Alex Golesh is a man of discipline. He's proven that this offseason through his personal accountability, looking much healthier at 2026 SEC Football Media Days in Tampa. He may be imminently set to prove that again when the floodgates open for the 2022 high school class, which just got blanket eligibility for the upcoming season after previously losing eligibility. U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney in Denver granted a class-wide preliminary injunction in the case of Wisne et al v. NCAA on Friday.
On3's Justin Hokanson didn't make it sound very likely that Golesh and his Auburn Tigers are about to go on a major spending spree in the portal, just five weeks before his team takes the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for Week 1 against the Baylor Bears in the Aflac Kickoff Game.
"It's easy to say, "Go add players." ... For Auburn, it's about balancing talent, chemistry, timing and money. But with fall camp starting Tuesday, the focus has to remain on getting this team ready for Baylor," Hokanson wrote on X.
Golesh already reshaped the offense after the team's entire starting offensive line and many key skill-position threats left, adding transfer quarterback Byrum Brown, plus five of his USF Bulls receivers, one of his tight ends, and one of his running backs from a season ago. Not to mention all five OL positions and depth at every position from across the country. The rapid rebuild has already happened.
Adding more players at this point would only add even more uncertainty. The new roster didn't look fully comfortable yet during A-Day, so there's no use in adding more chemistry challenges so close to opening kickoff.
That's not to say Golesh won't add any players at all. Hokanson left the door open by talking about talent and timing as part of the equation. Chemistry and money are probably bigger deciding factors, though.
It's probably more likely that a special teams depth guy is added than a starting left guard.
Auburn may not have much more money to spend on football
There may not be more NIL funding to go around for high-profile additions. While we know Jimmy Rane is helping in a big way to fund Golesh's program, let's not forget that Steven Pearl's basketball roster cost over $12 million. With other sports seeing recruits make more and more, football stands to stay stagnant without a big-name donor putting his money where his mouth is and emerging from the woodwork.
Golesh's portal discipline will have a lot to do with funding limitations. The Tigers were never going to be the highest-spending team in the conference while still holding Hugh Freeze buyout debts and until the stadium renovations generate more revenue.
Right now, it's still a rebuild. That doesn't mean there won't be significant wins this season. But very few transfers will be worth the price tag, since it'd probably take a few difference-makers in the portal to have Auburn making a run through four elite teams in the CFP to win it all. There aren't that many difference-makers who will enter to begin with.
The brain trust will strike when the time is right. This program just needs to prove itself with the pieces in place. The brain trust is coming off of spending a lot for no return with Freeze, after all.
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