Alex Golesh is getting ready to take on his first SEC Media Days appearance, and he'll be headed back to familiar territory. This year's media days will be hosted in Tampa, Florida, the home of Golesh's previous school South Florida.
He'll be bringing along three Auburn Tigers, one of whom will also be making a return to Tampa. Though each will be important to Golesh's first squad on the Plains, they have very different journeys with the Auburn football program.
The first player to accompany Golesh to media days will be quarterback Byrum Brown, who is perhaps the crown jewel of Auburn's transfer haul this year. The former South Florida quarterback followed Golesh and offensive coordinator Joel Gordon to the Plains, and many fans have high hopes that he will finally be able to turn around the Auburn offense.
Brown is coming off a historic season at USF, where he passed for over 3,000 yards and rushed for an additional 1,000. 2026 will mark his fourth season playing under Golesh and Gordon.
Next up is fifth-year senior kicker Alex McPherson, who has had a roller coaster ride of a career on the Plains. He took over as the starter for the Tigers as a sophomore, but lost 55 pounds while dealing with ulcerative colitis ahead of the 2024 season. McPherson was mostly benched during 2024, and then was extremely limited in 2025.
Still, he made a return last season and has continued to build up his strength, hopefully putting Auburn in a great position on special teams this fall.
Finally, rounding out the trio is senior safety Champ Anthony, who began his career at a junior college before transferring to the Plains in 2023 and taking on a big role for the Tigers. He returned as a starter in 2024, but suffered a broken leg in the Arkansas game early in the season and was benched until returning as a team captain in 2025. He dealt with other injury problems in the 2025 season, but is expected to return at 100 percent healthy for the upcoming season.
SEC Media Days will take place in Tampa this year after switching things up in the past years from its usual spot in Birmingham. Media days took place in Atlanta in 2018, Nashville in 2023 and Dallas in 2025. Auburn is set to have its time slot on Tuesday, and a full schedule will be announced soon.
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