How Alex Golesh Plans to Fix Auburn's Recent Fourth-Quarter Failures

Close losses have haunted the Auburn Tigers over the past few seasons with Hugh Freeze at the helm, which is arguably the most frustrating and memorable aspect of the last three years.

Six of Auburn’s seven losses in 2025 came by one score, with the lone exception being the 20-10 loss to Georgia in October, a game in which the Tigers found themselves leading by a touchdown in the second half.

The inability to finish games and make the clutch play at crucial times was simply absent, but fans should expect that trend to flip with new head coach Alex Golesh.

"Work, Hard Work"

"I believe in Auburn and Love it" 🦅

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— Auburn Tigers (@AuburnTigers) December 1, 2025

Golesh was asked about Auburn’s late-game inefficiencies in his introductory press conference on Monday, and his response was rather encouraging for fans seeking change from a, frankly, losing culture that has plagued the Tigers for the past five years.

"I think the biggest thing when you talk about closing out games, finishing, is a mindset,” Golesh said. “You train year-round in our sport, for 12 guaranteed opportunities, and you fight your tail off for 13, and 14, and 15, and gosh darn it, 16. The mindset that has to be built – the level of accountability that trains discipline within a program is what prepares you for the fourth quarter.”

Golesh also went in-depth about his plan to lead the Tigers over the hump and emerge on the winning side of these matchups that come down to the last few minutes. The answer was extremely consistent with the remainder of the press conference, often highlighting the importance of a process-driven program.

“You have to train it. We're going to train the fourth quarter part of what we do, starting the very first second that we start in January with our guys” Golesh said. “And it starts with winter workouts. In the spring, certainly in the summer, and what that looks like in terms of training discipline day-in and day-out. And then fall camp is the final piece of that.”

“But you train discipline daily to be able to go finish in the fourth quarter. That piece of it is simply who wants it more,” Golesh continued. “There's obviously a scheme part of it. There's certain things and margins that you've got to be able to go get. Finishing in the fourth quarter is a mindset.”

This will certainly be refreshing to hear for folks who have heard “we’re so close” or “we’re right there” week after week from their head coach as Auburn approached its fifth consecutive losing season this past year.

Furthermore, even after Freeze was fired following the Tigers’ abhorrent 10-3 loss to Kentucky, Auburn still wasn’t able to finish close games.

Former interim head coach D.J. Durkin seemed to ignite a spark in the locker room, but the Tigers still went 0-2 against SEC opponents in the three games that Durkin coached. Auburn found a way to lose to Vanderbilt and Alabama, both of which they lost by a touchdown, meaning the issue must lie deeper than the surface level with Freeze.

Obviously, there’s no guarantee that fans will see immediate results on the field come August of 2026, but a “winner’s” mentality is certainly a trait that the Tigers have lacked under the previous two regimes.

“The game is still a one-on-one game,” Golesh added. “You've got to want it more than the other guy, and you've got to train it. We've got to train it better than anybody in the country."