‘I Need Some Blind Faith:’ Alex Golesh Details His Message to Auburn Football

The new Auburn head coach will go into his first season with plenty of optimism, and he wants his group to buy into it.

Auburn head coach Alex Golesh is going into 2026 with plenty of buy-in from his group. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Auburn Tigers are entering a new era under head coach Alex Golesh, and Tiger fans certainly hope the team will be back on the rise in 2026 after a long stretch of disappointing seasons under Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze. 

Golesh is not shying away from the fact that the Tigers have been bordering on terrible over the past few seasons; in fact, he told David Pollack that he leaned into that aspect in his early meetings with the team. 

“The first thing was, man, I need some blind faith in who we are and what we are gonna do here,” he said. “I think any time there’s change, it’s scary for everybody. I do think it is easier to walk into a situation where there’s known change, like, you need change, than if you walk into a situation where it’s not apparent that you need change.”

And change, the Tigers did; Golesh has almost completely reloaded the offense from its form last season, leaving running back Jeremiah Cobb as the only returning starter from last season. Led by USF transfer Byrum Brown in the quarterback spot, the Tigers’ offense is still mostly an enigma– they could easily compete as one of the best in the SEC, and they could also easily be one of the worst units in the conference.

Golesh knows that this transition is not easy for anyone involved, but he believes he and his staff have already set this team in the right direction for their upcoming 2026 season.

“I asked for a little blind faith in us and the staff we’re gonna put together, but more than anything, I was really clear and I didn’t hide the fact that we need change,” he said. “It’s gonna be hard, it’s gonna be demanding, but our main objective is to build a team. I think it’s so different in this day and age where everybody talks about roster construction and roster building, it’s still about building a team.”

Perhaps it is this team-based philosophy that has landed Golesh so many recruits in the class of 2027, as the Tigers’ 25 total commits rank as the ninth-best class in the country. It is also likely this philosophy that retained key playmakers on the Tigers’ already top-level defense, including Xavier Atkins, Rayshawn Pleasant, Bryce Deas and Demarcus Riddick.

Golesh’s words may also have a second meaning towards the Auburn faithful– there will be growing pains with this team in 2026. After all, no team is perfect in any year, let alone in a year with a brand-new head coach, a brand-new offensive coordinator and a brand-new offense.

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