Mailbag 239: What would be a successful Year 1 for Alex Golesh?

This week: Tight ends, run schemes, Gus Malzahn, portal vs. recruiting, shooting slumps, backup PG and "The IBOB Makes Me Sick"

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

AUBURN — I’ve been thinking a lot about Gus Malzahn this week.

With Auburn basketball on a midweek break, it’s been easier than usual for me to get into football mode at this time of year. It also helps that we got to talk to new Auburn head coach Alex Golesh and his two coordinators for nearly an hour and a half Wednesday, which coincided with Steven Pearl and his team’s day off from practice.

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

But what really got the ball rolling for me was the news Monday that Malzahn was retiring from coaching. Malzahn was the first Auburn head coach I covered. His first season in charge was my first full season on the beat. I spent more time covering him than any coach other than Bruce Pearl.

I’m not afraid to say that I have been a Malzahn fan for a long time. I remember when he got the Auburn offensive coordinator job when I was in high school, and I was immediately drawn to his rise from the high school ranks and his innovative offenses. More often than not, Malzahn’s teams were fun to cover, and I learned a lot about football Xs and Os from listening to him over the years.

I’ve told this story before, but the first phone call I got after I was laid off in 2020 was from my dad. The second call I got was from Malzahn. That was the type of guy he was. Coaching and sports media both have a lot of cutthroats and maniacs. Malzahn was genuinely one of the best people I’ve ever known in this job — and always will be.

Auburn football has been trying to climb out of the hole that was created after Malzahn was fired at the end of that 2020 season. Things had plateaued under him, yes. And hindsight is 20/20, yes. But a little more patience with Malzahn, given how the sport was about to change, would have been the better move for the program.

As I wrote Thursday morning, it was pretty fitting that Golesh — the man now tasked with getting Auburn out of his post-Malzahn slide — said something that invoked the memory of the last successful head coach here. Like Malzahn did when he revolutionized the Tigers on two separate occasions, Golesh believes in running the ball and playing at a breakneck tempo.

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

Whether it’s due to the basketball break or the football press conferences, this week’s mailbag is much more about the gridiron than the hardwood. And that’s more than fine. We have a subscribers-only podcast out this morning that previews the massive Auburn vs. Alabama basketball matchup, and we’ll have the Stretch 4 preview for the game tomorrow morning in the newsletter.

We also have a special finale to this mailbag that’s about the Iron Bowl of Basketball.

Thanks as always for your support of the Auburn Observer. Let’s go.

What does a successful first season look like for Golesh in 2026? The fanbase is clearly starved for a season that isn't marred in mediocrity and poor offensive production.

Can Golesh deliver a Year 1 resurgence, a la Chizik and Malzahn, with an immediate increase in win total and relevancy? Obviously not expecting a 2013-esque championship appearance, but you get the idea.

Owen

One of the biggest advantages for Golesh right now is that the bar for improvement in Auburn football has never been lower in the modern era.