Alex Golesh's two predecessors as Auburn's head football coach failed for different reasons. Still, there was one common thing that Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze faltered in doing: beating Alabama and Georgia.
For any coach who arrives on the Plains, beating the two rivals will always be at the top of fans' measuring sticks. Gus Malzahn, despite his faults, earned a lot of good grace due to his record against the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs, pulling out victories when he needed to against the two most despised teams on the Plains.
When he arrived at Auburn in 2014, Bruce Pearl said he wasn't allowed to sit at the back booth of Chappy's Deli, a local hangout of longtime Auburn athletic administrators, until he swept the Crimson Tide in basketball.
So for Golesh, who has experience facing both teams during his time as offensive coordinator at Tennessee, winning against those two will be critical in how his tenure is seen during his time in charge of the Tigers. Still, he knows how special the matchups between the Tide and Dawgs are for Auburn fans everywhere.
"The rivalries you just mentioned are the greatest rivalries in college football," Golesh said. "The hair on my arm just stood up thinking about the Iron Bowl. I absolutely can’t wait to be a part of, to be back to being a part of, rivalries like that. It’s, like I already said, goosebumps."
Auburn has to find a coach who can beat its two rivals
In his one-plus season at Auburn, Harsin failed to come close to recruiting on the same level as the two rivals, ending with a 0-3 record against them after being fired with no second chance against the Tide a second time. Freeze came oh-so-close to defeating both teams in his first season, but ultimately fell short, as he finished his tenure on the Plains 0-5 against the two.
While it could take Golesh some time to get things up to the standard of Alabama and Georgia, don't expect him to shy away from the competition.
“I think as a competitor in any way, you thrive for the competition to be elite," he said. "That’s what you live for. If you’re any sort of competitor, if you’re in this game, that’s what you live for. We’ll be ready to rock.”