During the whirlwind of the Auburn football coaching search, the Tigers were first trying to woo John Sumrall, and the Arkansas Razorbacks took an interest in Alex Golesh. Ultimately, Auburn Athletics Director John Cohen felt that Golesh was the guy, and the former South Florida head coach ended up on the Plains instead of in Fayetteville.
Right from the start, Golesh knew he was facing a big challenge at Auburn. The program is on its worst stretch since the late 1940s, and the team has not had a winning season since Gus Malzahn was fired in 2020. Despite numerous frustrating losses, the Auburn Family has continued to show up in droves at both home and away games to support the team, and fans are hungry for success.
Golesh stands by his decision to choose Auburn over Arkansas, and with good reason, according to CBS Sports.
"How many other places can say that there's still 88,000 in the stadium every week through that?" Golesh said. "How many places can say there's 40,000 for a spring game after all of that? Are the fans tired? Yeah, they're tired. I have met with every big money donor in the last six months, and man, they're tired. They're sick of it. But they're still willing to help. They're still willing to be involved, which is why I took this job — because I felt like you genuinely can do it."
Sometimes it feels like the Tigers are a long way from the kind of success they want to have, especially when you look at the team's records against rivals Alabama and Georgia over the past ten years. But folks forget that Auburn football went to the BCS National Championship game twice in three years, and that the formula to win has not been lost.
"Man, I don't think I would have taken the job if I didn't think you can get back to competing for national championships," Golesh said. "I took this job because it felt like it was one of the very few that could."
He may not be able to do it in year one, but the hope is that Golesh can help Auburn football move past the misery of the last 5 years and once again become the kind of program that competes for championships every year.
"You can't mire yourself in what has happened in the past," Cohen said. "But, again, I love the momentum that I believe coach Golesh has created."
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