The question posed would have, in lesser hands, set up a coach to fail. Luckily, former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn didn’t fall for the trap.
Asked what has been missing from the Auburn football program since his departure following the 2020 season, the recently retired Malzahn took the high road while offering optimism to hungry Auburn fans.
“Well, like you just said, I've been doing my own thing,” he said. “I'm just hoping that Coach Golesh gets that thing around. I really believe he will.”
It’s been a rough road for Auburn football since Malzahn was let go following eight seasons, all of which ended in winning records, following the shortened COVID season in 2020. Bryan Harsin failed in every aspect of keeping the program afloat, and frankly, didn’t seem to even attempt to fulfill small parts of his job responsibilities during his 21-month tenure.
Gus Malzahn confident in Alex Golesh's ability to turn Auburn around
Hugh Freeze, a close friend of Malzahn’s, arrived with a lot of hype, but two straight losing seasons and a disappointing 2025 record following a 10-3 loss to a woeful Kentucky team in Jordan-Hare Stadium spelled the end of his time coaching the Tigers.
Now, the 41-year-old Golesh is in charge of taking Auburn back to where fans feel like the Tigers belong: competing for championships. For Malzahn, who moved back to the Plains after retiring this offseason after one season as offensive coordinator at Florida State, he liked everything he saw from the one practice he attended this spring, even throwing out a Malzahn-ism that Auburn fans (and beat writers) are used to hearing.
“They were flying around, and it looked like a good old-school Auburn,” Malzahn said.
Flying around at practice is one thing. Turning that into winning seasons is another thing. No matter what, Malzahn will be cheering for his former team and its new coach to succeed.
“He's a real football coach. I mean, he's got a great reputation,” Malzahn said of Golesh. “I know he's running the right track and we'll be rooting real hard for him.”
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