Joel Klatt took a shot at Auburn this week, lumping the Tigers in with Texas A&M as what he called a “popcorn program” - a team that shows up every so often, but not with any real consistency.
That comparison landed as a sharp one, but it also ignored a big piece of Auburn’s recent history. Unlike Texas A&M, Auburn has won a championship since the end of World War II. The Tigers have two nationally recognized titles in that span, in 1957 and 2010, plus four self-claimed championships in 1958, 1983, 1993 and 2004.
Klatt made the remark on The Next Round, saying, "Auburn reminds me a lot of Texas A&M in that there's not a ton of consistency, but the expectations are always that they're going to be great... They're a popcorn program just like A&M. They're an average program that pops up every once in a while," Klatt said.
The problem with that framing is that Auburn’s modern resume has more substance than the insult suggests. The Tigers have had real peaks under multiple coaches, while Texas A&M’s recent history has been much thinner.
Since 2000, Aggie coaches have produced just one nine-win regular season apiece. Jimbo Fisher didn’t technically get one, though the Aggies likely would have reached that mark in 2020 if the season had been played in full.
Auburn’s 2010s were hardly empty, either. There were three double-digit win seasons in that decade. Gene Chizik led the 2010 national title team, Gus Malzahn followed with a national championship game appearance three years later, and Auburn was back in the SEC Championship Game in 2017.
That’s a different profile from the one Klatt described. Auburn wasn’t drifting through the decade as an afterthought, and it certainly wasn’t living off one isolated spike. Tommy Tuberville’s teams were usually around nine wins, and he also had Auburn undefeated in 2004.
The bigger point is that Auburn has reached program highs Texas A&M still hasn’t touched. The Aggies have had their flashes, but Auburn has hit more of the peaks that matter.
And while the national media often gravitates toward Alabama and Texas because of the brand power they bring, their in-state rivals can get flattened into jokes. Auburn was fair game for that kind of treatment during the Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze years, when neither coach seemed to have a real grip on what it takes to win in Lee County, Alabama.
Alex Golesh is different, though. His attention to detail and make him fit like a glove.
In Other News...
LSU Just Dropped Auburn Into A Fresh SEC Eligibility Fight
A Louisiana judges ruling has put LSU back in the middle of a familiar college football fight over eligibility, and it carries a ripple effect Auburn fans will recognize right away. Zxavian Harris and DaeQuan Wright were cleared to regain their status to play despite recent NFL roster involvement, even after the SEC went to federal court seeking to block their participation. The courts order also barred the SEC, NCAA and LSU from taking actions that would hurt the two players, leaving the Tigers with another roster decision to sort through as the season approaches.
For Auburn, the bigger concern is less about the courtroom and more about what this kind of ruling could mean for a league where eligibility disputes have already become part of the calendar. Harris and Wright have been practicing with LSU ahead of the opener against Clemson, and LSU now decides whether to formally add them. However that plays out, the case adds another layer of uncertainty around SEC roster rules at a time when every marginal advantage matters. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn May Have Found A Defensive Lineman Fans Didnt See Coming
Cody Siglers path to Auburn has never followed the usual script. The New Hope High School product started as a walk-on at UWA, redshirted his first season there and then got into 10 games the next year before moving on to Arkansas State, where he turned himself into an all-Sun Belt performer and put up the kind of defensive production that got attention beyond his previous stops.
Now at Auburn via the transfer portal, Sigler is suddenly part of the conversation as one of the Tigers top defensive linemen heading toward the 2026 season. For a player who kept climbing a level at a time, the intriguing part is not just how far he has come, but how quickly he has gone from an under-the-radar addition to someone Auburn fans may need to keep a close eye on. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Suddenly Has Another SEC Problem To Watch Closely
A federal ruling in Louisiana has stirred up another SEC issue worth tracking for Auburn, because the decision could help clear the way for a wave of former pro athletes to compete immediately in college football. Judge William Jorden granted an injunction that allows NCAA and SEC eligibility for more than 40 athletes, including former NFL players Zxavian Harris and DaeQuan Wright, who are expected to land on LSUs roster.
The SEC is not letting the matter sit there. The league plans to appeal the ruling and has already filed a separate lawsuit aimed at enforcing new punishments against teams that add ex-professional players, leaving the status of those athletes in flux while the legal fight plays out. For Auburn, it is another conference storyline to monitor closely, since the outcome could shape how aggressively rivals try to use this route and how the SEC handles it going forward. [Read more 🡒]