As Alex Golesh prepares for his first spring practice in charge at Auburn, there will be a lot of questions about whether he was the right hire, whether or not he can take the Tigers back to an elite program and, maybe more importantly, why he chose to come to the Plains in the first place.
On Tuesday, Golesh spoke on why he decided to take the Auburn job and help rebuild a program that has struggled in the past several years.
“The last part of it is, and maybe just as important, is everyone walks in and says, ‘Man, we can win a national championship here,’” Golesh said on College Sports on SiriusXM. “This is one of nine places to actually have done it in the past 25 years.”
Crazy enough as it sounds, the head coach is right, as Indiana became the ninth team to win a title since 2010 this past season, the year when Cam Newton led Auburn to its first national championship since 1957.
Auburn is one of nine schools to win a national title in last 25 years
But that wasn’t the only thing that Golesh considered when coming to Auburn. He also thought about what Auburn could provide.
“You’re in a league here where you’re playing, one, the best players in the country, and two, the best coaches in the country,” he said. “So, you better have the resources. Not necessarily even financially, that’s certainly part of it.
“There can’t be a ceiling on this thing. There are certain places where there is a ceiling, and there are certain places that are afraid of going outside the box and go be elite.”
The word 'elite' has been missing for some time in discussions surrounding the Auburn program. Five straight losing seasons and two fired head coaches have put the Tigers in a downward spiral, and it’s up to Golesh and his staff to figure out a way to bring some pride back to the Auburn name.