Auburn’s coaching staff is getting a familiar SEC flavor with the addition of Larry Scott, a veteran coach with deep ties to the conference. New Tigers head coach Alex Golesh is bringing in Scott to serve as Auburn’s tight ends coach - a move that reunites two former Tennessee offensive coordinators from different eras in Knoxville.
“Larry’s the kind of coach you want in your building,” Golesh said in a statement Tuesday. “He knows the position, he knows how to develop young men, and he’s done it at a high level for a long time. Our tight ends are going to benefit immediately from his experience and his approach.”
That’s not just coach-speak. Scott brings with him a wealth of experience, both in the SEC and beyond.
He spent two seasons at Tennessee under Butch Jones, first coaching tight ends in 2016 and then stepping into the offensive coordinator role in 2017. While the Vols’ offense struggled that season - finishing 119th nationally in scoring - Scott’s broader coaching résumé paints the picture of a leader who’s worn a lot of hats and seen a lot of football.
After Tennessee, Scott joined Dan Mullen’s staff at Florida, again working with tight ends. From there, he made the jump to head coach at Howard, where he led the Bison over the past two seasons.
His time at Howard included a bowl appearance in 2023 and a 23-27 overall record (12-15 in MEAC play). Now, he’s stepping back into a position coach role - but at a program with big ambitions and a lot of work to do.
Golesh, for his part, knows what it takes to build an offense from the ground up. His two years as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator under Josh Heupel from 2021-22 helped transform the Vols into one of the most explosive units in college football. Prior to that, he worked with Heupel at UCF, where they put up big numbers and developed talent across the board.
Now, Golesh takes over an Auburn program that’s been searching for stability ever since Gus Malzahn was shown the door after the 2020 season. Brian Harsin’s tenure was short-lived, lasting just a season and a half before Auburn moved on. Hugh Freeze didn’t fare much better, with the school parting ways after a November loss to Kentucky.
In that context, the hire of Larry Scott feels like a foundational move - not flashy, but smart. He’s been a coordinator, he’s been a head coach, and he knows how to build relationships in a locker room. For a program trying to re-establish its identity in the brutal landscape of the SEC, that kind of experience matters.
And for Auburn’s tight ends, it’s a fresh start under a coach who knows the position inside and out.