIntyre) is a Plant guy. Very successful head coach at Tampa/Catholic. Great dude. But what is he? He’s an Auburn Tiger. They are going to fight and do everything they can. He knows the standard that they want and that’s the standard of their play. It’s going to be interesting to see all of that continue to grow. In this day and age of college football recruiting you got to be an evaluator, but you got to be able to build relationships. And got to be able to build them and sustain them. For so many people it’s the nature of the business. They do it and move on. Kind of what have you done for me lately? And I get it, it’s like what have you done for me lately. It’s a business. I think for the guys to sustain and grow and continue to get talent, especially out of the state of Florida, which is like Texas and Georgia, those relationships got to be consistent. They got to be appreciated. For those guys that coach Golesh put on his staff, in particular (McIntyre), you can come recruit Hillsborough County, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami is it’s own world, but (McIntyre) has done that. He obviously did it at a high level at UCF. Now taking it back to his school for him.”
TAMPA BAY (Fla.) TECH
Coach Jayson Roberts
“Getting coach Golesh and his staff up at Auburn is going to be really, really beneficial for Auburn (to recruit Florida) just because of the relationships established in Florida, especially in the Tampa Bay area when they were at USF. At first, people were a little bit apprehensive about how went about recruiting Tampa. Because everybody wanted him to come in and just throw out a million offers. And offer the whole city. I thought it was really smart how he really targeted the kids that he felt were going to be kids that were going to come in and be impactful rather than just throwing out a bunch of offers and saying we have a bunch of Tampa kids. They got the right Tampa kids. I think with that approach now going to Auburn when they come back and recruit the area it’s a proven commodity. It’s a proven formula for what they’ve found success with (at USF). Hey, we are coming here to recruit your kids because we think they can be impactful. Without just throwing an offer out there just to appease social media or just to make the head coach to stay in his good graces. It’s just we really believe in the kid and his skill set. I think it’s going to be wonderful for Auburn and what his staff is going to bring and be able to recruit this area.”
RIVERVIEW (Fla.) SUMNER
Coach George Selvie
“With the relationships they built while they was here, they did an awesome job of recruiting the Tampa area. I think it’s just going to carry over because they won here. Tampa area is going to remember Golesh. Remember all of that coaching staff. I think they made a good footprint while they was here at USF.”
PLANT CITY (Fla.)
Coach Chris Thompson
“I think those relationships are huge. Recruiting has always been built on trust and coach Golesh and his staff have spent years earning the respect of high school coaches in central Florida. Those relationships don’t just go away because you change logos. From Auburn’s perspective, it gives them a head start in one of the best recruiting areas in the country. Coaches know who they’ve dealing with. Recruits are already familiar with the staff and there’s a level of credibility that’s hard to build overnight. At the end of the day, talent get you in the door, but relationships are what sustain recruiting success and they’ve already put in that work here.”
VENICE (Fla.)
Coach John Peacock
“I think coach Golesh is awesome. He goes a great job setting up personal relationships with players and coaches. Always thought he did a great job at USF. I think he’s going to do very well there (at Auburn). I think he’s going to be able to turn that program around. I think they are going to do an unbelievable job.”
LAKELAND (Fla.)
Coach Marvin Frazier
“Golesh is great man. Golesh came to one of our banquets for spoke for me. We got to talk for a while. Then it’s just crazy because a lot his assistants I know real well. Larry Scott is the reasons I’m in the state of Florida. He’s like a mentor of mine. I have Thanksgiving with him. We also have coaches on his staff from Lakeland. He could have a really good pipeline. If he wants to use it, the keys are there.”
ORLANDO (Fla.) EVANS
Coach Karlos Odum
“For me, I been knowing DVD (Demarcus Van Dyke) for a while. Really good relationship with him. Golesh has always been open arms for our program when we come over for 7on7 and camps. I’ve always had a pretty good relationship with him. I’m hoping now, that they are out of state, we can continue that and get a couple of good guys to them. Couple of guys I know Larry Scott, Jeris McIntyre and Tony Rozier. That’s my guy. (Those are) a few guys I really think of highly. Important to me when I have guys of that caliber I get them over to them to get a really evaluation to them.”
ORLANDO (Fla.) FIRST ACADEMY
Offensive line coach Chad Mavety
“I think it’s huge. I think the biggest reason why they are having success is because they are consistent. At USF they always came by. They always stopped by. They were consistent. To where the guys knew who they are. Now that they got the bigger opportunity it’s much easier and guys want to be there. When we come by their school they take care of everybody. They have a great guy in charge.”
ORLANDO (Fla.) FIRST ACADEMY
Offensive coordinator Max Tucker
“I think they are going to do an elite job. When you have guys like coach Golesh, coach (quarterbacks coach Joel) Gordon, coach Shark (Tony Rozier). That are really passionate about not only their program but getting to the best (high school) programs in the country and recruiting the best kids. You got a perfect recipe and perfect storm to be an elite program. Obviously, I saw what they did at USF being a high school coach in Florida. I think they are going to do the same thing they did at USF and take it to the SEC and have a big-time program and kind of bring Auburn to their former glory.”
ORLANDO (Fla.) FIRST ACADEMY
Coach Jeff Conaway
“Relationships are what coach Golesh does well. He and I have a long relationship. I’m from Arkansas. He married a girl from Arkansas that’s an hour right down the road from where I coached last. He’s a relational guy. When you build those types of relationships that are true and genuine you can not only attract those around you to be their best. That’s what great players want. The relationships he has with me, my staff and players. We have players that want to go play for him. And as a college coach you got to have it.”
TAMPS (Fla.) Gaither
Coach Kirk Karsen
“Golesh is probably my favorite head football coach I’ve ever dealth with in the past 10 years. He is a relationship builder, and he will be highly successful wherever he goes.”
