Former Tennessee offensive coordinator Alex Golesh looks ready to fill the void in the Vols’ schedule that was left by Nebraska.
The Volunteers and the Cornhuskers originally agreed to a home-and-home series in 2006 that would take place in 2016 and 2017, but it eventually got pushed back to 2026 and 2027. On Friday, Nebraska reportedly pulled out of the series to put in an extra home game to bring in more revenue during planned stadium renovations. The move from Nebraska puts Tennessee in a tough position to find a new opponent just 19 months from the 2026 season.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel had the first report on Friday and stated that Tennessee and Nebraska were canceling their upcoming series. Minutes after the report, Tennessee Athletic Director Danny White responded to the social media post by putting the blame squarely on the Huskers.
“Correction: Tennessee is not canceling this series. Nebraska did,” White posted on Friday. “We are very disappointed that they didn’t want to play these games, especially this close to 2026.”
Much like a WWF-inspired interruption, though, an unexpected challenger burst through the curtain on Friday afternoon.
Former Tennessee offensive coordinator turned South Florida head coach Alex Golesh quote tweeted White’s original post with a subtle tease. Golesh even used USF’s recruiting hashtag, #ComeToTheBay, in his tweet.
One Tennessee fan replied to Golesh’s tweet saying, “Nebraska was scared, Golesh said put the ball down,” with a laughing emoji.
Sup @AD_DannyWhite #ComeToTheBay https://t.co/7qFRFkDLYT
— Alex Golesh (@CoachGolesh) February 21, 2025
More from RTI: Nebraska Football Opts Out Of Upcoming Home-and-Home With Tennessee
There is plenty of familiarity with the Tennessee football program, Danny White, and Alex Golesh.
With White as the Athletic Director and Josh Heupel as the head coach of the Central Florida football program in 2020, Golesh was brought onto Heupel’s staff as the co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach. After just one season with all three together in Orlando, White was hired as the next Athletic Director at Tennessee in 2021 and went on to hire Heupel, who brought Golesh with him as the Vols’ lone offensive coordinator and tight ends coach from 2021 to 2022.
Golesh helped the Tennessee offense take flight during his time on Rocky Top, leading to the nation’s No. 1 offense during the 2022 season.
After two seasons in Knoxville, Golesh was hired as the head coach at South Florida and has led the Bulls to a 14-12 overall record with two bowl wins in his first two seasons. South Florida had not been bowl-eligible since 2018 before Golesh’s arrival.
While some Tennessee fans would welcome the challenge and others would rather stay away, the Vols are still left looking to fill the vacant spots in 2026 and 2027 after Nebraska backed out of the agreement on Friday.
In terms of other power five non-conference games in the coming years, the Vols will take on Syracuse in a neutral site game from Atlanta to kick off the 2025 season, followed by a neutral site game against West Virginia in Charlotte, NC, in 2028. Tennessee also has a home-and-home series with Washington in 2029 and 2030.
