The Auburn Tigers are beginning a new era this spring under a new head coach in Alex Golesh, and the former South Florida standout young coach is already making an impression on his team.

While Golesh’s predecessor Hugh Freeze was elite on the recruiting trail, the results never translated to game day. As a result, the Tigers have a new head coach for the third time in the last half decade.

After spring practice this week, one Auburn star — linebacker Xavier Atkins — made it very clear that things have changed when he was asked what he has seen from Golesh so far.

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“It’s different,” Atkins said. “It’s more structure and leadership. It’s not where they’re asking, they’re demanding greatness…you are gonna show up and do your job. And that’s the type of stuff that we need as a team. Last year we shouldn’t have felt like we can just walk in here…you gotta come in here and do your job and prove yourself. Nobody’s job is guaranteed, so that’s the biggest thing he emphasized in the first practice. We’re gonna make sure we compete every day.”

While Atkins likely did not mean his words as a shot at Freeze, it’s hard to take it any other way than the culture on The Plains was not where it needed to be while the former head coach was in charge.

If Golesh can fix it and get his team to be able to get it done on Saturdays, he is going to have a tremendous chance of succeeding as the Auburn head coach.

The Auburn Tigers are beginning a new era this season under a new head coach in Alex Golesh, and with spring practice finally getting underway this week, fans are getting their first glimpse into how he is going to run things on The Plains.

It was pointed out by several savvy media members that it looks like Auburn has a new program slogan donning the walls of the facilities.

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All over the facade of the practice field is the new phrase entitled “Be Who You Say You Are,” likely a motto from Golesh directly which will encourage players to work as hard as they may present that they are going to work.

Coming off the last two eras of Auburn football, it feels like a fitting way to transition the program into what fans hope is a completely different time in terms of results.

Golesh looked to be extremely hands on with all position groups at practice, walking from place to place and giving each group his take on technique and intensity as he gets the Tigers ready for a season which he hopes lays the groundwork for future success.

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With plenty of time left to go until the season begins, Golesh is just getting started. Chances are, he’s going to be exactly who he says he is.

The Auburn Tigers are in a new era as a program led by new head coach Alex Golesh, and he is certainly running things a whole lot differently from the way they have gone in the past.

Auburn has a long held reputation of allowing boosters and big money donors to meddle in decision making, but Golesh — with his own stamp of approval — is putting a stop to all of it, and he is not afraid to let those same boosters know right to their face.

During an exclusive interview with On3, Golesh talked about this narrative and how he has changed the way financial supporters have access to the decisions he makes. While he emphasized transparency, everything ultimately is his call at the end of the day.

“Are there people involved in helping fund this operation? Hell yeah, you need those people,” he said of the boosters. “It’s also being very real with them, it’s having conversations, and it’s being really honest…They have a right to know what you’re spending money on. But you have to be really careful. If you’re going to spend money and then want to be involved in decision-making, then we’re good. We don’t need your money. If you’re upfront and honest from the beginning, you’ve got a chance.”

Whether or not Golesh was talking about anyone specifically cannot be known, but following what has been a dark era for Auburn Football, clearly he is determined to do things his way and get the Tigers back to consistently winning.

It sounds like new Auburn head coach Alex Golesh is feeling a little unsure about the Tigers’ O-line.

In a refreshingly honest press conference answer, Golesh said he is feeling extremely confident about some groups, but when it comes to the offensive line, he thinks it may be a process there.

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“This offensive line, on paper, you feel really, really good about it. We had to go get immediate production — guys who have played at a high level,” Golesh said, adding that there are more than 10 players in the room who believe they have a legitimate chance to start on a unit filled with new faces.

Ultimately though, Golesh is realistic in saying he knows it’s not going to come together right away.

“To tell you, man, I know we’re going to be elite at certain spots. I’d be lying to you,” he said. “I can tell you I’ve been praying about it a lot and I’m gonna continue to pray. If there’s one position I’m praying about, it’s the O-line. So if anyone wants to join me, have it. But there’s praying about it and there’s going to work.”

By the sounds of it, Golesh is cautiously optimistic about a group that has not been good enough for the Tigers in recent years, but refreshingly, he knows that it takes success from the line to have success as an offense.

It might not happen right away for Golesh on The Plains, but it certainly seems that Auburn hired the right man for the job.

Former Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn is hanging up the whistle.

After 35 years in coaching, the current Florida State Seminoles offensive coordinator announced his retirement on Monday morning via social media, saying that it’s simply time for him to step away from coaching.

