I will never consider myself an expert at anything, so when it comes to covering college football and head coach hirings, I have learned that a wait-and-see approach is needed most of the time.
When Auburn hired Bryan Harsin in 2020, I was skeptical, but I hoped that his success at Boise State would translate over to the SEC. Granted, my skepticism proved correct, but when John Cohen decided Hugh Freeze was the right man to lead the Auburn football program, I was confident that he was the right man to steer the ship in the right direction.
Sure, Freeze and I had become friends since his firing at Ole Miss, and obviously, that friendship with him and his family would cause some bias in my view of how things were going to go, but even then, I would have wagered 10 years' salary that he would win and win big on the Plains.
For a number of reasons, that didn't work out. So, when the news that Alex Golesh will follow Harsin and Freeze as the man trying to get Auburn back to winning games, I am holding my thoughts back, but I do have a few certainties that I'm confident in.
One, the Auburn fan base will back the 41-year-old Golesh with sellouts at Jordan-Hare Stadium and in the first game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium next season in Atlanta against Baylor. Auburn fans will travel to opposing venues, willing the Tigers on the road and keep the optimism that finally, FINALLY, Auburn will compete for championships again. That is what this fan base does. Even in the worst of times, they have continued to do so when they could have quit.
The past five years have seen some of the worst Auburn football in modern history: five straight losing seasons, three of which ended without a bowl game. The Tigers have lost six consecutive games to bitter rival Alabama and nine straight to rival Georgia. Days of going 8-4 consistently under Gus Malzahn are now seen as the good old days.
Second, Golesh is hungry for success. For a man who grew up in the Soviet Union, witnessing tanks march into Red Square as a boy, he is now living the American dream. It is what every person who has come to the USA as an immigrant could wish for, albeit almost none in the field of college football. While Harsin was seen as lazy in recruiting efforts, and Freeze was criticized for golfing too much (disclosure: yes, I took part in many of those rounds), Golesh knows that for him to be successful, long hours and little sleep are necessary. Everyone has their own method, and for him, that is how you prepare to win.
Finally, if the offenses he put together at Tennessee and USF are any indication, Auburn football is going to be fun again. No longer will the defense have to keep the Tigers in the game.
I'm bullish (pun intended) on this hire, and I'm hoping that the right man has arrived at the right time for Auburn football. But before any expectations are put on Golesh and the new staff, let's see how it goes. Auburn fans have been patient for half a decade now while maintaining the passion that makes this fan base so special.
Let's continue that.