Alex Golesh dismisses Auburn’s struggles in Iron Bowl: ‘This team hasn’t played Bama’
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Auburn coach Alex Golesh met with reporters at the Regions Tradition Pro-Am in Birmingham on Wednesday morning.
Golesh was asked about the emphasis that Auburn put on the Iron Bowl during spring practice over the past few weeks. A reporter also referenced Auburn’s recent struggles against Alabama — something Golesh dismissed as being in the past.
“I don’t super care about what the success has been or hasn’t been, to be totally honest with you,” Golesh said. “This team hasn’t played Bama. We’ll be prepared to go play Week 12 when it’s time to go play.
“We just put an emphasis on what that game is. We’re going to continue to put an emphasis on it. It’s the greatest rivalry in college football. It’s important to our fan base, it’s important to our alums, it’s important to me. It’s not any more important today than the other 11, but it’s going to be a constant reminder at Auburn, as long as I’m here, that the last week of the year is a critical week for the people of our fan base and the people of our state.”
Alabama has won 6 consecutive games against Auburn, including a 27-20 victory over the Tigers this past fall. Auburn’s last win in this series came back in 2019 when Gus Malzahn was still in charge.
Golesh has matched up against Alabama a few times at other jobs. He was the head coach at South Florida in 2023 and 2024 when the Bulls faced off against Alabama. The Tide won both of those games, but the 2023 meeting was a memorably-close affair that ended 17-3 in Tampa.
Golesh was also Tennessee‘s offensive coordinator in 2022 when the Vols snapped a lengthy losing streak to Alabama. That was Tennessee’s first win over the Tide since 2006.
Alabama and Auburn are scheduled to meet on Nov. 28 in Tuscaloosa later this year.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