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Malzahn took the time to thank his family, administrators, assistant coaches and of course, former players that made his career as distinguished as it was, telling fans he is going to spend more time with his family and “focus on what the Lord is calling me to do next.”

The veteran coach returned to The Plains as head coach back in 2013 after serving as offensive coordinator under Gene Chizik from from 2009-2011, before taking the head job at Arkansas State in 2012. During his lone season in Jonesboro, Malzahn led the Red Wolves to a 9-3 record before bringing Auburn right back to the national title game in his first year as head coach.

Posting an overall record of 68–35 during his time leading the Tigers, he was relieved of his duties after the 2020 season and became the head coach at Central Florida. In four seasons with UCF, Malzahn led the Knights to a 28-24 record before eventually arriving in Tallahassee with Florida State.

Now, he steps into his next chapter of retirement as Auburn tries to get back to the level of success they enjoyed during his tenure, hiring their third head coach this offseason since parting ways with Malzahn.

Auburn head coach Alex Golesh is going through his first offseason on The Plains and he has some choice words to say about it.

Now, Golesh — and any head coach just starting out at the highest level — faces additional challenges unique to today’s day and age.

Just about every coach in America is dealing with “tampering,” meaning opposing coaches calling players on their roster to entice them to enter the portal with huge offers.

While technically illegal, the NCAA has no ability to enforce rules anymore in this Wild West landscape, and coaches do anything to gain an advantage.

During Senior Bowl week in Mobile, Golesh talked about the impact of tampering and how he avoids getting worked up over other coaches breaking the rules.

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“It’s been going on for a really long time, the portal era has only amplified it,” Golesh began. “There eventually needs to be guardrails on this thing, I think we all want to know the rules you can operate in, the truth is right now, there aren’t any. So you operate ethically with what you feel like is right.”

“Is it right to call a kid that’s on somebody else’s roster to go get him? It’s not. I think, in a lot of ways, what goes around comes around. In the fall you gotta go line up and play. I’m a strong believer in the football gods will find you at some point and generally they’ll find you at the end of a game or they’ll find you on fourth and one and I think you gotta do things the right way, and the right way is doing right by the young people.”

He added how real the pressure to win is and that he won’t judge other coaches for how they do it, but it seems clear that Golesh is going to run his program his way.

Needless to say, Auburn has a special coach at the helm in Golesh, and he is going to try to get the Tigers back to prominence while doing things his own way.

Every year in Mobile, the city gets to host one of its events of the year with NFL coaches and scouts descending upon the Gulf Coast for Senior Bowl week.

With three practices during the week before the game on Saturday, the best college football players from around the nation get the chance to show their skills in the first step of the draft process.

Coaches at the game knew what they were doing though when they pitted two of the stars from the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers against each other, and it produced one of the moments of the week so far.

Alabama superstar pass rusher faced off against Auburn standout offensive lineman Jeremiah Wright for an epic 1-on-1 rep which Wright got the better of Overton on.

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On game day, the two rivals will be wearing the same uniform of the American team taking on the National squad, but it’s clear that there’s no love lost between Overton and Wright after facing off wearing uniforms of the two most hated rivals in the sport.

Now at the Senior Bowl, that level of competitiveness has not changed, but the stars are fighting for draft status at the next level rather than just trying to beat their rival.

Auburn fans are going to have something to watch very closely this upcoming weekend. The NFL is playing its conference title games to see who earns the right to go to the Super Bowl and a former Tiger will take the field.

In the AFC, the Denver Broncos are set to take on the New England Patriots at Mile High Stadium, while in the NFC, the Los Angeles Rams face off against the Seattle Seahawks.

For the Broncos, they might just have some interested parties from The Plains tuning in to watch their fellow orange brethren.

All season, Denver has been quarterbacked by former Auburn QB Bo Nix, who has established himself as one of the premier young gunslingers in football.

But during the final plays of the victory on Saturday over the Buffalo Bills, Nix broke his ankle and now will miss the rest of the season.

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The Tiger connection does not end with Nix, however.

As fate would have it, Broncos backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham is also an Auburn man, playing two seasons for the Tigers from 2017 to 2018. Throwing nearly 6,000 yards in 27 games, Stidham had 36 touchdowns in his Auburn career and led the Tigers to a dramatic 2017 Iron Bowl victory over Alabama.

