Auburn’s defense is heading into fall camp with real continuity, and DJ Durkin made it clear Tuesday that Alex Golesh has helped set that tone from the jump.
Durkin, entering his third fall camp with the Tigers, is also working under a new head coach for the first time. He took over as interim head coach after Hugh Freeze was fired last November and went 1-2 in that stretch before Golesh was hired the day after Auburn’s Iron Bowl loss to Alabama. That move forced Durkin to make a call of his own: stay in Auburn or move on.
He stayed, and that decision helped Auburn keep its defensive core intact, preserving the young talent the staff had recruited over the previous three years.
On Tuesday, in his first press conference since spring football, Durkin laid out how he feels about the new setup.
“It’s been tremendous, to be honest with you. I’ve enjoyed this whole process,” Durkin said.
“The No. 1 thing is being able to stay here with the guys that I know, are part of their recruitment and coached. That means a lot to me.
You build relationships, and to not have to walk away from those -- we all know that sometimes that happens, and there’s no say or control over it. To be able to continue those relationships with a lot of the guys in that room, it’s critical for me.
“Alex Golesh has been awesome. He’s been great to me personally and great with this program.
He has a very clear vision of how he wants things. He does an elite job of communicating those things to the coaches and players.
I just think you see it in our team right now -- we’re a team that’s bought in, and the connectivity of our team is really critical. He’s been the leader of that.
It’s been awesome.”
The payoff for Auburn showed up in 2025. The Tigers allowed 20.1 points per game through 12 games, the lowest mark for a DJ Durkin defense since his 2015 Michigan unit gave up 16.4 points per game and finished sixth nationally.
That Auburn defense also climbed as high as No. 12 in rushing yards allowed per game and finished 30th in total yards allowed per game last season.
Now the next step begins. Auburn opens fall camp Wednesday morning, with Durkin and the defense looking to build on what they already put on tape.
In Other News...
Auburns New Camp Crackdown Shows How Serious Alex Golesh Is
Alex Golesh is making a clear statement about how he wants camp to look in Auburn, shifting the football teams routine during a stretch he views as critical for building habits and tightening the standard. The move comes after a turbulent offseason that already included a player arrest and a dismissal, and it arrives as several players have also been working through injuries in fall camp.
The point is less about scenery than control, with Golesh putting discipline and team culture front and center as the Tigers try to get sharpened before the season moves any closer. For a program trying to steady itself, the message is simple enough: the next couple of weeks are about football, focus and not much else. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Opens Fall Camp With Early Injury Concerns Fans Will Feel Fast
Fall camp opened with the kind of update no team wants to hear in August, as Alex Golesh began laying out Auburns injury picture before the first practices could really settle in. The Tigers are already working around a few banged-up players, but there is some short-term optimism in the group, with Shamar Arnoux and AnQuon Fagans both considered day-to-day and several others expected to work back in by the end of camp.
The more pressing concern is up front and in the secondary, where the numbers can thin out fast if absences linger. Auburn will have to manage the early weeks without Tai Buster for a significant stretch, and Devin Williams is already lost for the year after a knee injury, leaving the staff to sort through depth and availability while the rest of camp unfolds. [Read more 🡒]