Photo caption: Auburn head coach Alex Golesh speaks to the media during a press conference at the Woltosz Football Performance Center in Auburn. Photo by Austin Perryman | AU ATHLETICS
BY GATOR KINCAID
FOR THE OBSERVER
AND GATOR MEDIA
AUBURN — Focused, determined and fully committed to the process — that is the mindset surrounding the Auburn Tigers as they prepare to open the 2026 college football season against Baylor in Atlanta.
Auburn head coach Alex Golesh held a press conference on Monday, Aug. 24, following the conclusion of fall camp and emphasized the progress his team made during its final days of preparation.
“We wrapped up camp Saturday night,” Golesh said. We had close to 300 former players here at our family picnic, so it was good to see so many of our guys’ families here. We had over 1,000 people here for practice, which brought some cool energy for [the players].”
For Auburn, it’s essential to commit to Golesh’s system, and focusing on minimizing distractions is crucial for achieving that objective, a goal that the players accomplished during the summer.
“I thought we finished well,” Golesh said. “I’m not big on necessarily giving praise, but I thought we were really intentional those last couple of days of fall camp. Sometimes, at the end of fall camp, you challenge your guys, and they respond. They had a long, hard go at it Saturday. They were as intentional as they had been all camp, which was good to see. Now we’ve got to grow from that this week.”
The 2026 season marks the beginning of Golesh’s tenure as Auburn’s head coach. Hired in November, Golesh arrives on the Plains with a reputation as one of college football’s top offensive minds.
Before taking over at Auburn, Golesh led South Florida to a 23–15 record over three seasons, guiding the Bulls to record-setting offensive performances, back-to-back bowl victories and the program’s first nine-win season since 2017. Golesh previously served as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator, where the Volunteers led the nation in total offense in 2022.
Despite the excitement surrounding his arrival, Golesh has made consistency and effort the foundation of Auburn’s preparation. He said the Tigers emerged from their final scrimmage relatively healthy and have turned their attention fully toward Baylor.
“We left Saturday relatively healthy,” Golesh said. “Nothing new, really, healthwise to update from what we talked about at the scrimmage. That’s a credit to a lot of people. We turned our attention to Baylor starting yesterday going into this mock week.”
For Auburn, the week has been about establishing expectations for a new coaching staff and a roster experiencing Golesh’s system for the first time.
“The biggest thing for us, especially here in year one, is that it’s the first time for everybody,” Golesh said. “It’s the first time for our players, the first time for our coaches and the first time for our staff. So, there’s a lot of teaching on how we want it, what we want and, collectively, what I expect from both the players’ perspective and from our staff.”
Golesh said his primary concern heading into the opener is not whether his players will compete, but whether they can maintain their focus and eliminate distractions.
“The biggest [challenge] … for our [players will be] the ability to eliminate distractions, the ability to lock in,” he said. “I talked about maturity and where we are. That’s my concern right now. I don’t doubt these guys will go play ball, and we’ll go play hard, but the ability to limit distractions — if we can handle that, I feel pretty good with where we’re at.”
Although Auburn enters the Atlanta matchup as a slight favorite, Golesh said he is taking nothing for granted. Instead, he said he is stressing the importance of preparation and attention to detail — two elements that could determine the outcome of a high-profile season opener.
“The biggest thing for us this week — and I talked to the guys about how we win this week — is the ability to get ahead,” Golesh said. “If we look at it as an extra week, sometimes you can neglect some things that are critically important. We’re treating Saturday as if we’re playing.”
Auburn will use the remainder of the week to simulate game-day conditions, including situational work, substitutions and sideline operations.
“We’ll finish the week with a mock game and work a lot of situational stuff, work a lot of substitution stuff, work a lot of coming off the sideline and just continue with where we left off in that last scrimmage,” Golesh said.
The unusual schedule has required the Tigers to balance preparation with recovery. After a demanding fall camp, Auburn will have only two intense on-field practices during the mock game week.
Golesh said the Tigers must use the time to regain their legs, get healthy and learn how to operate within the structure of a game week.
“For our guys to use this week as a normal week and perfect their process, is unique,” he said. “You’re going from practicing six times in a week to practicing really two hard, on-the-field practices. It is important for them to regain their strength and health this week in order to operate effectively, both for themselves and us as coaches.”
Baylor will have the same extended preparation period, and Golesh said he believes any advantage must be earned through its approach.
“Baylor also has the week, so there’s no real advantage unless we take it and run with it like we need to,” Golesh said. “Hopefully, we prepare harder than them.”
With the season opener approaching on Saturday, Sept. 5, optimism is building around the Tigers. But Golesh said he remains focused on the daily details, hoping the lessons learned during the first week of game preparation will carry Auburn into the season.
“I’m excited with where we are,” he said. “There’s a lot of teaching from my end this whole week, that way we get to next week, and we can essentially circle back on our process and make sure we’re where we need to be.”
Auburn fans are about to see their wait come to an end. The Tigers are eager to find out if their focus, preparation and all-in mentality will pay off when they take the field against Baylor in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
