Auburn's Alex Golesh beats out Notre Dame, others for four-star OT Layton von Brandt

New Auburn Tigers head coach Alex Golesh clearly made an impact on four-star offensive tackle recruit Layton von Brandt.

Von Brandt committed to the Tigers on Monday, choosing them over the likes of Notre Dame, Penn State and Tennessee, among others.

From Middletown, Delaware, Von Brandt is a former Penn State commitment who recently took a visit to watch a practice at Auburn. That practice made an impression, alongside the rest of what the Tigers offer on the Plains.

That includes Golesh, who was hired in November of 2025 after a successful stint at USF.

Layton von Brandt is excited to join Auburn

“The facilities, stadium, fan base support, campus and the resources at your disposal are second to none anywhere in the country,” Von Brandt has said of his new school, according to Rivals. “Auburn is a special place for sure. I really enjoyed the energy at practice. It’s easy to see why Coach Golesh’s offense has scored so many points. They play extremely fast and constantly put the defense in conflict. Auburn’s defense is very good. Returns a lot of dudes and the staff has been intact on that side of the ball for a few years but the offense on practice five of install was causing them problems already. Definitely an intriguing scheme as a recruit to want to be a part of."

Golesh started his coaching career as an assistant at Westerville Central High School in Ohio in 2003 before he was hired as a student assistant at Ohio State. His first "real" coaching gig was as the running backs coach at Toledo, but he burst onto the national scene as the co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for UCF in 2020 under Josh Heupel. 

Golesh followed Heupel to Tennessee and became known as one of the up-and-coming offensive minds in college football. He then got the head coaching job at USF, where he went 23-15 in three seasons.

His story turned him into the coach he is today, and that's why Von Brandt committed to Auburn.