Alex Golesh's Biggest Priority as He Takes Over the Auburn Football Program

Less than two weeks into his new role as Auburn's head football coach, Alex Golesh has a tremendous task ahead of him.

Auburn Tigers head football coach Alex Golesh is treating roster retention as the biggest priority. | John Reed-Imagn Images

AUBURN, Ala.-- A little over ten days into his tenure on the plains, new Auburn Tigers head coach Alex Golesh has one main priority: retaining the existing roster.

Although a few players have already indicated that they will enter the transfer portal, he wants to use it as minimally as possible to replace the players who are leaving. 

“Priority would be the retention of the guys that you feel like fit, the guys you feel like can help, and ultimately, guys that want to be here,” Golesh stated. “The intent coming in, and I said this a week ago, is not to run guys out of here but to make sure we find guys that, again, want to be here, we want them here, and that match can happen. Then you don’t have a hole (in the roster).”

As of the time of this writing, Auburn has seven players outgoing into the transfer portal. Those players include defensive back A’mon Lane-Ganus, wide receiver Horatio Fields, former 5-star wide receiver Perry Thompson, linebacker Caleb Wheatland, defensive lineman Antonio Coleman, cornerback Raion Strader, and quarterback Jackson Arnold. 

The linebacker room likely has the most depth out of all of the players that are outgoing, with the defensive back room missing the most depth. For the linebacker room, Auburn signed four-star linebacker Shadarius Toodle, three-star linebacker Adam Balogoun-Ali, and three-star linebacker Chris Wells.

The only early defensive back signee through the early signing day period that was signed is three-star safety Damonte Tabb. The starting defensive backs for the Tigers that are set to return are safety Champ Anthony, cornerback Jay Crawford, cornerback Kayin Lee, and safety Kaleb Harris.

None of these players has shown any indication of entering the transfer portal since Golesh's hiring.

The likely position group that will be targeted the most under Golesh during the transfer portal will be the offensive line group. Three offensive linemen who started for the Tigers last season were seniors, leaving three voids that need to be filled.

The number could rise to four, with center Connor Lew tearing his ACL during the 2025 season, leaving the timing of his return to be determined.

In all, Golesh is still uncertain as to how much he and his coaching staff will have to attack the transfer portal. With the transfer portal opening on Jan. 2, Golesh has less than a month to plead his case to what's left on the roster.

If not, he will have to go portal-heavy like his predecessor.