It's the beginning of a new era on the Plains with Alex Golesh taking over as the Auburn Tigers' head football coach, but the problems of the past are still lingering.
The Auburn football program was never able to find success on the field under former head coach Hugh Freeze despite bringing in incredible talent from the high school ranks and transfer portal. Many people believe that the root of the problem for Freeze was that he never got the quarterback position right.
Instead of bringing in a proven QB from the portal, Freeze chose to run it back with Payton Thorne for a second year, and then brought in Jackson Arnold, who was coming off a rough season that included several games spent on the bench.
Now, the Tigers are taking their chances with a coach from the G5 ranks, and CBS Sports says there is a clear path to success for Golesh on the Plains: bring in a good quarterback.
"Auburn has to get the quarterback position right," writes Will Backus. "The Tigers have finished in the top half of the conference in passing just once since 2017. Former coach Hugh Freeze swung -- and missed -- at a carousel of transfer quarterbacks. Payton Thorne was the best he got and he was rarely above average. That should change under Golesh.
"He's had elite quarterback play in every step of his career as a play-caller. He was instrumental in the development of Dillon Gabriel at UCF. He had Hendon Hooker playing like a Heisman Trophy contender in 2022 before a late-season ACL tear submarined Tennessee's season. USF signal caller Byrum Brown has been one of the Group of Five's best offensive playmakers for a while now. Golesh should cook with the resources available at Auburn, whether that means convincing freshman quarterback Deuce Knight to stay, bringing Brown with him as an immediate floor-raiser or looking somewhere else entirely."
No matter what, Golesh has got to do what Freeze couldn't, and that is bring a talented, capable quarterback to the program.