Alex Golesh isn’t playing around when it comes to getting Auburn ready for the 2026 season. The former Buffalo Bulls HC inherited a roster stacked with a crazy 34,000 career college snaps. But after an ‘ok at best’ first scrimmage, he told everyone to leave their egos at the door. He wants to know if this squad is actually mature enough to win games, or if they are just riding a roller coaster of emotions every time something goes right or wrong.

Luckily, just five days after publicly roasting his squad for a “sloppy” performance and telling them to get humble, the head coach walked off the field feeling incredibly hyped about the turnaround at Plains.

The Auburn Tigers head honcho was gassed about how much better the energy was, making it clear that a ton of really, really good stuff came out of the day on both sides of the ball. The emotional roller coaster from the first scrimmage was gone, replaced by a locked-in mindset as the team handled substitution drills and even basic situations like properly taking the field after a kickoff.

“Stuff came out. Some really, really good stuff came out of today. On really both sides, tackled so much better. Man, I was really proud of the way we tackled. There was some violent, violent intent defensively,” Golesh said, as per The Next Round on X. “Some really good situations came up. Worked a lot of substitutional stuff.”

After failing to impress the head coach with 115 snaps in the first scrimmage, the offense set their priorities straight and finally unlocked its signature, explosive rhythm. The unit broke off massive chunk plays in both the passing and running games while showing it can execute brutal, sustained 15-play drives right through the oppressive Alabama heat. Golesh was specifically thrilled to see his players handle the complex tempo cleanly without relying on coaches signaling frantically from the sidelines.

The apparent test of the day came when the offense had to sustain brutal marathon drives. Golesh pointed out that until you get out there with truly coaches off the field, you don’t really know how players will react to the exhaustion.

The offense pushed through grueling 8, 10, 12, 14, and even 15-play drives right through the thick of the oppressive Alabama heat. Golesh emphasized that you can try to replicate that kind of exhaustion in practice all you want, but there is absolutely nothing like actually doing it, making the offensive execution a massive positive.

Quarterback Byrum Brown led the charge by making smart, lethal decisions all afternoon. Wideouts Keshaun Singleton, Chas Nimrod, and Kory Pettigrew gave him plenty of help by hauling in long, highly athletic touchdown passes against an incredibly stingy secondary. The star quarterback, who originally transferred from South Florida to follow Golesh to Auburn, has completely master-minded the playbook.

He further pushed the first-team offense to score on a grueling, field-flipping drive that started pinned deep inside their own five-yard line. Behind him, freshman backup quarterback Tristan Ti’a handled his business as well.

The front seven also completely dominated the afternoon during crucial situational football drills. Standouts like Dallas Walker IV and senior edge rusher Da’Shawn Womack generated constant pressure up front.

Young players like Eric Winters and true freshman Jared Smith proved they totally belong in the main defensive rotation. Safe to assume, the defensive front completely controlled both the two-minute drills and third-down simulations.

Unfortunately, the defense took a major blow with some devastating injury news.

A hiccup in Tigers’ road!

Redshirt sophomore edge rusher J.J. Faulk, the younger brother of former Auburn star and first-round NFL Draft pick Keldric Faulk, underwent surgery on scrimmage day for a broken collarbone suffered in practice. He’s officially ruled out for the entire regular season, though Golesh left the door cracked for a potential late November or postseason return if recovery goes smoothly.

Luckily, the Tigers will lean much heavier on UCLA transfer defensive back Andre “Dre” Jordan Jr. to anchor the secondary alongside a committee of young depth pieces like Nate Johnson and Joe Phillips.

Next up, the Tigers are heading straight into their highly anticipated mock game week. This final phase of fall camp will serve as an identical dress rehearsal for real game-day logistics before they travel to Atlanta to clash with the Baylor Bears at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 5th.

Golesh made it clear that although there are still plenty of minor situational errors to iron out, the team’s internal hunger and physical execution are finally matching the massive expectations on the Plains.