1) Hugh Freeze was an embarrassment to hire and he failed miserably wasting tons of $ in NIL

2) Both football hires we had to go with option 2

-I'm patient with Golesh, but he still wasn't our first option. If it was true about Durkin that's even worse.

3) The best coach we had BP walks out before a season and you're forced to hire his son

-Still patient on SP, but another major botch

New 4) Moved Baylor game to Atlanta - sorry, I forgot about this one.

New 5) You had some NIL rule you misinterpreted and we were offering nowhere near the market for players part of the last high school recruiting cycle.

New 6) We go overseas for some stud basketball players (rare for us) and we botch getting our best player eligible

New 7) You made an ass of yourself last year on national tv. Yes, the refs against UGA were egregious, but if you have no power but to yell at them off the field is crazy.

New 8) Every time he talks I lose brain cells. He used the Auburn Creed to justify hiring Freeze. You need to shut up and stay out of the media.

New 9) He is from Miss State and had that athletic department in shambles before he left.

New 10) Had a small time assistant try to sell stolen information on recruits. (Not a crazy big deal, but still wtf)

Adjusted the reasons to account for moving the Baylor game.

Any other reasons?

With Kamario Taylor out for the rest of the season. I expect to win against Miss State, Samford, and Arkansas. I know Golesh is big on protecting his guys. Like BB and Joel Gordon after loses, but anything less than 7-5 will require a sacrifice on the staff in my opinion.

Got with rscotta831 to make this video of our second greatest upset ever. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/hdZgbm1-yBU?is=79WWdq4WRAN1f7X-

Personally, I’m very excited at the prospect of playing Notre Dame in 2027 and welcoming them to Jordan Hare the year after.

Which got me wondering, how would Auburn and Notre Dame fair against each other if we played them this season. Notre Dame’s #5 ranking considering their schedule so far is… certainly interesting. But I also don’t watch enough of ND football to know what I’m talking about.

Defensively I have little confidence we will slow down Chambliss. However, I think the offense will have a much stronger week. Ole Miss has one or the worst run defenses in the sec I think brown and the ground game can do some damage.

LSU was an awful matchup for us even worse than GA. Their pass rush is better than GA and they simply have ridiculous team speed it’s shocking they have two losses tbh. They also had the lockdown corners to cover our receivers 1 on 1 allowing their defense to devote more bodies to stopping Brown.

Ole miss’s defense doesn’t have the overwhelming team speed that LSU does. If brown can hit some deep shots we can make things interesting in Oxford

It's irrational to pretend that a Y1 turnaround was impossible given the plethora of examples in the modern CFB era:

\2020 seasons precedeing Heupel and Beamer were shortened by COVID*

That's nine examples of coaches improving their programs by at least four wins in Year 1. Every single program on that list has a better cumulative regular-season record than Auburn over the same stretches, including those that subsequently regressed.

The question now is, if Golesh ends with 6/7 wins year 1, can he still succeed? Does the NIL/portal era define your ceiling by your first year? What are some modern era examples of coaches who went on to do well following an unimpressive year 1? That list is a lot shorter, but very interesting, and you'll see why:

Golesh has been directly involved in two of the four rebuilding efforts that started with 6/7 wins and subsequently improved significantly. He helped Heupel improve from 7-5 in 2021 to 10-2 in 2022. At USF he inheritited a 1-11 program, improved to 6-6 in Year 1, maintained that record in year 2 and reached 9-3 in Year 3. (I left out bowl games in all these comparisons, because opt outs etc. affect them too drastically).

TL;DR: It's fair to criticize Golesh's lack of Year 1 success. Plenty of modern coaches have turned struggling programs around immediately, while far fewer have built sustained success after a 6–7 win start. However, Golesh was directly involved in two of those success stories: Tennessee as OC and USF as HC. Both optimism and skepticism are reasonable given what we've seen so far, and neither side should dismiss the other's concerns or expectations.

Now that you've had 48 hours to digest both the alcohol and the events of the past weekend, how are you feeling about both last week and the upcoming week? Discussion and analysis about both the previous weeks SEC games as well as upcoming games. Are our in-conference foes looking better than expected? Worse? What did the past weekend do to your confidence in our future matchups?

It makes me happy to see his NFL high lights today and makes me so frustrated that we could not capitalize on his talent when he was here. I know that is in the past and we are moving forward, but DAMN IT I feel like we can't get out of our own way. I will forever be upset about Harsin / Freeze era and need to get over it

We all knew this season was going to be rough. We all knew that we weren't going to be elite at every position. We all knew that this is Golesh's first year as a head coach at this level of football.