Now, Stidham steps into an impossible situation after Nix’s huge season and will try to keep Denver’s Super Bowl hopes alive in front of a home crowd.

Stidham has already proven he can perform well in high-pressure games, dating back to his college career at Auburn, but this upcoming game is the toughest test he has ever faced.

Fortunately, he will have the support of both Nix and the entire Auburn family attempting to will him and the Broncos to victory.

The 2026 College Football Hall of Fame class was revealed this week, and there are some big names in the field.

Former Alabama Crimson Tide legendary running back and the school’s first Heisman winner Mark Ingram headlines the induction class along with standout defensive linemen Ndamukong Suh (Nebraska and Aaron Donald (Pittsburgh), both of whom went on to have sensational and Hall of Fame worthy careers at the next level.

During Ingram’s Heisman season, he had 1,658 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns, finishing his Alabama career as the all-time leader in rushing scores, a record which has since been broken by both Derrick Henry and Najee Harris. Ingram would enjoy a lengthy NFL career of his own which spanned 12 years and saw him rush for over 8,000 yards and 65 touchdowns.

Notably, one player who did not make this year’s class was former Auburn quarterback as well as a Heisman winner and national champion in Cam Newton. Finding himself on the ballot for the first time, Newton likely did not make it on the first ballot because all of his production came within one season.

It was a magical campaign though, and Newton’s 2010 season is considered arguably the greatest in the history of the sport. He is all but a guarantee to be inducted eventually, it just seems he will have to wait a little bit longer. Newton joins former Baylor Heisman winning quarterback Robert Griffin III as a snub from the ballot while Johnny Manziel despite being eligible was not even on the ballot.

Though he did not make the CFB Hall of Fame this year, he did have his jersey officially retired by Auburn and made it back to Jordan-Hare Stadium for a special ceremony this past season.

Ingram was on his second ballot after falling short in 2025, and now he gets the honor of making it into the Hall with some of the most distinguished players and coaches in history.

The ceremony will not be held until December of 2026 at the Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas during the National Football Foundation’s Annual Awards Dinner.

The Auburn Tigers have landed themselves who they expect to be their starting quarterback next season.

As reported on Tuesday morning by On3 and later confirmed, new Tigers head coach Alex Golesh is bringing South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown with him via the transfer portal.

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Brown has been one of the best players in all of the Group of 5 for years now, with a dynamic combination of passing and running ability, throwing for 3,158 yards this season and rushing for another 1,008.

With 28 scores through the air and 14 on the ground, he accounted for 42 touchdowns while throwing just seven interceptions as well.

Originally, Brown was recruited to USF by Golesh’s predecessor, but he stuck around when Golesh got the job. The results paid dividends both for the Bulls, as well as for Brown and Golesh themselves.

He immediately becomes the favorite to win the starting job at Auburn after Jackson Arnold, Ashton Daniels and Deuce Knight all entered the portal. On paper, Brown could be the most talented quarterback the Tigers have had in years.

Of course, his game will still have to translate in a massive leap from playing at South Florida to starting in the SEC, but under the guide of Golesh, he has become one of the most productive players in the country.

It may not happen for him immediately, but the chances Brown has a strong season under Golesh are very high.

For Auburn, it’s a welcomed dose of positive news during what has been a tough time portal wise. They’ve lost virtually their entire wide receiver room and numerous major contributors from what was one of the best defenses in college football.

Golesh is going to need some time and grace from fans, but he is building the program his way, and now he gets to call his offense with his quarterback.

The Auburn Tigers are looking like they are going to have to hit the reset button as a program — another one of their players is reportedly entering the transfer portal.

With the start of head coach Alex Golesh, the Tigers have seen numerous players declare their intentions to enter the transfer portal over the last few weeks.

None of them have been anywhere near as significant as the news that broke on Monday. Star wide receiver Cam Coleman seems to be the latest player entering the portal, according to a report from On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

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Coleman — who has racked up over 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns over the last two seasons — will instantly become the top available player in the portal and will be sought after by every team in the country looking to add a wide receiver.

The star wideout joins fellow soon-to-be former Tigers in the portal, including Malcolm Simmons, Horatio Fields, Jay Crawford, Robert Woodyard, Kayin Lee, Ashton Daniels and numerous others. It looks like what could be a painful rebuild for Auburn really begins now.

Of course, Golesh will supplement from the portal himself. There’s a case to be made for not getting too broken up about gutting a roster that just went 5-7, but Tiger fans are rightfully upset to lose Coleman.

