Will DJ Durkin stay on with Auburn football? What Alex Golesh said
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AUBURN — Alex Golesh has been Auburn football‘s head coach for a little more than a day, but some pieces of his staff, including former Tiger Kodi Burns, are already falling into place.
There’s one key item that’s yet to be decided, however, as DJ Durkin‘s status on the new head man’s staff remains unclear. Golesh’s introduction Monday, Dec. 1, didn’t provided much further clarity.
“The defensive side, I’m working through it,” Golesh said of his staff when asked about Durkin. “We’ve got a plan. We’re working through steps to execute the plan. My hope is that in the next or 24 to 48 hours, that that gets finalized and we have some clarity with which direction we’re going, but we’re working through it.”
Durkin was elevated to interim head coach Nov. 2, a day removed from Hugh Freeze‘s firing. Durkin was Freeze’s defensive coordinator the past two seasons. Athletics director John Cohen said throughout his search that Durkin was not only a candidate for the full-time job, but that he’d like to retain Durkin for the 2026 season.
Durkin’s interim tenure concluded with a 1-2 record, capped by a 27-20 Iron Bowl loss to No. 10 Alabama over the weekend. His lone win came the previous weekend, in a 62-17 beatdown of FCS Mercer.
Otherwise, much like Freeze, he coached the Tigers to a pair of one-score losses against ranked SEC opponents. Auburn lost in overtime, 45-38, to then-No. 16 Vanderbilt, in Durkin’s interim debut.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.To support Adam’s work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Is DJ Durkin staying on with Alex Golesh’s Auburn football staff?
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