Josh Heupel and Alex Golesh are heading into Saturday’s Tennessee-Auburn matchup with plenty of shared history, but neither coach is buying the idea that familiarity will tilt the game one way or the other.
Auburn’s first-year head coach once served as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator under Heupel, and the overlap doesn’t stop there. The Tigers also have several other coaches with Tennessee ties, including associate head coach Kodi Burns, co-defensive coordinator Tim Banks, assistant offensive line coach Parker Ball and assistant corners coach Earnest Thomas III.
So, does all that crossover create an edge?
Golesh didn’t think so, and Heupel agreed.
“I think it would give you an advantage if they didn’t also have so much familiarity with your staff,” Golesh said. “I think the longer you do this, the more you end up with crossover like that, where there’s several guys in this league that started together, and then kind of spread out.
I think, to me, it’s more fascinating to see how we all evolve, whether it’s offensively, defensively, but how you kind of go make it your own. I think really good football coaches are able to adjust to their personnel every year, are able to continue to grow.
They certainly have. We certainly have.”
The respect between the two runs deep, and it makes sense. Their two seasons together in Knoxville were a major success, with Tennessee’s offense ranking among the nation’s best in both 2021 and 2022. That stretch ended with a 10-2 regular-season mark and the unforgettable 52-49 win over Alabama in their final season together.
Golesh said Heupel played a major role in his development, both as a coach and as a future head coach. When Golesh left for USF, he credited Heupel with helping him through that transition and shaping the way he thinks about the game and the job.
“Man, I got so much respect for Coach Heupel,” Golesh said. “Gave me an opportunity in 2020 and brought me with him to Tennessee.
Man, changed in a lot of ways how I look at offensive football, how I look at just running a program. Man, really, really high-end, high-end smart, really phenomenal leader.
I got a ton of respect. Has certainly been a really good friend, was really, really good to me when I was with him.
Helped me in a lot of ways, to one, get my first opportunity to be a head coach, supported me all through that. Really, really good human being.
Incredible family, really good people. I’ve rooted for him from a distance.”
The teams will meet Saturday at Neyland Stadium with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Tennessee and Auburn both come in at 3-1, with the Vols following a close loss to No. 1 Texas and Auburn coming off a home win over Vanderbilt.
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