Alex Golesh promises Auburn fans a championship program: ‘We’re in a race against ourselves to do it as fast as we can’
Auburn football coach Alex Golesh and his son Barrett greet fans at a Tiger Walk outside of Jordan-Hare Stadium Monday. (Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)
New Auburn coach Alex Golesh and Athletic Director John Cohen hold up a jersey at a press conference Monday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. (Jimmy Wigfield/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
AUBURN — New Auburn coach Alex Golesh promised Tigers fans on Monday a renaissance for their tattered football program and vowed to waste no time doing it.
“What you’re going to get from me, from our staff and, as we get rolling, our players is the hardest-working, toughest, grittiest program in the entire country,” Golesh said during his introductory press conference. We’re going to find wins in every single margin we can find. We’re going to build a process-driven program where we wake up and we worry about winning every single aspect of our lives, every single day.”
Golesh also said he would deliver a national championship to the Plains if his standards are embraced by everyone in the program.
“When the standards are upheld within that locker room, within each position meeting room, in every aspect of their lives, when it’s driven by the players, we’ll bring a national championship here at Auburn University,” he said.
Golesh, 41, the former South Florida coach who immigrated from Russia to the U.S. with his parents when he was 7, was offered and accepted the Auburn job Sunday morning.
After a frantic and lucrative first 24 hours on campus — he signed a six-year, $44.25 million contract, plus bonuses for SEC and national championships — Golesh entered Jordan-Hare Stadium through a happy gauntlet of cheering fans at a special Tiger Walk.
“The support here is real,” said Golesh, who is Auburn’s 33rd head coach but its sixth in the last five years, counting three interim coaches. “You can feel it walking in here this morning. We’re in a race against ourselves to take these elite resources and give what these Auburn fans deserve in every imaginable way. We’re in a race against ourselves to do it as fast as we can.”
The offensive wunderkind faces a daunting task, as the Tigers went to just one bowl game in three years and were 6-16 in the SEC under Hugh Freeze, who was fired on Nov. 2, mainly because his offenses averaged under 20 points in SEC games. Auburn hasn’t won an SEC championship since 2010 and Freeze never had a first-round NFL Draft choice.
“The process will pay you back,” Golesh said. “We’re also going to have a hell of a lot of fun doing it. We’re going to be explosive on offense. We’re going to play really fast. We’re going to challenge teams in every imaginable way. We’re going to run the freaking ball. People around here like running the football. I can respect it. It’s going to be a brand of football that’s going to be fun to watch.
“Defensively, we’re going to be just as fun to watch. We’re going to be the most violent freaking team on the football field every single Saturday. We’re going to be different on special teams. It’s going to be a huge difference in why we win. We’re going to out-work, out-think and out-process people across the entire country.”
Lots to do in a short time
Golesh said former Auburn star Kodi Burns, who was with him at Tennessee and South Florida, will be his associate head coach, his offensive coordinator will call the plays and he will tailor his system around his quarterback, who Golesh said probably won’t be determined until August.
“We’ve got an offensive staff that’s going to be absolutely elite,” Golesh said. “Those guys will absolutely crush it.”
Golesh said his offense’s foundation is running the ball to set up the pass and using tempo to create mismatches in space.
“This league is different,” he said. “The defenses are different. Certainly, the level of the talent is different. The packages you get are different. Third down looks like a completely different world in this league.”
Burns, who played on Auburn’s last national championship team in 2010, said the foundational support and resources to make the Tigers successful are already present and he predicted fans will see immediate results.
“I think quick … you’ll see a difference game one all the way to game 12 and maybe 13, 14, 15 and 16,” he said. “It’s in the margin and the details. Honestly, everyone runs, to some degree, the same plays. Everybody has good players.”
Golesh indicated he is talking to former interim coach D.J. Durkin to remain as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator.
“My hope is that in the next 24 to 48 hours that it’s finalized, that we have some clarity with which direction we’re going,” Golesh said.
Golesh must hire a staff, try to minimize losses in the transfer portal and see what the early signing day on Wednesday brings him.
“Is that all?” Golesh asked. “We’ll eat after that.”
‘Change has to be made’
Golesh assured Auburn Athletic Director John Cohen and the search committee during the interview process that he had a plan to handle those demands and that he is prepared to cull out the players.
“I can tell you minute by minute, we’ve got mapped out the entire (first) six months as we go forward,” Golesh said. “These first seven days are as critical as anything else. I think more important than any of that is meeting with our current players. Lastly, as you get a break in between using the restroom and trying to eat a Dorito, you’re trying to finalize hiring a staff and all of that. The current players that are here are the guys that have the most immediate choice to make — either ‘I’m going to stay here and keep with it and build something really special’ or ‘Man, I don’t know if this is for me.’ You have to understand that when you come into a situation where the success wasn’t flowing, change has to be made. What they choose to do with the change is their choice.”
To bring in new players, Golesh intends to heavily tap into the 250-mile recruiting radius around Auburn.
“We’re going to recruit this 250-mile radius harder than anybody in the entire country,” he said. “The high school football within these 250 miles is nothing short of elite. The investment that’s been made from the administration to go and attack every single part of the recruiting is phenomenal. We’ve got every resource known to man right here to be able to go attract, recruit, retain and develop the best talent there is in the entire country.”
‘Hair on my arm stood up’
Golesh is also well aware the Tigers have lost six straight Iron Bowls to Alabama and took time after the press conference to walk the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium, where Auburn fought back from a 17-0 deficit before losing to the Tide 27-20 Saturday night.
“The hair on my arm just stood up thinking about the Iron Bowl,” he said. “It’s goosebumps. That’s what you live for. What I saw Saturday night at the end of that game on TV was the greatest atmosphere in college football.”
Golesh said he will train the trend of close losses — the Tigers were 2-8 in one-score games under Freeze — out of the players.
“It’s a mindset,” Golesh said. “You train year-round in our sport for 12 guaranteed opportunities and you fight your tail off for 13 and 14 and 15, hopefully 16. You have to train it and we’re going to train the fourth quarter part of what you do, starting the second that we start in January. You train daily to be able to go finish in the fourth quarter. That piece of it is simply who wants it more.”
Golesh said his parents instilled the qualities he’ll use to find and develop players who want it more.
“I learned at a really early age two things from them — one, you can still outwork people in this life and more than anything else, the power of love, the power of commitment and the power of sacrifice resonates in every aspect of society,” he said. “Give more of yourself than you ever take and you can change people’s lives.
“Amongst all of the craziness in college football, the one thing that hasn’t changed is these young guys still want somebody to love them, help them get better, help develop them and know that somebody cares. They’ll do anything for you because they know you’ll do anything for them. That’s what I learned from my parents.”
Time for revival
