Paul Finebaum Names Historic SEC Program That Won't Win 8 Games

The Auburn Tigers are again entering a new era for their program in 2026.

Alex Golesh Begins High-Pressured Rebuild

This is the Alex Golesh era, as he hopes to turn around a once historic program in college football. The Tigers have six straight seasons of six wins or fewer, five of which are losing seasons. That's resulted in Auburn going through six head coaches, both interim and full-time.

The hope now is that Golesh will be the guy for the long haul. He comes to the Tigers after spending three seasons as the head coach of the South Florida Bulls.

During his time there, he went 23-15. His best season was last year, when he led them to a 9-3 year.

While that was a good season, the Bulls got off to a fast start with wins over the Boise State Broncos and the Florida Gators. They looked primed to make the College Football Playoff as a Group of Five representative.

However, they would get upset by the Memphis Tigers and Navy Midshipmen, which kept them from even making their conference championship game.

Auburn Tigers head coach Alex Golesh watches on during practice. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Paul Finebaum Questions Whether Eight Wins are Realistic

Still, there is a lot of optimism that he is the guy to turn the program around. The question now becomes how quickly that will happen.

On "The Paul Finebaum Show," the SEC Network analyst took a call from an Auburn fan who said the Tigers will win eight games this season. However, Finebaum doesn't see that happening.

"I've got six automatic wins, right now," Finebaum said. "... You've got eight wins, I haven't found eight wins yet."

The schedule is difficult. Auburn will face five teams that could possibly be ranked in the preseason poll. Four of those are on the road, with the one home game being against the LSU Tigers. Golesh will be tasked with managing that difficult schedule, which won't be easy.

Byrum Brown Gives Auburn Immediate Offensive Identity

The positive is that there is some continuity from his time at South Florida. The most important piece of that is quarterback Byrum Brown. He is coming off a great season in which he threw for 3,158 yards, 28 touchdowns and seven interceptions, while rushing for 1,008 yards and 14 scores.

His dual-threat ability offers something Auburn has lacked for years: stability and playmaking at quarterback. If he can play up to that level this season, the Tigers could have a special year.

Year 1 Success Will Be Measure in Stability, Not Wins

For Golesh, Year 1 is less about chasing an immediate breakthrough and more about establishing credibility inside a program that has lacked stability for years.

If Auburn shows functional consistency, avoids prolonged collapse stretches and looks competitive in its toughest games, that alone would represent meaningful progress in this rebuild.

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