Alex Golesh explains why he has confidence in quarterback Byrum Brown
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Alex Golesh has a lot of history with incoming Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown. As Auburn’s new head coach mentioned on Tuesday, he first met Brown as a redshirt freshman at USF in 2023.
Brown starred as Golesh’s starting quarterback last season at South Florida. The former Bulls QB threw for 3,158 passing yards and 28 touchdowns on 66% completions while rushing for 1,008 yards and 14 touchdowns. His play led South Florida to wins over Boise State and Florida, and he never passed for under 200 yards across the entire season.
That consistency should translate to the SEC, especially with the familiarity to Golesh’s system and several transfers following the pair to The Plains. Making it easier, Brown has the look and size of a Day 1 SEC star, standing at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds.
On Tuesday, while speaking at SEC Media Days, Golesh took the opportunity to express his utmost confidence in Brown and his ability to lead his team from Day 1 in the SEC. Specifically, he mentioned Brown’s toughness and his ability to lead as traits that give Auburn the ability to “do something special.”
“I have always said this, and I have been fortunate over the last ten years to be around some special quarterbacks,” Golesh started. “when your quarterback can be one the toughest guys on the team, can be one the hardest workers on the team, have the most elite process on the team on top of being one of the best leaders on the team, when it’s driven by that quarterback, the guy that touches the ball every single snap and both the offense and the defensive guys can point to him and say, that’s who we follow, you can do something special.”
While USF beat and hung around with great teams last season, the physicality of the SEC is another beast entirely. We’ll see how Brown responds to this new challenge on September 5 as the Tigers kick off the Alex Golesh era against Baylor in Atlanta.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
