Auburn opens up the 2026 season against Baylor in Atlanta for the Aflac Kickoff Game on Saturday. If the Tigers win, it'll be the second biggest victory of the week. While AU's kickoff won't take place at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Victory Day was a resounding success at 251 S Donahue Dr on Sunday.
It's a win that's bigger than any single game's result. To the 50 participants with varying disabilities from the Auburn EAGLES program and Lee County Special Olympics who took the field with Alex Golesh's Tigers, it was a joyous, irreplaceable memory.
To the fanbase, this was the most unifying event of Golesh's tenure. Everyone was in agreement that this was a compassionate act from a coach who's quickly proving that he has a much better character than the two coaches who got the program into its current 5-year losing record streak. Some fans shared testimonials on social media about Golesh owning the best character of any coach in their lifetime. Others acknowledged that Golesh just gets it.
Hard to argue. In a viral social media clip, Golesh gave one of the Auburn EAGLES an impromptu interview. Hearing Golesh explain why the event happened in the first place certainly points to a head coach who understands what leadership in this role looks like.
“It signifies the beginning of the season for us. It gives us a chance to give back to some really cool fans, and it gives our players a really neat perspective of, really, how fortunate they are to get to share this stadium tonight with a bunch of really special athletes, and we get to go play football on Saturday,” Golesh said after the event.
This couldn't have happened without a roster full of Auburn men. The Tigers were completely sold in, even getting in on each touchdown celly. Aubie and the cheerleading team were also spectacular, per usual.
Auburn has unbelievable buzz heading into Week 1
It's college football week on the Plains, and wherever the Auburn family is on the map. While there were plenty of Auburn-adjacent games in Week 0, including Charles Kelly's Jacksonville State Gamecocks losing big to North Dakota State, Jackson Arnold failing to lead UNLV over Memphis, and Ashton Daniels having a status quo performance for Florida State against New Mexico State in an unimpressive win, not a single touchdown was followed by the War Eagle fight song.
Everything changes this Saturday. The Hugh Freeze era becomes the past, officially. All the badwill from five years of losing without any dignity dissipates. Hope springs eternal for what Golesh can accomplish, win or lose, in Week 1.
With that said, Golesh has brought the motivation all offseason and is trying to build his team culture through good habits and accountability. The odds are in the Tigers' favor against the Bears. There are very few reasons to think Week 1 won't go well.
Alex Golesh is truly a change of pace for Auburn
Golesh did an honorable and spiritually fulfilling thing to give back to the community on the last Sunday before the 2026 season. Victory Day lived up to its name in every sense.
Week 1 truly feels like it will be the cleaning of a filthy slate. A new chapter begins, and it's already one everyone can be proud of, before the first page is even fully written.
Golesh seems to believe in Auburn and love it. With the energy he's putting in, Auburn feels certain to love him back.
Bring on the new era. It's long overdue in a community that deserves a leader like Golesh.
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