TAMPA, Fla. — During his first SEC Media Days as the head coach of Auburn, Alex Golesh emphasized the importance of the offense and the men up front—especially players with experience under their belt.
The biggest questions surrounding any coach switching teams is how they will transition into their new environment, especially when making a jump to the SEC. So, for an offensive mind like Golesh, adjustment focused on the implementation of his offense in a program desperate for points.
Now, with four-year starting quarterback Byrum Brown at the helm, Golesh has said that Brown has been helpful in getting everyone adjusted in the new system.
"That's one thing that, as we've kind of gone through the evolution of this offense, we've done a really good job of being able to adjust to what we're getting. So the fact that our quarterback has been in it, and we inherited him as an 18-year-old, and now he's a 22-year-old," Golesh said. "He has played a ton of football. Certainly, having the center in the system and starting a bunch of games helps, too. But you can only go as far as everybody's on the same page. Even though there are some guys in that room who have been in it ..."
As players, old and new, adapt to the new system, Golesh focused on experience, especially with key positions on the offensive line.
Golesh added, “I think there was probably some messaging early in spring that maybe was intentional in some ways to make sure that our guys understood how important that position is. You know, that's a group for us where you talk about starting from scratch. We ultimately started from scratch, and it's a group when you're playing our defense in spring. One uber uber talented up front. Two, schematically, you're seeing from day one just about every single thing you could ever imagine, and so it's probably not just incredible for building confidence, but it certainly makes you work through a lot of things.”
Last season, other teams struggled against this Auburn defense, so learning a new offensive style against this unit is tough. However, Golesh harped on how much this group has grown together over the spring summer, and expressed his excitement to see the defense enter this season.
He added, “I give that group a lot of credit, and Tyler Budanic and that staff offensively, like those guys, have worked extremely hard, maybe as hard as any group in our in our on our team, at being in their extra, coming together extra. That group has done community service every week together to try to come together. Man, I would tell you right now, as long as we can stay healthy through camp, I'm really confident that bunch, you know. We got Stan Romeo who missed spring, which is a huge part of of what what we need. You know, we get some really, really, really talented young guys.”
Coach Golesh looked back at Indiana and other elite teams that have won the last couple years, using those examples adding more pressure to the Tigers’ learning group.
Golesh remarked, “What's the key to success? It's age up front, it's experience up front.”
The coaches and fans will look to see how this offensive group has grown over the last year, especially since Golesh stepped onto the Plains.