And despite the fact that we knew ALL of these things, there's already doomers calling for Golesh to be fired or questioning if he's ever going to work out here, or ranting about how we're gonna suck for the next millennium, etc., etc.

We aren't even through with the regular season, and people with nothing better to do than mope about how we aren't contending for national titles in year one of a new HC's tenure are posting their delusional takes online.

For the love of God, GIVE IT TIME. Have a single happy thought in your head for once while you're at it.

We've already pulled off a massive upset, against a rival no less, in their own stadium, and for the first time in 3 years, bowl eligibility is achievable. Realistically, we can win 3 more games before the regular season is over, and winning the Iron Bowl isn't as far out of reach as a lot of you want to think. It's likely we'll end the year at 7-6 or 8-5, assuming a bowl win.

Are we REALLY going to moan and cry about a 7 or 8 win season in year 1 of Golesh?

That's it. That's my take. I'll add Aaron Murray.

Edit: actually Aaron Murray's QB breakdowns are really good

I understand that you're tired of losing. We all are. But Jesus Christ, some of the suggestions that I'm reading that would "make the team better" after this game are downright awful.

—No, we should not start Tristan Ti'a over Byrum Brown. BB isn't the best quarterback, I think we can all agree with that statement. But are we serious rn? Ti'a showed decent promise. But he was going against LSU's 2nd and 3rd string players in garbage time, NOT the starting defense. It's not difficult to make a quarterback seem good when they're playing against a defense that was barely even trying because they've already won. I'd love to see Ti'a play against Samford since it'll be pretty difficult for us to lose that game, and would like for him to take over for Brown after the season. But I simply don't think we should bench Brown for him, especially not against SEC teams.

—No, Alex Golesh should not be fired after this season. Like, ??? Golesh shows a lot of promise as our head coach, and he's still settling in to the program. Trying to say that he's on the same level as Freeze or Harsin is insane. We had a big loss at home today after winning against No.1 Georgia, that definitely sucks. But it certainly does not warrant firing him. LSU was in a better condition than Georgia and is, honestly, a much better team than Georgia. Meanwhile, some of our players still looked a bit tired and hungover from the win last week, which is not the way you want to enter a game. LSU countered every option that we had, and we weren't able to break out in the same way we did against Georgia. Even then, we still didn't exactly look our best against Georgia with how we let them comeback.

—No, D.J. Durkin should not be fired. Admittedly, I do have my own problems with Durkin and think that he definitely needs to change his defensive schemes (for instance, not constantly having a spy on Sam Leavitt when he's proved that he's quite the capable runner when nothing's down field), but I don't think that he needs to be fired. At least, let's wait until the end of the season to fire him, if we are going to do so. Nothing good comes from firing a coach in the middle of the season (except for firing Freeze), and the only reason that we're even making games competitive most of the time is because of the defense. Plus, we don't even really have a clear replacement for Durkin!

We're in the final stretch of the season, so what are we playing for?

• @ Ole Miss (Oct. 31): An upset would give Golesh his second ranked win, tying Harsin's first year total. Freeze had zero. This is also one of two remaining opportunities to earn a ranked win.
• Arkansas (Nov. 7): Our most winnable remaining SEC game. A win here is likely essential if we're going to surpass Harsin's and Freeze's three Y1 SEC wins. Golesh would then also be the first Auburn HC to win two SEC home games since Gus Malzahn in 2020.
• @ Mississippi State (Nov. 14): Most pivotal remaining game imo. Assuming we beat Arkansas and Samford, a win here gets Auburn to 7–5 overall and 4–5 in SEC play minimum, better than both Harsin and Freeze in Y1 regular-season wins (6-6) and SEC wins (3-5).
• Samford (Nov. 21): A game Auburn should win. This is an important piece of the most realistic path to seven regular-season victories. Do not let this be another New Mexico State.
• @ Alabama (Nov. 28): The biggest remaining opportunity for a second signature win. Neither Harsin nor Freeze beat Alabama, although Harsin came close in a 4OT loss in 2021. A victory would also give Auburn wins over Georgia and Alabama in the same season for the first time since 2017, and our first win in Tuscaloosa since 2010.

dj durkin = done?

