Auburn’s search for a turnaround has already produced one eye-catching talking point: Byrum Brown is being framed as a legitimate Heisman Trophy dark horse.
CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford made the case that the Tigers’ incoming quarterback could crash the national award race if first-year coach Alex Golesh turns Auburn into an immediate contender. The path, as Crawford sees it, starts with a reunion that already worked once at USF.
“If first-year coach Alex Golesh builds Auburn into an immediate contender, Brown has the talent to crash the Heisman conversation,” Crawford said. “The connection between Brown and Golesh is a major reason why. Brown flourished in Golesh's system at USF, accounting for 42 total touchdowns and more than 4,100 yards of offense while becoming one of the nation's most productive dual-threat quarterbacks.”
That kind of buzz can sound like classic offseason optimism, especially around a program that has spent the last half-decade searching for stability. Auburn moved on from Hugh Freeze after multiple failed seasons, and the hope is that Golesh can get the Tigers pointed in the right direction quickly.
Brown’s résumé with Golesh is why this idea has real traction. The quarterback had a spectacular career at South Florida under his coach, and in 2025 he threw for more than 3,000 yards while adding over 1,000 on the ground. Numbers like that are the kind that make people start talking about hardware, even before a snap is played in the SEC.
Of course, the Heisman talk doesn’t live in a vacuum. Auburn’s record will matter, and a lot.
If Brown puts up big numbers but the Tigers aren’t competitive down the stretch, the award chatter fades fast. For him to stay in the conversation, Auburn has to win enough for the season to feel like more than a one-man show.
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For Auburn, the sting is less about Mateers words than what they confirm about that night and what it meant for the rest of the SEC picture. While the Sooners were sorting through the aftermath of his injury, FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt was looking even farther down the conference road, pointing to Georgia and Alabama as the teams most likely to get back to the SEC Championship Game, with their Week 6 showdown looming as a major checkpoint. [Read more 🡒]
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For Auburn, the appeal is obvious. Adding Evans would further strengthen a 2027 group that already looks loaded with defensive line talent, and it would give the Tigers another high-end local piece to sell in future recruiting pitches. The next step comes quickly, with Evans set to make his decision on Rivals Summer Signing Day, and Auburn will be watching closely to see whether it can finish off a major home-state win. [Read more 🡒]
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For Auburn fans, the appeal is easy to understand: Johnson has kept finding ways to stay relevant at the next level, whether it was in brief NBA minutes or longer stretches in Long Island. The Nets are still giving him runway, too, with Johnson set to take part in Brooklyns summer-league team events next month. What he can do with that opportunity will matter, because these kinds of roster spots are often less about arrival than about proving there is still another step to take. [Read more 🡒]