Coleman’s moves in the transfer portal could end up breaking NIL records, and have now made him the most-followed recruit of the offseason.

The Auburn Tigers did not achieve what they wanted to in terms of wins and losses this season, and that is the main reason why they have a new head coach leading their program in Alex Golesh.

For all the negatives of the Hugh Freeze era though — most of which fell on Saturdays in the fall — Freeze did in fact perform a great job rebuilding the level of talent on the roster and left Auburn a much better place than he found it. At least in terms of average quality of player on the team.

This is reflected by two Auburn Tigers already accepting invitations to the Senior Bowl coming up after the season in Mobile, which invites only the best of the best players as the first real step in the NFL draft process.

Two Auburn stars have already accepted, one of them being star right guard Jeremiah Wright, who just wrapped up his fifth season on The Plains with his best year yet and started 24 straight games to end his career.

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The second player is defensive end and pass rushing specialist Keyron Crawford, who transferred to Auburn two years ago from Arkansas State and became one of the best players on the team. In 2025, Crawford racked up 36 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and five sacks.

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Auburn has some other invitations out including fellow defensive end Keldric Faulk, who would instantly become the best player representing Auburn, but because of his guaranteed first round pick status, sometimes player rated that highly elect not to attend the game.

Regardless, it should be a tremendous showing in late January in the Port City for fans of the Auburn Tigers.

The Auburn Tigers are laying the groundwork for a new era this offseason led by a new head coach in Alex Golesh, and the first order of business for the new head man on The Plains is to assemble a staff that will give the program the best chance for success.

Golesh is known around the country as one of the sharpest young offensive minds in the sport, but no coach can do it without a top notch group of assistants around him. It just so happens that at South Florida, one of Golesh’s most trusted coaches was a national champion and offensive standout during his playing days at Auburn, and Golesh is bringing him back home.

It was announced in a release by the program former Tiger Kodi Burns is being hired by Auburn with three different titles including Associate Head Coach, Co-Offensive Coordinator and Wide Receivers Coach.

“I’ve been fortunate to work with Kodi three times in my career, and there was no question that I would bring him back to his alma mater,” Golesh said.

“KB is one of the top offensive coaches and recruiters in the country and is a true man of integrity. I know he will help us lead our team to where it needs to go and be a tremendous resource to me as associate head coach. I am thankful he trusts me, and that he is ready to take on this challenge with our players and staff at a place that is so special to him.”

Burns coming back will mark his third coaching stint at Auburn, serving both as a graduate assistant in 2013 and the wide receivers coach from 2016-2018 under Gus Malzahn. He worked with Golesh both at Tennessee as the wide receivers coach and at South Florida with a stint even in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints in between.

Playing at Auburn from 2007-2010, Burns played both quarterback and wide receiver for the Tigers, starting seven games at QB in 2008 before making the switch the following season. He finished his playing career with 1,312 passing yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions along with nearly 800 rushing yards, 223 receiving yards and another 16 total touchdowns.

Now, he makes his most important coaching stop yet and looks to be taking on a major role at Auburn again. Clearly, Golesh trusts him immensely, so it should be a special ride with the pair working together yet again.

Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.

The Auburn Tigers made some huge waves across college football when they announced the hiring of their new head coach, South Florida’s Alex Golesh.

Widely considered one of the brightest young offensive minds in the sport, Golesh arrived to The Plains hungry to turn around what has been a subpar time for Auburn football.

He had other offers in addition to the Tigers as well. It was even reported days before he took the job that there was an agreement between him and the Arkansas Razorbacks.

During an appearance Friday with “The Next Round,” he was asked what separated Auburn from the jobs he turned down. His answer will have Tiger fans ready to run through a brick wall.

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“For us, it was gonna take a unique opportunity [to leave South Florida], one that was aligned from the top to the bottom. And beyond any alignment an opportunity where you have a legitimate chance to win and win at the highest level,” Golesh said. “Beyond anything else, you have an opportunity to go win a national title and not lip service of we can make it to the playoff, not you hope you can do it if you build it the right way. But legitimately a place that #1 it’s been done at and #2 where everybody is aligned and going in the same direction where you can actually go win a national championship.”

Whether or not Golesh can actually accomplish this lofty goal remains to be seen, but for the first time in a long time, it feels like Auburn has a coach with a clear goal, vision and direction for the program. Tiger fans are going to be ready to back their new head coach relentlessly, and will hope the payoff is glory.

