2026 may not be the turning point College Football season Auburn Tigers fans were looking to have in the first year of the Alex Golesh era. Not if FanSided's Austen Bundy is any bit of a soothsayer, anyway.
Bundy said that "The Tigers are in desperate need of a reset after multiple previous resets failed (looking at you Hugh Freeze). New head coach Alex Golesh led South Florida's impressive charge during most of the 2025 season which earned him this gig. However, Auburn's recruiting has been hit or miss for several years now. Bringing the Bulls' sensational QB Byrum Brown with him will improve the program's odds of not being terrible. He led all FBS quarterbacks with 42 total touchdowns and 347.2 yards of offense per game as a Bull and racked up an additional 1,008 rushing yards last season (fourth-most nationally)."
It's good that the addition of USF Bulls transfer quarterback Byrum Brown could be seen as a positive game-changer. But only to improve the odds of "not being terrible"? That is about as bleak as it gets. Especially when the only programs Bundy sees Auburn ahead of are the Kentucky Wildcats, Arkansas Razorbacks, and Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Auburn's low expectations come from men who have nothing to do with the Tigers anymore
Bundy's critique of the Tigers had to do with the failures Hugh Freeze and Bryan Harsin brought to East Central Alabama and little to do with what Golesh has brought. He mentioned recruiting being "hit or miss for several years now," but then went on to rave about Brown.
Those misses were mainly the quarterbacks that Freeze and Harsin chose to lead the offense. TJ Finley, Robby Ashford, Payton Thorne, and Jackson Arnold all make Brown feel like a breath of fresh air under center.
While Golesh may not have brought the same kind of flashy names Freeze did, we live in a world where the bargain bin Indiana Hoosiers beat the high-priced Ohio State Buckeyes and Miami Hurricanes en route to a national championship. Development trumps recruiting rankings. Always.
So if the last few years are any indication, AU may not rise out of its half-decade long malaise on the football field.
Luckily, the last few years are no indication of what the Tigers will be in 2026 and beyond, unless the powers that be behind the scenes don't let Golesh run the show as he pleases.