Alex Golesh has talked about bridging the gap in the Iron Bowl rivalry with the Alabama Crimson Tide. There hasn't been a peep about the Georgia Bulldogs or the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, though. That gap is much wider these days.
Golesh's program recently made overtures to 5-star UGA quarterback commit Jayden Wade but was quickly rebuffed. The 2028 IMG Academy product reaffirmed his commitment to Kirby Smart, Mike Bobo, and Co., which made Dawn of the Dawg's Trevor Michael laugh.
Michael believes Wade's decision to embarrass a rival makes him an even better fit Between the Hedges in the coming years.
"Since Wade committed to Georgia last year there have been plenty of programs that have attempted to flip him. Most of those schools are fellow blue bloods like Alabama and Michigan, but Auburn just took their shot at him as well," Michael wrote. "Wade however was not interested. Not only did he shoot them down, but he reaffirmed his commitment to Georgia the same day word got out that Auburn was pursuing him.
"It’s funny enough that Auburn thought they had a chance with him, but it’s even better that Wade turned them down this fast. Wade was already going to be a good fit for Georgia on ability alone, but how he feels about Auburn makes him even better."
Get your laughs in now, Georgia. Alex Golesh is coming.
Golesh will have to deal with the sins of yesteryear on the Plains until further notice. Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze left the program far worse than the way they found it. There hasn't been a win over either of Auburn's blood rivals in the 2020s. It's easy to laugh at the Tigers right now.
That might not be the case for long.
Golesh may not have an offensive line that will come close to contending with defensive fronts like the one in Athens, but he has a quick offense that may be able to overcome that if Byrum Brown can get the ball out quickly to his initial reads. Freeze's offense was slow and plodding, needing far superior trench talent than he recruited to make it work. Things will be different this fall. At least from an aesthetics standpoint.
UGA's fall will come soon enough. Auburn shouldn't forget the mockery.
Georgia lost its top pass-rusher, Auburn transfer Amaris Williams, for the 2026 season during spring practice and probably won't get him back until 2027. The coming seasons' expectations may need to be lowered for the Dawgs, which have to hit a wall at some point.
As great as Smart has been, there's been a slight regression in recruiting and defense over the years. Smart built his program on consistency and culture, but it's getting tougher to stay at the top year in and year out with the financial constraints UGA has. At some point, the machine is not going to be as efficient. There are more than a handful of schools that have more riches. Hell, the Vanderbilt Commodores just flipped 5-star QB Jared Curtis in the 2026 cycle. Maybe the fall has already begun.
More realistically, with top classes in 2025 and 2026, the fall may not come just yet. At some point in the future, though, the roles may be reversed, and Tiger fans will be in a position to laugh at the Dawgs for thinking they could nab Auburn targets.
It'd be karma if it could happen by 2028, with Wade reconsidering the Tigers after significant cultural changes. Auburn doesn't have much of a pipeline from IMG Academy, but Wade would be a nice place to start once the losing stigma is a thing of the past.
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