A position-by-position breakdown of Auburn's second scrimmage

Alex Golesh went deep on every position after a scrimmage in which the offense "took a huge step." Here's 3,000+ words of notes.

(Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

AUBURN — A few months into his Auburn tenure, one thing is abundantly clear about new head coach Alex Golesh: The man can (and will) talk.

Golesh’s press conferences on the Plains have been marathon sessions. What used to take 15 or 20 minutes for previous coaches in his position regularly pushes over a half-hour. Some have even gotten close to that full hour mark.

But that’s a good thing. While it might mean more work for those of us who have to transcribe them, there’s plenty of value in a head coach who gives plenty of thoughtful detail into his answers. And there was one coach here, not too long ago, who would have filibuster-length responses with little-to-no substance.

There was also a coach who famously didn’t love talking to the media, preferring to keep things as close to the (sweater) vest as possible. Different personalities, different styles, different approaches.

On Tuesday morning, as Auburn held its final spring scrimmage before Saturday’s A-Day Game at Jordan-Hare Stadium, the current head coach who gives long answers and the past head coach who preferred the shorter route shared the field.

Gus Malzahn, recently retired from coaching, is moving back to the area. He’s hanging out at Lake Martin and visiting his favorite old Waffle Houses. And, like so many successful Auburn coaches before him, he is sticking around the program and providing his insight — because there’s just something about this place.

“That was his first one this spring,” Golesh said after the scrimmage. “I've been trying to get him here. He's moving back and will be a huge resource for me. Super grateful for him… Super grateful to have a wealth of knowledge here, and a guy that cares about Auburn so dearly.”

Golesh understands that he’s making a big step up from former SEC coordinator and smaller-conference head coach to a job like Auburn. It’s the same jump, to a degree, that Malzahn made over a decade ago.

And, of course, Malzahn is the last head coach who has had any sort of real success here. Even if his tenure faded toward the end and he was fired from the job, he’s still someone who has been here and won. Golesh wants to get to that point, too.

“For me, he’s just a guy who's done it at a high, high level,” Golesh said. “I'm excited. I've got no ego in this thing. If there's somebody that's been there, done that and had success, I'm all ears. I just asked him for his notes from the scrimmage. … Gus has forgotten more football than I know, so I'm going to take every bit of it.”

Malzahn’s visit back to his old stomping grounds was just one big takeaway from quite a few that Golesh provided after Tuesday’s situational-heavy scrimmage — one in which the offense “took a huge step” and the defense “had some good and some bad.”

He also explained the format for Saturday’s A-Day Game: Offense in blue versus defense in white, four 15-minute quarters with a running clock outside of the two-minute warnings. Points will be given for big plays on both sides of the ball.

Golesh also went deep on how much the spring game will mean to a team that’s filled with newcomers who will be in Jordan-Hare Stadium in front of a crowd for the first time. He’s focused on his young squad taking “the next step,” and this is part of it.

“We need some crowd noise,” Golesh said. “We need distraction. We need things going for us to be able to actually get a full live rep at it. If the fans consider themselves part of us taking another step, that would be huge.

“But I think it'll just be a fun day, man. It's football in the spring in Auburn, Alabama. What the hell else do you want, you know?”

While media members weren’t able to watch Tuesday’s scrimmage — just visiting recruits — Golesh spent plenty of time breaking down what he thought about almost every single part of the roster and where they’re at in the final week of spring ball.

That’s how we’re going to format these notes, starting with everything we heard about the quarterbacks and working our way through the offense to the defense.

Quarterbacks

• As you might expect, this is going to be a Byrum Brown-centric section. Brown didn’t go live in the scrimmage Tuesday, and that will remain the same Saturday at A-Day. It’s something that is limiting a look at the full scope of his game, considering he was one of the very best runners in college football at USF. “I was just talking to Coach Malzahn after practice, his best stuff is when he's not in an orange jersey and he can go and make things happen. And you just don't see that until you actually go play, and that's where his comfort zone is. That's where his energy comes from — creating with his feet.”

• However, Brown is now in his fourth season of this system under Golesh and offensive coordinator Joel Gordon. Because of that, he’s been able to dive deeper in the playbook and have a greater command of the offense. Golesh said the game has slowed down for him tremendously this spring. He likened what Auburn has been able to add to the offense with Brown to going “from 300 level to 400 level and even 500 level.”