With conference play in the 2025 season now officially wrapped up, the SEC has released its football schedules for the 2026 season. Fans can now start marking their calendars, booking hotels and planning their road game trips.

The list of opponents were already known, but fans now have dates to plan how every Saturday of next fall is going to look. With the conference moving from an eight-game schedule to a nine-game schedule, it was never going to be an easy road.

For Alabama and Auburn, it’s a particular gauntlet during certain stretches of the season.

The Crimson Tide starts off relatively light with five games against East Carolina (home), Kentucky (away), Florida State (home), South Carolina (home) and Mississippi State (away). After that, it gets laughably difficult.

Starting on October 10, Alabama starts a five game gauntlet which has Georgia, a road trip to Knoxville and a return home to face Texas A&M before a bye week. After the bye, they will have to travel to both LSU and Vanderbilt before cupcake week against Chattanooga — all ahead of the Iron Bowl.

As for the Tigers, they will start the season with two home games against Southern Miss and Florida before a five-game onslaught of their own begins. First up will be Vanderbilt at home, coming off an equally difficult game against the Gators. Then a trip to Knoxville to face Tennessee. From there, Auburn will have a bye week before hitting the road again to face Georgia, returning home for LSU and traveling to Ole Miss before things lighten up down the stretch.

A nine game conference schedule in the best league in college football was always going to be extremely difficult, but Alabama and Auburn are facing the kind of run they perhaps have never seen before. Only time will tell how they handle it.

History is going to be made on The Plains. But we’ll all have to wait a while for it.

On Thursday, the official social media account for Troy’s football program announced the Troy Trojans and Auburn Tigers are going to square off on the football field for the first time in history. The game will be a marquee non-conference matchup at Jordan-Hare Stadium in the 2031 season.

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“This is a marquee game that I know will excite our fan base,” Troy director of athletics Kyle George said in a statement. “This is a great in-state matchup that our fans will travel exceptionally well to, and that will spark great interest from both fan bases. Thank you to Auburn Director of Athletics John Cohen and his staff for working with us to make this game a reality.”

The game is going to be played on September 6, 2031, in what would likely be the second week of the season. It will be the Trojans’ 28th game all time against teams current in the SEC, and it will also be the first non-conference in-state game for Troy in close to two decades.

Trojan fans far and wide will likely make the trip for what is going to be a historic showdown between the two iconic in-state brands at an equally iconic venue.

The Auburn Tigers are in the midst of beginning a new chapter led by head coach Alex Golesh — revered as one of the brightest, young offensive minds in the sport.

With the arrival of Golesh, there is plenty of hope that the subpar program history is about to come to an end. Auburn may finally be able to work their way back to competing for SEC and national titles.

That fresh start is not coming this bowl season, however.

As teams opt out from postseason games entirely, bowl games have to scramble to find participants. When eligible 6-6 teams run out, they turn to teams who won just five games. The Tigers were among the group of 5-7 squads, and were offered a chance to compete in the Birmingham Bowl, but turned it down.

Golesh explained to media that it simply was not in the cards.

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“If it all had happened a week ago and our guys were all here, and the staff that was previously here was still here and intact for the most part, I think that would have been realistic,” Golesh said Monday. “It would be hard to put it all together and be competitive to where you have a chance to go win a football game, because if you’re gonna play a game, you’re gonna go win the game.”

“The timing of it all was just not practical, it wasn’t realistic. Would you love to go play a game? Absolutely. Would you love to go compete and win a game? Absolutely. But the timing of it all, just not realistic.”

Auburn fans will instead have to wait until next season to see the start of the Golesh era. It might be worth the wait, given that a non-competitive showing could dampen excitement for what could be a strong upcoming season for Auburn.

Golesh and his staff are going to try to build this the right way, which takes time. Until then, the Auburn family will hope their patience pays off when the Tigers take the field again in 2026.

The Auburn Tigers shocked everyone on Sunday morning when news broke of their new head coaching hire, landing on South Florida’s Alex Golesh as the new man to lead their program coming off two disastrous eras since Gus Malzahn.

Following the failures both of Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze, Tigers fans were fed up and ready for something new. When it looked for a minute like defensive coordinator DJ Durkin was going to get the job, those same fans were not going to be happy. Instead, Golesh and his electric brand of offense arrive on The Plains ready to give Auburn its most exciting era yet.

