It may be a tall ask to begin with, but how well Auburn does this year will be contingent on the play of starting quarterback Byrum Brown. He comes to Auburn by way of South Florida, following his former Bulls head coach Alex Golesh to The Plains. At the Group of Five level, Brown was a sensational player. But this is the SEC... Some critics are starting to worry if Brown has what it takes to play here.
Fortunately for Brown, Golesh went to bat for him with the following commentary on The Next Round.
"People say 'In the American Conference'... that dude has been at Bryant-Denny, he's been in The Swamp, he's been at Miami. That's part of having a fifth-year guy - the mental side and the environment is not going to get him."
Here is everything that Golesh had to say about Brown within the context of Auburn spring practice.
Auburn Coach Alex Golesh on Byrum Brown doubters:
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) April 29, 2026
"People say 'In the American Conference'... that dude has been at Bryant-Denny, he's been in The Swamp, he's been at Miami. That's part of having a 5th year guy - the mental side and the environment is not going to get him." pic.twitter.com/EM2WN5gFiV
Golesh has had a ton of success with Brown before, but they need to step their games up at Auburn.
Auburn's season could hinge on Alex Golesh's faith in Byrum Brown
Golesh is right in that Brown has seen so much from his time at South Florida. He has played at Bryant-Denny Stadium, he has played in The Swamp, and he has faced Miami before. While not all of those efforts resulted in wins for the Bulls, Brown has been thrown into the fire on more than one occassion, and seems to have done well. However, can he do this week in and week out in the SEC?
Truth be told, you have to applaud Golesh going ride-or-die with his guy Brown ahead of this season. This is going to go one of two ways for the Tigers. Either they get back into the swing of things and make some noise in a deep SEC, or they will hover around .500 and struggle to make a bowl game. Given that USF is such a hard place to win at, we should probably be in line with the former of the two.
Ultimately, we are really starting to see why Golesh was the person picked to replace Hugh Freeze at Auburn. Win or lose this year, he is breeding confidence into his team and players. While the bulk of this year's roster followed him from Tampa to Auburn, he did win a lot of games at USF. Jeff Scott won four over the course of three years prior to Golesh taking over for him. Golesh knows how to win, y'all.
The big key here is will any and all of Brown's in-game experience at USF translate over to Auburn...
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