I think Golesh is gonna be the dude and Im not calling for him to be fired or anything, but why on earth are teams like Florida and Kentucky actual contenders this year and we arent? If its just a talent issue why were Sumral and Stein able to get better rosters together after Florida and Kentucky were also bad last year? Losing like this agaisnt LSU at home isnt going to help recruiting at all either.

Im lost

It's the difference between a bad bowl and a terrible bowl. A Gator Bowl win would be a decent first season for Golesh.

There are some plays where it looks like Brown has plenty of time but never grips it and rips it. Is he hesitant or are our receivers not getting open? I know the OL could be better but when they do give him time he just seems so hesitant.

I've had problems with DJ Durkin's schemes and philosophies for a while, there's been nothing I've seen from him in the past few years that warrants keeping him for a few extra years. Every game we've had with DJ Durkin with a lead late, DJ has almost always allowed for the opposing team to drive down to put the game away. Every time the defense needs a crucial stop on 3rd or 4th down, we never get it. I'll admit that DJ has gotten a lot out of his Linebackers and does a really good job getting them in a position to succeed, however our defensive line play and natural pass rush has been practically non-existent. He also let some really good DB pieces leave, and he replaced them with guys who were getting beat in any way possible against Baylor, Georgia, and LSU this year. The teams that didn't beat us with their arm got as many explosive runs as they wanted on the ground.

Penalties. DJ Durkin's defense loves to get penalties, he loves to call them being physical, but when you're on your own 35 and you need a big stop, you can guarantee that some Auburn player is going to get some automatic 1st down, 15 yard penalty. I'm tired of how undisciplined his side of the ball has been when your team needs life, and he himself has said he isn't going to discipline for physical penalties.

Short yardage situations. This is probably what hurts me the most. How have you been a defensive coach for however long you have been and still lining up 3 players on the Line of Scrimmage on 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1? I don't care if you're worried about the pass or your linebackers and Safeties not filling properly, you need to get some players on the LOS or they're just going to run inside and push your defensive lineman, that aren't even SEC caliber, back as far as they want.

But sure he kept us in games while Hugh was the coach so he must be good!

We all knew this season was going to be rough. We all knew that we were banking on G6 talent translating. We all knew that this is Golesh’s first year as a head coach at this level of football.

And despite the fact that we knew ALL of these things, there’s people who would rather attack fellow Auburn fans for having legitimate concerns than acknowledge the problems on the field. Apparently, even questioning whether Golesh can build a consistently successful program is now the same thing as calling for him to be fired, and expecting better makes you a “doomer”.

We are over halfway through with the regular season, and people would rather post copium online, and pretend that questioning whether a coach will be successful long-term is the same thing as demanding he be fired.

For the love of God, HAVE SOME STANDARDS. Have a single critical thought in your head for once while you’re at it.

We’ve already pulled off a massive upset, against a rival no less, but one signature win doesn’t erase legitimate concerns about this team’s performance or its prospects for sustained success. Especially when that win is followed up by being one of only four coaches in AU history, and the third coach in a row to get blown out at home in their first year. For the sixth year in a row, simply making a bowl game is being treated as the bar for success. Realistically, there are plenty of reasons to question whether this staff can turn things around, and expecting more from Auburn football isn’t as unreasonable as a lot of you want to think.

Are we REALLY going to moan and cry over fans having legitimate concerns rather than questioning the terrible product being put on the field?

Welcome to this week's /r/WDE Pre-Game Thread!

• How's everyone feeling going into the game?

• What do you think are the biggest keys to the game?

• Who is set to have a breakout game today?

• What's your score prediction?

For a while, Auburn was a magical place where any head coach could either go undefeated, go to the SEC championship, go to the national championship, or sometimes all three. Pat Dye’s 1983 team played by far the toughest schedule in the country and lost one game. Terry Bowden went 11-0 in 1993 and 9-1-1 in 1994. Tuberville went 13-0 in 2004, and overall was 41-6 between 2004-2007. Chizik went 14-0 and won the BCS title in 2010. Malzahn went to the BCS title game in 2013.

Harsin and Freeze were such genuinely bad coaches for this program that it was mind boggling. Under Harsin, we didn’t recruit. Under Freeze, all we did was recruit but didn’t develop. Both guys just came across as silly and washed up. After seeing our performance against UGA last Saturday, I feel optimistic that we have ourselves a coach for the first time in a while. Someone with a genuine personality and a relentless attitude to turn this program around and get it back to where it should be. Coach AG is going to get us there.