Cohen explains his choice: Golesh’s drive, fit and fan support stand out

Auburn athletic director John Cohen delivered a letter to the Auburn fans on Tuesday evening.

This is what he had to say.

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Dear Auburn Family, 

We are elated to begin the Alex Golesh era of Auburn football.  

Throughout his career, Coach Golesh has coordinated explosive offenses and overseen dramatic turnarounds, producing wins and record-setting results at every stop, including the past three seasons as head coach at South Florida.  

As we witnessed during Monday’s press conference, Coach Golesh is a ball coach. He has a passion for coaching football and pouring into young men, like his coaches did for him.  

His unrelenting drive comes from his parents, who brought Alex and his brother to America – and  worked tirelessly to give their children a chance at a better life. That’s the American dream.  

At Auburn, we know all about pursuing dreams. As President Dr. Chris Roberts often says, Auburn has earned the right to dream the biggest dreams. 

Coach Golesh will work tirelessly to deliver – as he put it Monday – the hardest-working, toughest, grittiest program in the entire country. 

We are also thrilled that Coach Golesh has made the decision to continue having Coach DJ Durkin coordinate Auburn’s defense.  

Coach Durkin and Auburn’s assistant coaches and staff are to be commended for the way they prepared and led our student-athletes to finish the 2025 season. As interim head coach, DJ provided outstanding leadership with unquestioned loyalty to Auburn and our team.  

We appreciate the Auburn Family’s trust and patience throughout our deliberate search process. We were determined to find a person who wanted to be at Auburn and the best leader for Auburn’s tradition-rich football program. Without a doubt, Coach Golesh is that person. 

Throughout coaching searches, rumors and misinformation run rampant – specifically when little concrete information is circulating. My goal from the start was to run an efficient, confidential search to ensure we put Auburn Football in the best position for immediate success.  

As we look ahead, here are four important ways the Auburn Family can make an impact for Coach Golesh and continue to give Auburn a competitive advantage:

OF NOTE: As previously communicated, the 2026 season packages which launched on November 30th, will include Auburn’s match-up with Baylor in Atlanta to open the 2026 season. All season ticket packages cost less than what each ticket holder paid in 2025. Fans who are unable to attend the game in Atlanta may opt out and receive a further reduced ticket price for the 2026 home slate.

Before Monday’s formal introduction, fans welcomed Coach Golesh with his first Tiger Walk, a show of spirit that exemplifies the unparalleled support provided by the Auburn Family. 

That support, demonstrated by three consecutive season ticket sellouts and single-game sellouts of Jordan-Hare Stadium spanning 22 games, is a large part of what attracted Coach Golesh to The Plains. 

It’s time for Auburn’s football program to give the country’s best fanbase what it deserves.  

Coach Golesh has begun that journey. 

Thank you, Auburn Family, for helping us get there. 

War Eagle!