Of course, you can never truly know how a hire will or won’t pan out, but on the surface, this was a brilliant move for the Tigers and Golesh could prove able to win and win big.

Before arriving to South Florida, the Bulls were one of the worst programs in the FBS, and Golesh leaves Tampa with USF as one of the premiere Group of 5 jobs in the country. Alabama fans will remember matchups against Golesh’s team both in 2023 and 2024, each of which nearly ended in a loss.

After keeping it close against the Crimson Tide both at home and on the road the last two years, Golesh earned the signature victory of his tenure this past season when he took his team into Gainesville and beat the Florida Gators.

Beyond demonstrated results as a head coach at South Florida though, Golesh has a very impressive resume as a play caller as well.

For a Tigers program which has struggled to score points in recent years, fans should see that change very quickly.

Before USF, Golesh worked for three years under Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel both at Central Florida and Tennessee, where his crowning achievement might just be serving as the offensive coordinator for the Vols both in 2021 and 2022.

The 2022 unit was the best offense in the country, a group Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide had no answer for whatsoever when Tennessee ended the losing streak against Alabama in an all-time classic at Neyland Stadium.

In modern college football, offense has become key, and Golesh has led a great offense, bordering on elite in some cases, everywhere he has coached.

Auburn has not been able to land the quarterback to bring them back to relevance, but with Golesh at the helm, signal callers are going to flock to The Plains in an attempt to play with one of the most brilliant, young, offensive minds in the sport.

Golesh seems to have the right kind of attitude, demeanor, and system to ingratiate himself quickly into the Auburn Family.

If he does what he has proven capable of doing at every stop so far in his career, the Tigers will be doing a ton of winning.

The Alabama Crimson Tide has won its sixth consecutive Iron Bowl over the Auburn Tigers, and as has been the case just about every time the game is played at Jordan-Hare Stadium, it took everything the team had.

Facing his first road Iron Bowl, head coach Kalen DeBoer was adamant about the fact that past history on The Plains did not matter and his team needed to focus on this one game.

With outside factors including keeping a bid to the College Football Playoff alive as well as next week’s SEC title game in Atlanta, it seemed early DeBoer’s team had their eye on the ball.

Midway through the second quarter, Alabama took a 17-0 lead after two Isaiah Horton touchdowns opened up the game:

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The Tigers would make two field goals before the halftime break arrived to cut it to 17-6, but things got very interesting just a minute into the third quarter when a long Malcolm Simmons touchdown cut the lead to 17-13.

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On the ensuing possession, Alabama went down and kicked a field goal to go back up by seven, a lead which they would have to try to cling to as an elite Auburn defense buckled down and showed its class through huge portions of the second half.

Early in the fourth quarter, it was Simmons getting loose again to get the Tigers back into the red zone before Jeremiah Cobb found the promised land to officially tie up the game at 20 and send an electrifying jolt of energy through the stadium:

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What DeBoer, Ty Simpson, and the entire Alabama offense did to follow this up will go down in Iron Bowl lore for the rest of time. Stringing together the drive of the season with a 15-play, 75-yard masterclass, things were punctuated by a decision by DeBoer which had it not worked out would have had fans ready with their pitchforks to send him out of town.

The Tide entered the red zone and faced a short fourth down from inside the ten yard line, leaving most to assume it would be a chip shot field goal to take the lead.

Instead, DeBoer chose to trust Simpson and the offense by going for it on fourth down, and it paid off with the third touchdown of the night for Horton and put Alabama on the brink of victory.

Instead of kicking what would have been a virtually guaranteed lead, DeBoer put his faith in the offense that has gotten him to this point, and allowed Simpson to do what he’s done all year and lead this offense to the promise land. By forcing Auburn to need a touchdown to tie instead of just a field goal, things were made much easier on the defense.

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Needing one stop to win the game, Bray Hubbard was able to force a Cam Coleman fumble while the Tigers were on the move and knocking on the door of the red zone with less than a minute left to seal the victory:

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Next up for the Tide is a rematch with Georgia once again in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta next weekend. A spot in the College Football Playoff should be close to already locked up, but Alabama will have the chance to win their first post-Nick Saban SEC title, not to mention a first round bye.

It will be a quick turnaround from what was no doubt a very satisfactory victory against Auburn to finish off a 10-2 regular season.

But regardless of what happens from here this season, fans will no doubt remember another classic Iron Bowl and DeBoer’s bold decision to get Alabama the win.

