Alex Golesh hasn’t even been in Auburn for long, but he’s already learning what makes the place tick.
The new Tigers head coach, hired in November after coming over from USF, admitted in a one-on-one interview with David Pollack that he took the job without ever setting foot in town.
“I had never been here,” he said in a one-on-one interview with David Pollack. “That’s probably about as unique of a situation as imaginably possible, that you take a job when you’ve never actually been to the town. I’ve been through Alabama recruiting over the years, just had never been through Auburn.”
For a program that has spent years trying to land the right long-term leader after firing Gus Malzahn in 2020, Golesh’s arrival is another fresh start. And while the lack of prior visits sounds unusual, it hasn’t slowed him down now that he’s on the Plains.
What has stood out most to him is the atmosphere around the school and the way Auburn people talk about it.
“Everybody says it’s different, and it’s different,” he said. “It’s unique in the sense that everything revolves around Auburn; people live and breathe for Auburn athletics in general, but really the university… it’s been incredible.”
Golesh said the welcome has been immediate and constant, with the same kind of question coming from just about everyone he meets.
“When I say different, when I say unique, it’s hard to quantify, but the best way I can explain it is: every single person you meet, they always ask the same questions,” he said. “‘Coach, do you love Auburn?
Are people here treating you right?’ They want you to love it as much as they love it.”
He also pointed to something he’s noticed about Auburn’s coaching past: plenty of former coaches end up sticking around.
“I think it says a lot that just about every former coach that’s been through here is back here, or lives here,” he said.
Golesh said that trend is starting to make sense to him, and he joked that his own time outside the house may end up depending on Auburn’s results. For now, though, he’s settling in and getting a firsthand look at a fan base that clearly expects its coach to embrace the place as much as they do.
In Other News...
Auburn Just Got Hit With A Preseason SEC Slight Again
Auburns preseason buzz has already taken a hit, and the latest reminder came in Jon Rothsteins SEC Power Rankings, where the Tigers landed at No. 11. For a program going through its second straight major roster overhaul, that placement fits the skepticism. Auburn is bringing back only two major contributors from last season in Tahaad Pettiford and Kevin Overton, so the early read around the league is that this is still very much a work in progress.
The good news for Auburn is that the rebuild has not been limited to patchwork fixes. The Tigers have added several new pieces, including Lithuanian Mantas Rubtaviius and French seven-footer Narcisse Ngoy, giving the roster some size and international flavor as it takes shape. Even so, the preseason slippage is another sign that Auburn will have to prove it belongs in the upper half of the league before anyone starts treating it like a sure thing. [Read more 🡒]
SEC Rivals Are Taking The Recruiting Arms Race To Another Level
The recruiting market around the SEC keeps stretching into stranger territory, with Texas A&M now drawing attention for what an anonymous league general manager described as a massive investment in its 2027 class. The Aggies have long been part of the conferences arms race on the trail, but the scale of the spending chatter underscores how far some programs are willing to go to secure early commitments and build depth years before those players ever arrive on campus.
Elsewhere, the chase for elite skill talent is getting just as aggressive. Ole Miss and Tennessee are locked in a high-stakes battle for five-star running back David Gabriel Georges, with Ohio State also in the mix, and the pursuit says plenty about how recruiting priorities are shifting as NIL money reshapes the pecking order. For programs trying to keep pace in the SEC, these are no longer just evaluations of talent, but full-scale financial commitments with ripple effects that can reach well beyond one signing class. [Read more 🡒]