Auburn 2010 National Champion Talks Alex Golesh: ‘We Have the Right Head Coach’

Alex Golesh seemingly came out of nowhere in the Auburn Tigers’ coaching search this past year, as most fans were focused on other names like Jon Sumrall, the Florida Gators’ newest head coach.

As a result, few are sure what to expect from the Tigers’ new skipper, but a former Tiger National Champion is fully bought into what Golesh is bringing to the Plains.

Kodi Burns, who now serves as an assistant coach for the Tigers, played quarterback and receiver for the Tigers from the 2007 season to the 2010 National Championship season. He stuck with the Tigers as they worked through a coaching change in 2009, and now, he is confident in the coach the Tigers hired in 2025.

“We have the right head coach. I believe in Golesh,” Burns said. “He's an incredible offensive mind, an incredible leader, an incredible person. I'm so excited to be back. I think it'll happen sooner than later. We're building something special here. Auburn is one of those jobs where you can accomplish everything you want.”

Burns actually has extensive experience with the Tigers’ newest head coach, as he served alongside Golesh at Tennessee, where the Volunteers broke a litany of offensive records with Golesh as an offensive coordinator, as well as at USF, Golesh’s most recent job and where the majority of the Tigers’ offense has been sourced from.

As a result, some may see this analysis as biased, which, of course, it may well be, but Burns has experienced football from both a player perspective and a coach’s perspective, and has worked through a few coaching changes in both roles. If anyone knows what brings the right feeling to a program, for both a staff and its players, it would be Burns.

Projections for the Tigers’ win totals this year have been all over the place, with some speculating that the Tigers will have a historic turnaround in just one season, while others expect Golesh’s rebuild to take some time, especially after the mass exodus of the Tigers’ offense in the transfer portal this past offseason.

Golesh has been clear that this season is to be foundational for the Tigers’ future, with less focus being placed on the first number in the record column. Culture and identity are the focuses of the Tigers this offseason, a trend that is expected to continue in the 2026 season.

So, though many Tiger fans may not yet be as confident in Golesh as Burns is, this vote of confidence certainly bodes well for the program’s future. All that is left for Golesh to do now is prove that his program will meet the expectations set by himself, his fellow coaches and the Auburn Family as a whole.

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