New Auburn football coach Alex Golesh share an interesting origin story with one of the Tigers’ all-time legends.

The 41-year-old Golesh was born in 1984 in Moscow, which was then part of the Soviet Union. When he was 7 seven years old, Golesh and his parents, Vladimir and Bella, and younger brother, Eugene, emigrated to the United States.

The Golesh family left the U.S.S.R. in September 1991 amid a military coup that attempted to remove Mikhail Gorbachev from power. According to a story on the South Florida football website, they had just $400 to their name and spoke no English when they arrived in New York.

“I was young, but I’m sure most people would’ve wondered, ‘We have all of 400 bucks … we’re in New York City … so what are we actually going to do?’" Golesh told GoUSFBulls.com .

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