Auburn is gonna run the (insert PG-rated word here) out of the ball

Now with four RB1s in the room — along with a prolific runner at QB — Alex Golesh is making it clear what he wants to do at Auburn.

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

AUBURN — It was fitting that, during a week in which Gus Malzahn announced his retirement, Auburn’s new head football coach said this:

“We're gonna run the piss out of the ball. We're gonna play really fast at times.”

Maybe Malzahn would have opted for “run the crud out of the ball” or “run the durn ball” instead. I’m not sure if “piss” was ever in his rather-clean-for-a-coach lexicon.

But it’s clear that Golesh is a man after Malzahn’s own heart — or, at least, the version of him that took the college football world by storm at Auburn two different times.

Golesh doesn’t come from the Malzahn coaching tree, and none of the branches between the two really intersect much.

While their styles might look different on the field because of the sport’s constant evolution, the core philosophy of smash-mouth football at blazing-fast speeds is a nice parallel between 2025 Golesh and 2009/2013 Malzahn.

And it all goes back to establishing the run. Golesh might be known more in the SEC for his work in the ultra-vertical passing attack at Tennessee with Josh Heupel, but he believes in the ground game first and foremost.

“We're gonna run the heck out of the ball,” Golesh also said Wednesday, using a word that might have been more Malzahn-ian. “We've done it for as long as I've been a head coach and coordinator. That's where it all starts offensively for us. You gotta be able to run the football.”

Everything we heard from Alex Golesh, DJ Durkin and Joel Gordon

Golesh has put his money where his mouth is as a coach at this level. Last season, his USF team ran the ball nearly 39 times a game. In his first season there, that number was 44. Both seasons with Heupel at Tennessee? More than 40 carries per game.

Although he had one of the best big-play passing offenses in the country — ranking in the top 10 in yards per attempt and in the top five in touchdowns through the air — Golesh made a firm commitment to running the rock in a true breakout season.

It helped that the man that threw for all those huge passing numbers, Byrum Brown, had the most rushing yards per game of any FBS quarterback that didn’t play for one of the option-running service academies. If you take out sack yardage, he led the country in yards per true carry among those with at least 150 rushing attempts.

Brown has followed Golesh and offensive coordinator Joel Gordon from USF to Auburn, cashing in on one final season of college eligibility. He was joined by a dozen USF teammates, including running back Nykahi Davenport — who had 98 carries for 612 yards and seven touchdowns last season.

Davenport joined an Auburn running back room that retained its own leader from the 2025 season: Jeremiah Cobb — who had 175 carries for 969 yards and five touchdowns last season. (The Tigers also kept rising sophomore Omar Mabson II, who had 16 carries, and former 4-star redshirt freshman Alvin Henderson.)

Auburn now had its own feature back and USF’s feature back. But that didn’t stop the Tigers from landing Baylor transfer Bryson Washington — who had 154 carries for 788 yards and seven touchdowns last season. (Those numbers were affected by injuries, too. Washington ran for 1,028 yards and 12 touchdowns in a healthy 2024.)

And all that didn’t stop Auburn from adding a fourth RB1 from 2025 in Troy transfer Tae Meadows — who had 159 carries for 695 yards and six touchdowns last season.

Add it all up, and Auburn’s running back room alone combined for 3,135 rushing yards in 2025. Only seven teams in college football ran for more: the three service academies, 16-0 national champion Indiana, CFP team James Madison, Jacksonville State and Utah. Throw in Brown, and you’ve got 4,000-plus yards of 2025 production.

It was an aggressive stack of running back talent, given Auburn had so many needs in a busy transfer portal window after the coaching change. Somebody who was the No. 1 running back at their previous school in 2025 will be no higher than fourth in 2026.

How did the Tigers’ new staff pull that off? All they had to do was point to the tape.