Auburn Tigers head coach Alex Golesh provided an answer to 680 The Fan in Atlanta on the football program moving the Week 1 return game, in a now-home-and-home-away-from-home series, against the Baylor Bears, to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which honored the program's alumni base in Georgia. Golesh had a game to sell, and he made comments that would normally be taken as coach-speak.
Per Golesh on the matchup, “The people here in Auburn maybe aren’t as fired up in the sense that that home game got moved to Atlanta, but there’s a lot of advantages for us. We’ve got such a huge alumni base there, really just the entire state of Georgia, that place will be rocking with blue and orange.”
On the first point: he's right. Not a single soul in Lee County, besides niche nihilistic Alabama Crimson Tide or Georgia Bulldogs fans, is happy about this. Unfortunately, using the phrase "the people here in Auburn aren't as fired up" in close proximity to "Atlanta" and "advantages" can be taken the wrong way. And it was.
Baylor Bears On SI's Trent Knoop saw Golesh's comments as a sign that the first-year head coach lacked belief in the fanbase. Per Knoop, "As for Auburn, Golesh is insisting the fans in Alabama aren't as invested in this game as what they should be. He clearly believes there will be plenty of blue and orange in the stands, but this could be a situation where Baylor fans feel more invested in this game."
My colleague, Fly War Eagle's Brian Stultz, pointed out that the orange and blue fan support will be there in the ATL. He also emphasized that the aforementioned point wasn't the reason why Golesh's comments weren't well-received. Not only does commerce suffer in East Central Alabama, but the loyal donors are given extra mileage and expenses to get out to a game that should be in the Yellowhammer State. He was attacked for that, despite making completely valid points.
Yes, coaches can be criticized for making inconsequential but still hurtful mistakes. Golesh has done a lot of things right, including earning alignment from the booster class, but simply misspoke on this point. Football is sacred on the Plains, and not having Week 1 take place under the lights at Jordan-Hare Stadium is unbelievably disappointing. Golesh doesn't realize how disappointing it is that his debut isn't taking place in front of a true home crowd. That's okay.
It's completely valid to be upset with this. Everyone in Auburn should be. It's another reminder that big business is ruining everything.
Auburn playing Baylor in Atlanta strips away so much of what makes College Football great
It's heartbreaking for the many AU freshmen who need to watch the game from a television screen. It's also heartbreaking for a generation of Baylor fans from Deep in the Heart of Texas who won't be able to see a college town gem, the Loveliest Village.
This game is more accessible to more fans, considering the easy travel to Hartsfield-Jackson. That's nice. But there's far less character in mass air travel in the middle of a global oil shortage than letting local fans who fund the program enjoy a short drive down 280, or from either direction on I85, before and after experiencing nostalgic feelings you can't get in downtown Atlanta, as a $5 billion, 50-acre mixed-use mega-development is being built in the shadow of the stadium. You can't simulate Toomer's Lemonade or Toomer's Corner after a win.
The only time these two teams played in Auburn was in 1965 and 1976. Short of a College Football super league, you have to wonder when they'll play again, and if it'll ever be at JHS.
Memories the two fanbases could've shared are now wiped away, or at best, commercialized in Atlanta. That's something to be upset about. It just wasn't Golesh's point to make on an Atlanta radio station.
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