Auburn Undercover Podcast · 247Sports, Auburn, Auburn Tigers, Auburn football, Auburn athletics, College Football

Reviewing Golesh's staff hires, signing day and the upcoming portal

·54 min·2 clips

Auburn signed the No. 41 class with 18 signees after trimming 12 commitments to nine in a few days.

1. The Auburn Undercover Podcast on the 24-7 Sports Network reviews Alex Golesh's staff hires, a No. 41 signing class of 18 players and the coming transfer portal window, recorded on day 10 of his tenure. 2. Nathan King, Jason Caldwell and Christian Clemente cover Auburn for 24-7 Sports and bring reporting from Golesh's Monday press conference, with Jason publishing the Coleman Hutzler story mid-recording. 3. The central thesis is that Golesh prioritizes roster retention and the portal over signing-day rankings, saying winning football games is "more important" than winning signing day. 4. Clemente says the class was limited because Golesh arrived on a Sunday, trimmed 12 commitments to nine, and lost Jace Matthews to Ole Miss after ACL surgery and Braylon Womack to a late flip. 5. Class highlights include Jaquez Wilkes as the top-rated signee, USF-connected additions like Reese Brush and Mason Mathis, Deshaun Spencer's flip from Saraland, and Tavian Branch, who chose Auburn after Penn State's coaching change. 6. Demonte Tab, a Thompson safety with 11 interceptions as a senior, was offered and signed on Friday and received an 89 rating as the No. 20 player in Alabama. 7. Early portal declarations include Perry Thompson, rated an 88 three-star, plus Horatio Fields, Antonio Coleman, Rayon Strader and Amon Lane Gaines, which the hosts frame as roster-fit decisions tied to NIL costs under the previous staff. 8. Golesh says he likes the new calendar because it gives time to evaluate the roster, including one meeting that lasted six hours, and he told players "these guys didn't choose me," so he chooses them. 9. On offense, Joel Gordon is the play caller and quarterbacks coach, joined by Cody Burton at receivers and a young offensive line coach, and the hosts say Golesh tailors the scheme to the quarterback instead of the reverse. 10. Auburn fans tracking the 2026 roster, staff and portal should find this useful.

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