The Auburn Tigers have entered a new era with Alex Golesh at the helm. This new era follows two that were stressful, heartbreaking, and downright ugly. This new era follows two unfathomable tenures on the Plains.
The first, Bryan Harsin's, started off with great hope, in large part because of the quarterback and lead running back he inherited, Bo Nix and Tank Bigsby. Quickly, it faded with a losing streak to end the 2021 season to go 6-7 and an offseason of mass transfers that followed. By 2022, there was no hope, and he was fired eight games into the season with a 3-5 record.
After Cadillac Williams inspired hope in the final four games of the 2022 season, the university's brain trust ignored fans hoping for an Auburn man in the seat with the hiring of Hugh Freeze. Lane Kiffin was the Plan A that year, but Freeze is what they got; along with excuses for losing that almost always involved his players, great rosters that didn't live up to their potential, and being told the team was "close" repeatedly with empty results.
AL.com's Matt Scalici summed up the Harsin and Freeze eras with a clever allusion to their "Controversy" tabs on their Wikipedia pages. Scalici also put Auburn at No. 15 on his SEC football seasonal depression rankings.
"Another missed bowl game, another lost Iron Bowl, another coaching search. By any measurable metric 2025 has been a dreadful season for Auburn. So why does every Auburn fan I see seem to have a little pep in their step lately? Why are they whistling and smiling, positively glowing? After five years of misery and mediocrity, Auburn is finally emerging from the shadows and stepping out into the light. They have a coach who doesn’t have to ask you to ignore his Wikipedia page at his opening press conference. They have a reason for optimism. Who knows how long that will last but for now, Auburn fans are putting their trauma behind them," Scalici wrote.
Alex Golesh just does football, and Auburn couldn't be better off for it
No golf. No fishing. Golesh is a football guy, and he made it clear at his introductory press conference that he'd be focusing on bringing winning football to East Central Alabama.
There were too many nefarious extracurricular activities off the field for both of the last two head coaches, with the former having serious internal strife within his program, for there to be a competitive program. Kiffin is the only one who seems to manage a hectic personal life not affecting his team's performance.
There's little chance of controversy with Golesh besides what goes on between the lines. The extent of JABA seems like it'd be meddling boosters, not any deep cultural issues.
A breath of fresh air, if you will.