The Auburn Tigers cannot escape the weight of tempered expectations in the 2020s. Despite hiring Alex Golesh and bringing over many of his offensive assistant coaches and players this offseason, and maintaining many of the elements of the defense that worked, including, most importantly, defensive coordinator DJ Durkin, many believe Auburn will remain in the SEC's semi-permanent underclass.
USA Today's Paul Myerberg grouped the Tigers in familiar company, the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Kentucky Wildcats, and Arkansas Razorbacks, in that order, at the bottom quarter of the conference for the 2026 College Football season.
With that said, Myerberg seems to have high hopes for the entire conference and predicts a winning season for Auburn. Per Myerberg, "Auburn’s offense could hit the ground running. New coach Alex Golesh brought along former South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown and four of the Bulls’ top five receivers from last season. Immediate dividends could lift the Tigers to their first winning season since 2020."
Auburn going 7-5 would make Alex Golesh's first season a success
Many tricked themselves into being okay with the Tigers being bad under Hugh Freeze during his first campaign on the Plains in 2023. Golesh has many win-now upperclassmen veterans coming into the fold, though. Auburn is expected to be a winning team, much like it was during Bryan Harsin's first year in 2021.
Of course, there were a lot of pieces retained from the Gus Malzahn era when Harsin took over in 2021. That team was expected to get back on a winning track quickly. Golesh is bringing in a lot of first-year SEC players and there will be an adjustment period.
That adjustment period just won't last all year, or several years, like Golesh's predecessor was expecting during his tenure. Golesh can't be "close" for long, and he can never utter that phrase after the last guy seemingly taunted Tiger fans with it.
The adjustment needs to be getting to a place where Mississippi State, Kentucky, and Arkansas aren't peers for long, swapping them with the Georgia Bulldogs and Texas Longhorns in due time. A winning record will do for now, though.
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