After nearly two months of portal grinding, Alex Golesh is close to turning the page on one of Auburn’s most aggressive roster resets. 37 players exited after the 2025 season amid a coaching change. The new head coach and his staff responded by adding 39 transfers, the sixth-most nationally this offseason. With most of the heavy lifting done, Golesh finally appears to be in a position where he can exhale, at least on offense.

That calm starts at QB, where Auburn’s rebuild had to be right, or nothing else would matter. Alex Golesh highlighted that importance at the Senior Bowl in Mobile. When asked about installing the offense with familiar pieces, he said, “Monumental.”

“Absolutely priceless,” he told the media on January 28. “It honestly lets you go to sleep at night a little bit… I think every day that you can get ahead offensively, and you feel like there’s continuity and rhythm, you got a chance to have success, you can kind of skip that first couple of games where people are figuring it out. Both Cole and Byrum honestly let you sleep at night a little bit.”

Alex Golesh’s confidence is rooted in his former USF players. Firstly, QB Byrum Brown was Auburn’s top portal target from the moment the head coach arrived, and the Tigers landed him as expected. He’s a proven starter with three seasons in Golesh’s system and knows the offense, the terminology, and the expectations. With one year of eligibility remaining, Brown is expected to start in 2026.

Auburn is replacing its entire QB room for the second straight year, after Jackson Arnold, Ashton Daniels, and Deuce Knight all hit the portal. So, that continuity is the entire point. The good thing is, Byrum Brown didn’t come alone. Nine other USF transfers followed Alex Golesh to The Plains on offense, with a couple more on defense. But the most important addition might be center Cole Best, who also spent three years playing in Tampa.

Cole Best started the last two seasons snapping the ball to Byrum Brown. That QB-center relationship is a huge plus, especially for a staff trying to install quickly and cut down on early-season mistakes. Besides, Alex Golesh lost all five O-line starters from last season, forcing Auburn to rebuild from scratch. Transfers like Jo Simmons (James Madison), Stanton Ramil (Michigan State), and Best were non-negotiable adds, supplemented by several P4 starters and depth pieces. 

“Cole has position flexibility,” he added. “There’s some guys in that room on the interior that have position flexibility, but I would tell you priceless.”

That positional flexibility along the interior is something Alex Golesh values as the staff mixes and matches combinations this spring. 

Alex Golesh’s rebuild is misread by the outside

Alex Golesh said Wednesday that Auburn has “a little bit of room” left in the portal, primarily for players who become available after spring ball. The staff is monitoring May graduates, junior college prospects, and late-qualifying HS players, but the core of the roster is set. Spring practice begins March 17, with 15 sessions leading into the A-Day game on April 18. 

Nationally, Auburn’s work stacks up. The Tigers’ transfer class ranks 13th overall and sixth in the SEC, according to 247Sports. The Tigers’ 39 additions are the sixth-most in the country. They also represent one of 10 programs to sign at least 30 portal players. However, not everyone sees it in a positive light. 

Bleacher Report’s Brad Shepard has an unpleasant label for Alex Golesh. The Auburn HC is a portal “loser,” according to Shephard, who cited departures like Cam Coleman, Deuce Knight, Eric Singleton Jr., Malik Blocton, and Jay Crawford as the reason. The reporter framed the exits as players rejecting the new head coach’s message rather than chasing larger NIL deals elsewhere. Shephard believes Auburn has to do a “complete rebuild,” implying that rectifying the instability is more important than intention.

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Well, that misses the point. Alex Golesh inherited a roster to replace. Losing name talent hurts, but Auburn prioritized familiarity, system fit, and immediate functionality, starting with a QB and center who already speak the same language. Whether it works will be decided in the fall, but the offensive foundation is already in place. And for the head coach, that’s enough to finally get some sleep.