After 3 years of losing seasons despite having back-to-back top-10 recruiting classes, the Auburn Tigers front office and boosters felt a bit played by former Auburn Tigers HC Hugh Freeze. The new head coach, Alex Golesh, understands that with great booster funds comes great responsibility. Thus, he’s making it clear that meddling with the program is a non-starter.

On February 16, Alex Golesh sat down with On3 to discuss the elephant in the room at Auburn: the boosters. He knows that at a big-time program like Auburn, people with deep pockets want to feel involved. Instead of hiding from them, his strategy is just to be brutally honest.

“When you look at this job, everything you said is everything I heard for years. It’s all these outside people [trying to control the program]. Well, you have to have confidence in a plan that you’re going to essentially control it. That was a huge part of the conversation going in was, ‘Is there gonna be a bunch of outside influences on this thing?’ Like, I just won’t do it. It’s not worth it,” Alex Golesh set the boundaries.

The way he sees it, boosters are essential because they fund the facilities and the NIL deals that get top players to campus. However, he made it clear that donating doesn’t mean coaching. He told Pete Nakos that if someone wants to give money just to have a say in team decisions, he’d actually rather not take their money at all. But he believes they deserve to know where their money is going and how their money is being spent.

“They have a right to know what you’re spending money on. But you have to be really careful,” said Golesh. “If you’re going to spend money and then want to be involved in decision-making, then we’re good. We don’t need your money. If you’re upfront and honest from the beginning, you’ve got a chance.”

The biggest concern with Alex Golesh and the Auburn Tigers is whether they can win anything worthwhile in the SEC. The last time they were ranked was back in 2019. If it weren’t for Cam Newton at Auburn, they’d still be natty-less in the modern era. Since then, it’s pretty much felt like they’ve been a filler team in the SEC.

Golesh thinks Auburn has what it takes (resources) to win a national title or at least compete for it. When he was at Tennessee working under Josh Heupel as OC, he watched the team bounce back and have a big 11–2 season after years of struggling.

That experience gave him confidence when he took the USF job. The good news is Alex Golesh isn’t one bit shy about speaking his heart. When he first got to Tampa, the program had very little financial backing. Only one of his players was making $5,000. The former Tennessee OC worked hard in Florida and raised the money to build a better squad. Within three years, he went from 1-11 to a 9-3 finish.

His success at USF helps answer whether he can win in the SEC. More importantly, funding shouldn’t be an issue on the Plains. If he’s given funds for the roster of his choice, competing for the SEC and a natty doesn’t feel like a mirage for Hugh Freeze’s successor.

Right now, he’s out on a tour across Alabama to get the fans and the big donors on his side before spring practice starts with his LAUNCH campaign. When asked what stood out about his new team, the head coach’s eyes lit up.

Alex Golesh on what stands out with his new Auburn squad

The main thing that blew Golesh’s mind was the pure energy of the team ahead of their first spring practice together.

“I will tell you the biggest thing that stood out is the energy these guys have,” Golesh said when questioned by reporters. “I think as much as the coaches are excited to actually start working with these guys, they’ve been really intentional.”

Golesh also touched on how wild it’s been to basically flip the entire roster in just two months or so. He’s added around 60 new players, including a massive wave of 39 guys from the transfer portal. Even with all that turnover, he’s convinced they found the right guys who fit the culture at Auburn.

As spring practice looms, Golesh’s message is clear: financial support is welcome, but the on-field product is his responsibility alone. It’s a principle he believes will finally get the Tigers back to being a powerhouse.