An Open Letter to Auburn Football Fans: The Beginning of the Alex Golesh Era

Dear fellow Auburn football fans. Unfortunately I will have to quote the infamous Aaron Rodgers: R-E-L-A-X.

Did the Auburn Tigers win on Saturday? Yes. Did it look ugly? Also yes. Auburn football fans (myself included) expected a blowout win, and a dominating offense. Auburn did not do that. Instead, the offense looked sloppy. The offensive line was more porous than SpongeBob, and the one position that all Tigers fans, analysts, and reporters were confident in, (the quarterback) looked like he forced things and was unsure of himself. Auburn has a lot of things to work on going into Week 2. Alex Golesh will get them there.

An Open Letter to Auburn Football Fans: The Beginning of the Alex Golesh Era

There’s a few reasons I am confident Auburn has the right guy at head coach in Alex Golesh.

First and foremost, our defense is still going to be elite. The true sophomore class will lead this team to greatness. Eric Winters made an incredible play to end the game, one that last year’s team may not have made. That is due to the way he practices and the way DJ Durkin and Golesh coach. Elijah Melendez had 12 tackles and was a force to be reckoned with. Jared Smith had an interception from the edge rusher position.

The second reason is that Golesh is the right guy to turn Auburn around is that he took the blame. Byrum Brown had his first three-interception game of the season, Christian Neptune fair-caught a ball on the two-yard line, and both guards struggled. Yet, Golesh said that was his fault. He was not happy with those results, but he did not throw his players under the bus. Instead, he held himself and Joel Gordon accountable.

Finally, unlike previous coaches that said we were so close and continued to fail, Golesh produced a win. The Auburn Twitter mob was upset at a win, and fans ranted about how the team did not look any different than last year. However, that’s false.

Byrum Brown, after his worst game of his career, led a drive that ended in him rushing for a touchdown. Bo Nix is the last quarterback that was willing and able to do that. And then the defense got a final stop to seal the game. And just like the fans, Alex Golesh himself was upset despite the winning outcome. He knows this team played poorly and was supposed to do better. And, he will lead and coach them to be better.

So after his quarterback’s worst game of his career, an offensive line that failed on the interior, and questionable play calls that could have lost the team the game, Golesh led his team to the win. The offseason of building a culture, establishing an identity, and unifying the team showed itself in game one. Now let Golesh work and continue to develop this team. I trust Golesh to develop this team and coach them so that they improve. I trust him to hold the team and the coaches accountable – and you should too.

Shane Barrett