Alex Golesh Reacts to Indiana Comparisons: ‘If That’s the Expectation, Awesome’

The Auburn Tigers have yet to really make a statement to the world about who they are, at least so far in the tenure of head coach Alex Golesh, who stepped into the role after the end of last season. That has not stopped speculation, though, and recently, a new comparison has drawn quite a lot of attention: the National Champion Indiana Hoosiers.

Many have been projecting Golesh’s time on the Plains to somewhat mirror the reign of Curt Cignetti at Indiana so far, largely because of the rebuilds that both coaches needed to make.

On the Paul Finebaum Show last week, Golesh commented on the comparisons.

“To compare it to Coach Cignetti and what they did at Indiana, I would say probably, if that’s the expectation, awesome,” Golesh said. “What those guys did in that two-year run that they’ve had so far is as unprecedented as can be, and I’m OK if that’s the expectation.”

The Hoosiers went 3-9 in the season preceding Cignetti’s hire, but that trend did not last long. Cignetti began his Indiana career with a litany of new coaching staff and transfers, resulting in an 11-2 season in 2024, before his team went all the way and defeated Miami in last year’s College Football Playoff, capping off a perfect 16-0 season.

Golesh, for his part, is happy to welcome in expectations such as these.

“You come to Auburn, you come to this conference because you want real expectations, so I’m OK with that,” he said. “If that’s the floor of where we get to in two years, I’d be happy… We may be talking about Auburn more often.”

A floor of an undefeated national championship season would certainly be new, unprecedented heights for the Tigers, but Golesh was more likely referring to the big turnaround that Cignetti fostered, not necessarily Indiana’s 2025 season itself.

Golesh would certainly have one of the better rebuild stories in Auburn history, as the Tigers have scrambled through coaches ever since firing Gus Malzahn in 2020, to little success. In fact, the Tigers have not had a winning season since Malzahn’s reign, despite consistent high expectations.

Is this just another case of Auburn fans getting a little too excited, a little too soon? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure: Auburn looks much different already than it did under either Harsin or Freeze, which bodes well for the future of the program.

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