Alex Golesh has made it clear that he considers one of his jobs as the new Auburn head football coach is to beat Alabama. He’s already installed an “Iron Bowl” session of practice into the daily schedule, and on Wednesday, when asked about the Tigers’ current losing streak to the Crimson Tide, he pointed out that this year’s team has yet to play their rival.
“I don’t super care about what the success has been or hasn’t been, to be totally honest with you,” Golesh said. “This team hasn’t played Bama. We’ll be prepared to go play Week 12 when it’s time to go play.”
Alex Golesh taking ‘What losing streak?’ approach to first Iron Bowl
Smart, but turning the tables against the Tide will take more than a 10-minute part of practice and focus on Kalen DeBoer’s team. The last two Auburn head coaches have had their chances at taking down Alabama, including Bryan Harsin in his first year, when Bryce Young led the Tide on a long drive to tie the game with mere seconds left before winning in four overtimes, and Hugh Freeze, whose defense allowed Alabama to complete a shocking 4th-and-31 for a touchdown to lose in 2023.
But, as Golesh said, this year’s team hasn’t faced Alabama yet, and for that, their record stands at 0-0 in the heated rivalry.
“We just put an emphasis on what that game is,” he said. “We’re going to continue to put an emphasis on it. It’s the greatest rivalry in college football. It’s important to our fan base, it’s important to our alums, it’s important to me. It’s not any more important today than the other 11, but it’s going to be a constant reminder at Auburn, as long as I’m here, that the last week of the year is a critical week for the people of our fan base and the people of our state.”
Golesh will have his first shot at Alabama this November when the Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa and try to walk out of Bryant-Denny Stadium as victors for the first time since the Cam-Back, when Cam Newton led the Tigers back from a 24-3 deficit to beat the Tide on their way to a national title.
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