On what was one of the wildest days college football fans have seen in a long time, the Auburn Tigers landed their new head coach on Sunday when they hired South Florida’s Alex Golesh as their new head of the program.

Auburn landed Golesh in the middle of a hectic coaching carousel cycle, and they’re hoping he’s the one to get them back to the promise land.

In today’s day and age of the sport, coaches are making more than ever before, and Golesh landed a six-year contract with the Tigers which on the base level, triples what he was making at South Florida. The most unique aspect of the deal however is the contract structure, and if Golesh does what those who hired him think he is capable of, he might just end up among the highest paid coaches in the sport.

Golesh is being paid a base salary of $6.75 million for his first season and this number will increase yearly up to $8 million by 2031, however he will have a chance to make much more than that if he wins.

According to a document obtained by Yellowhammer News, should he win nine regular season games, Golesh will receive a $1.5 million bonus, an additional $2 million for a 10th victory, plus another $1 million each for an 11th and 12th victory.

This means that if Golesh were to lead Auburn to an undefeated season, he would make more than $12 million for the season to be among the highest paid coaches in the nation.

Additionally, an SEC title game appearance pays him an additional $150,000, while a win brings in another $300,000.

Beyond this, Golesh would receive $1 million for a first round College Football Playoff appearance or bye, $250,000 for a quarter final appearance, $250,000 for a semi final appearance, $500,000 for a national title appearance and another $1 million on top of it all should he win a National Championship.

Interestingly, Golesh would get some bonuses for end of season ranking as well. $25,000 if the team finishes in the top-25, another $50,000 if he was named the SEC Coach of the Year, and another $75,000 should he be named the National Coach of the Year by any of the major award outlets.

Golesh is set to be compensated handsomely no matter what happens, but clearly, he is also choosing to bet on himself and his abilities to bring the Auburn program the kind of success that they have not seen in a very long time.

If he’s right, that bet is going to pay some absolutely massive dividends.

The Auburn Tigers have themselves a new coach.

Less than 12 hours after a heartbreaking Iron Bowl defeat to the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn has announced its hiring of University of South Florida now former head coach Alex Golesh as the new man in charge of their program following the end of the Hugh Freeze era.

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Golesh brought a South Florida program who had won just a combined four games in the three seasons prior to his arrival and made it one of the most prominent jobs outside the Power 4 including a 9-3 record this past season.

His Bulls teams gave Alabama all it could handle two years in a row both at home and on the road in Bryant-Denny Stadium before earning a signature win this year against the Florida Gators.

“We are thrilled to announce Alex Golesh as the 33rd head coach of Auburn Football,” director of athletics John Cohen said.

“He has produced wins and record-setting results throughout his entire career, including over the last three seasons at USF. Alex is known nationally for his player development prowess, ability to shape creative and explosive offenses, and his relentless approach to building winning programs. I was also struck by his coaching experience on both sides of the ball. In our conversations, he showed the determination and edge that this program demands of its head coach. I want to welcome Alex, his wife Alexis and children Corbin and Barrett to the Auburn Family.”

Golesh has consistently led an elite and high-flying brand of offense, both in Tampa and during his time before that as the offensive coordinator at Tennessee under Josh Heupel from 2021-2022, guiding a unit in 2022 which was the best offense in the nation.

“I want to thank President Roberts and John Cohen for the opportunity to lead the Auburn program,” Golesh said.

“Auburn Football is one of the proudest, most tradition-rich programs in all of college football and my family and I could not be more excited to join the Auburn Family. This will be a player-driven program, and no one will outwork our staff. Auburn has won, can win and will win championships. Let’s get to work.”

Though many expected Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall to wind up at Auburn, Sumrall instead appears to be headed to Florida to take over as the Gators next head coach.

An absolutely wild coaching carousel hiring cycle is coming to an end, and the Tigers have their man.

It may have caught some by surprise, but Auburn fans should be extremely pleased with the hire.

The Alabama Crimson Tide is preparing to head into Jordan-Hare Stadium for an Iron Bowl matchup that, as always, has extremely high stakes.

This time around though might mean even more than usual with Alabama’s season and playoff chances very much hanging in the balance in a place where they have struggled historically no matter how much they are favored by.

This time around, going up against an elite Auburn defense with an offense that has struggled as of late, they are favored by less than a touchdown.

