Brian Hartline's Comments Don't Match What Alex Golesh Accomplished at USF

The new head coach of the Auburn Tigers is catching strays from his former program.

As Alex Golesh continues his focus on rebuilding the Tigers into a national contender through elite recruiting, transfer portal success, and a culture that has quickly energized The Plains, comments coming from South Florida are attempting to diminish what he accomplished before arriving in Auburn.

New USF head coach Brian Hartline recently told Pete Nakos of On3 that there was "some success here the last couple of years, but nowhere near where it should be." 

While the quote may sound like standard offseason optimism from a first-year head coach, many have interpreted it as a subtle shot at the coach who handed him a much healthier program than the one he inherited.

The reality of Golesh's tenure tells a much different story.

When Golesh accepted the South Florida job in 2023, the Bulls had become one of the worst programs in the Group of Five. USF won just four games over the previous three seasons and finished 1-11 the year before his arrival.

It didn't take long to change that.

Golesh immediately guided the Bulls to seven wins and a bowl victory in his first season, then followed with a nine-win campaign just two years later. The offense became one of the most explosive units in the American Athletic Conference, recruiting improved, and excitement around the program reached a level it had not seen in years.

In fact, Golesh finished with the second-highest winning percentage of any full-time head coach in South Florida history.

Perhaps the biggest indicator of the culture he built came when he accepted the Auburn job.

Rather than staying behind, several offensive players which included starting quarterback Byrum Brown followed Golesh to The Plains. This should easily be an indicator of how things are different from past Auburn coaches, as the same loyalty did not follow Hugh Freeze from Liberty or Bryan Harsin from Boise State.

Hartline now inherits a program with renewed momentum, improved facilities, and significantly higher expectations than the one Golesh originally accepted.

Whether those expectations are realistic remains to be seen. Hartline obviously has had some success as an assistant coach while at Ohio State, but rebuilding an entire roster year one after many followed Golesh makes his world very bold and sets his expectations possibly unattainable during his first season in Tampa.

As for Golesh, with a top-10 recruiting class in the 2027 cycle, major transfer portal additions, and renewed optimism surrounding the Tigers, the new Auburn head coach appears far more interested in building Auburn's future than responding to comments about his past.

In fact, I bet if you asked him, he might say, "I super don't care."