Bowden Ball Preview: Getting to know the Alex Golesh behind the scenes
I hope you had a chance to watch our first Bowden Ball: Auburn Edition of the 2026 season. Ronnie Sanders and I enjoyed getting back together and talking Auburn football, and this week we're going to spend some time getting to know the man now leading the program.
Joey Johnston, a veteran Tampa-area sports journalist and athletics senior writer for the University of South Florida, will join us this week. Joey covered Alex Golesh closely at USF, and few people have had a better opportunity to watch him build a program from the inside.
When Golesh arrived at USF in 2023, Joey wrote an excellent three-part series that is worth revisiting now that Golesh is at Auburn.
The first story, "There Is No Substitute For Hard Work", focused on Golesh's work ethic and the culture he was trying to establish. Accountability, relationships and preparation were central themes. Golesh wanted players and coaches willing to demand a lot from each other — and he made it clear the coaches could be held accountable, too.
That caught my attention. I've been in that chair at Auburn. When you take over a program, you're establishing much more than an offense or defense. You're establishing expectations for how everybody in the building operates.
The second installment, "Go-Go-Go Offense", examined the other part of Golesh's identity: tempo. As Tennessee's offensive coordinator in 2022, Golesh helped produce a team that led the nation during the regular season in scoring at 47.3 points per game and total offense at 538.1 yards per game. But Joey's story makes clear that Golesh's system is about more than snapping the football quickly. The preparation and repetition are designed to let offensive players react while forcing the defense to process everything at an uncomfortable pace.
Auburn fans are beginning to see that philosophy now.
The final story, "From Russia With Love", helps explain the person behind it. Golesh was born in Russia and came to the United States with his family as a 7-year-old in 1991. His parents started over in a new country, and their work ethic and sacrifices became an important part of the person and coach Golesh would become.
That's why I'm looking forward to our conversation with Joey.
We'll talk about what Golesh was really like behind the scenes at USF, how players responded to him, how quickly his culture took hold and what makes his offense difficult to defend. We'll also discuss quarterback Byrum Brown and what Golesh learned building the USF program that could translate to Auburn and the SEC.
Auburn fans are still getting to know Alex Golesh. Joey Johnston had a front-row seat to his previous program.
This week on Bowden Ball: Auburn Edition, Ronnie and I are going to ask him to help us better understand the coach Auburn has hired.
War Eagle!
Terry Bowden
Bowden Ball: Auburn Edition airs Wednesdays at 5 pm on Auburn Undercover and the Auburn Undercover YouTube channel.
