Auburn’s reset under Alex Golesh is already drawing attention, and Paul Finebaum thinks the new coach is making the right kind of noise.
The Tigers have been stuck in a brutal stretch: five straight losing seasons, six straight seasons of six wins or fewer, and six head coaches in that span, including both full-time and interim hires. Golesh is now the seventh man to try to steady the program, and he arrives with some SEC background after two seasons as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator and tight ends coach under Josh Heupel.
His most recent stop was South Florida, where he spent three seasons and went 23-15. The peak came last season, when the Bulls finished 9-3.
At Auburn, Golesh is trying to change more than just the record. He’s pushing a different culture, and one of his first moves was to have the team stay in a nearby Marriott during fall camp rather than spread out in their usual apartments and houses.
That approach caught Finebaum’s attention on “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning,” and the SEC Network analyst was fully on board.
"We do feel like we know what's going on at Auburn," Finebaum said. "It's a significant step up from what we've seen in a long time. So, I really, really like the whole concept of it, and I like almost everything I've heard from Alex Golesh so far."
For a program that has been searching for stability, the logic is clear. A new coach has to get buy-in fast, and Golesh appears to be betting that time together can help create it. The setup is unusual, but the idea is simple: build closeness, build accountability, and start laying the groundwork for something sturdier than what Auburn has had in recent years.
Golesh isn’t going to solve everything in one fall camp. But if the Tigers respond to the structure and the results eventually follow, this Marriott setup could wind up being an early marker of a new direction.
For now, Finebaum is buying into what he sees. The challenge is turning that early approval into wins.
In Other News...
Kodi Burns Is Changing What Auburn Demands From Its Receivers
Kodi Burns is back at Auburn, and his message to the wide receiver room has been plain from the start of fall camp: catching passes is only part of the job. The new wideouts coach is pushing a more physical, versatile standard for a group that figures to be deep in Alex Goleshs offense, where keeping tempo means leaning on a heavy rotation and asking plenty of players to be ready for meaningful snaps.
For Auburn, the shift matters because the role of a receiver is becoming about more than route running and production on the stat sheet. Burns has already drawn praise from players like Keshaun Singleton and DeShawn Spencer, who say his impact has shown up in their development on and off the field, and the broader challenge now is clear - earn trust by doing the dirty work, adapt to multiple assignments, and prove you can stay on the field when the tempo starts picking up. [Read more 🡒]
Former Auburn Staffer Just Surfaced Inside Alabamas Program
A familiar football family is showing up around Alabamas practices, with Dave Wommack and Dominic Studzinski both spending time around the program. Dave Wommack, a retired defensive coordinator, has been around as a resource at practices and games, while Studzinski has been helping in the weight room even though he is not listed on the staff directory.
The connection runs deep, stretching back to their shared coaching days at Ole Miss in 2012 and 2013, when the same circle of personnel worked together in the South. For Auburn fans, the name attached to Studzinski may stand out even more because of where he worked before, making his quiet presence in Tuscaloosa the kind of detail that tends to get noticed long before it gets officially explained. [Read more 🡒]