On paper based on decades of history, this should be a brutal matchup for the Crimson Tide and the tallest task of Kalen DeBoer’s career. When asked about it though, DeBoer seems to be embracing the challenge rather than running from it.

“I think every game is its own game,” DeBoer said via Bama247 when asked after the win over Eastern Illinois about going to Auburn for the first time.

“I understand what the history of this rivalry is – home, away – doesn’t matter. It’s about this one game. Pouring everything into it you’ve got. Our guys will do that…We’re gonna be going into an SEC environment. It is our rival. It’s got, again, a lot of history to it. We’re just gonna focus on our preparation. The things that matter to us is what our mindset is, and what the week looks like as far as the work.”

For as spectacular as Nick Saban was during his time at both Alabama and LSU, he carried four losses at Jordan-Hare Stadium in his nine games coaching there, and even in many of the wins needed miracles to get out alive.

The last two Iron Bowls on The Plains have been absolutely unbelievable, and Alabama stole victory from the jaws of defeat in both. Even though he was not in Tuscaloosa, no one knows this better than DeBoer.

“We’re gonna have to be at our best,” he said. “That’s what you keep working for. That’s where we’re at. That’s what our guys will ask of themselves and each other. One day at a time you put the game plan together. One day at a time you work at it, and Saturday will come and we’ll be ready to go.”

It should be another classic in Jordan-Hare under the lights this coming Saturday.

Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.

The Auburn Tigers earned a stress free victory over the Mercer Bears on Saturday afternoon at Jordan-Hare Stadium, but the biggest story of the day was far from the final score.

In an effort to preserve the red shirt eligibility for next season of starting quarterback Ashton Daniels, who took over for Jackson Arnold several weeks ago, Daniels was sat so as not to go over the maximum games allowed to still have redshirt eligibility.

Instead of bringing back Arnold though, DJ Durkin decided he was going to give his young freshman former five-star a shot and announced this week Deuce Knight was going to be starting the game.

Of course, the assumption was for Knight to get some reps against an FCS opponent and that Daniels would be brought back for the Iron Bowl the following week, but with the way Knight played against Mercer, it has to at least open up a question.

By the sounds of it, the plan is still to play Daniels, but should there be some consideration of changing again?

Knight was absolutely phenomenal, accounting for six total touchdowns with four on the ground and two through the air.

The fireworks started right away, and Knight ran for a 75-yard score on the very first play of the entire game:

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Later in the quarter, he ran for another long score on just his second carry of the game:

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He finished with 239 yards through the air and another 162 on the ground to go along with the six scores, looking more than comfortable in his first real action in college football.

Though it may have seemed unthinkable a couple of weeks ago after Daniels’ huge day against Vanderbilt, Durkin has to at least consider playing Knight in the Iron Bowl.

In reality, this is probably unlikely to give a freshman his first SEC start against a great Alabama defense in such a big rivalry game, however it certainly seems like some sort of package to get Knight involved is very much in the cards.

Should Daniels struggle early though, Durkin will not hesitate to put Knight in the game despite the magnitude.

The way Knight played this past weekend, it certainly seems like he’d be able to handle it.

The Auburn Tigers are in the midst of a nationwide coaching search after firing Hugh Freeze several weeks back.

While there is still a season at hand to deal with, all eyes are on AU Director of Athletics John Cohen and who he might hire to take the spot.

Since the moment Freeze was fired — and perhaps even before — the most popular name thrown around has been Tulane and former Troy head coach Jon Sumrall.

The Huntsville native is one of the hottest rising names in coaching and is all but guaranteed to take a job in this cycle, and many already have forecasted him to Auburn.

The popular belief is that not only is he the most likely next Tigers head coach, but the best man for the job as well.

During a recent appearance on The Next Round, college football insider Andy Staples offered some wild praise for Sumrall and even threw out a comparison which will have fans salivating.

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“Based on what I’ve heard the clubhouse leader seems to be [Sumrall], and look that’s not news to anybody who’s followed the sport for years,” Staples began.

“This is a guy who kinda feels built in a lab to be the spiritual successor to Pat Dye. He’s a defensive guy, he’s from Huntsville, his teams play incredible defense, they’re tough, he won two conference titles at Troy…he might be in the playoff [with Tulane].”

At this point with how much Sumrall keeps on getting connected to Auburn, it feels like it would be a shock if the Tigers were to hire anyone else.

Cohen is still going to go through the process and do his due diligence, but all signs are beginning to point to Sumrall being named the next head coach of the Auburn Tigers.