New Auburn head coach Alex Golesh is already making sure his quarterback, Byrum Brown, who followed Golesh after spending four years with the Bulls, has a support system his predecessor, Jackson Arnold, never did. To make the QB’s final year even more special, the head coach brought another key piece from USF, who shared a previous connection with Golesh.
The new staff member, Jeff Jones, coached Alex Golesh when he attended Dublin Scioto High School. Jones was an offensive coordinator from 2000 to 2002. Fast forward to December 2025, and he joined the Tigers’ staff as the Director of Player Development. And Golesh was very clear about his task with the Tigers when he was in attendance at the Broyles Award.
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“My high school coach had on me, and my high school coach now is our Director of Development, and the only task he has is to give, to give the guys in our program the same experience I had,” said Golesh on Thursday.
It indicates how much Golesh values and trusts Jones, as under his leadership, the Auburn head coach became a standout in high school. Now at Auburn, that high school mentor oversees the program’s growth. Jones’s hiring provides a unique layer of mentorship and personal development for the Tigers’ program, a support structure that was not in place during Jackson Arnold’s tenure with the Tigers.
Golesh and Jones fueled USF’s turnaround, improving from a 7-6 record in 2024 to a 9-4 finish in 2025, which was the program’s best since 2017. They’ll need similar magic to revive an Auburn program coming off a rocky 5-7 season.
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But before Golesh’s arrival, when Arnold played as starting QB for the Tigers for only one season (2025), transferring from Oklahoma, that director of player development position was empty. Basically, Auburn’s staff took care of that department. But having no specific person there affected the overall performance of the program. That should definitely improve now that Jones has arrived.
However, that poor 2025 performance pushed star QB Arnold to seek a new home; now he will play for Dan Mullen at UNLV. But don’t worry! With the new head coach, the new Auburn QB has a familiar system, and that could be the key to Auburn’s 2026 success. In 2025, Brown recorded 3,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards.
But that talent must translate to on-field success at Auburn. But Jones and Alex Golesh have a deep connection. That high school mentor hired Golesh for his first coaching job at Westerville Central. Following that, he helped him at OSU.
However, when Golesh became a head coach, he maintained that connection and brought his high school mentor with him everywhere he went. While that established trust is a major asset, Golesh’s first season at Auburn will be anything but easy.
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How could Alex Golesh’s debut season with the Tigers unfold?
Taking the helm at Auburn marks Golesh’s first head coaching gig in the SEC and the Power Five. This marks his first time in the Power Conference program as head coach. But his track record suggests that wouldn’t be tough to handle for Golesh. But the 2026 schedule tells a different story.
In his first year, Golesh gets one of the toughest schedules in the country. Auburn’s 2026 schedule ranks No. 5 nationally, according to ON3, and the gauntlet includes brutal road trips to rivals Ole Miss, Georgia, and Alabama, with little relief at home against perennial powers like Florida and LSU.
More importantly, with the SEC moving to a nine-game conference schedule, that becomes more difficult for Golesh. The margin of error is thin, but Golesh has confidence in himself. With a trusted system and a familiar quarterback, Golesh has the pieces for a turnaround, but a brutal SEC schedule will test his blueprint from day one.
