Auburn OC Joel Gordon asks Byrum Brown for better decision-making ahead of UGA game
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Auburn offensive coordinator Joel Gordon is in his first year on the Plains after spending the previous 3 seasons as the OC at South Florida.
He worked with a quarterback in Tampa named Byrum Brown. Yes, the same signal-caller who transferred to Auburn and is also in his first season on the Plains in 2026. Gordon and Brown are part of the package from USF that is now at Auburn, along with head coach Alex Golesh.
All 3 of them are trying to make their way with the Tigers in Year 1 of a new regime, and it’s been a work in progress. Auburn is 3-2 overall but just 1-2 in the SEC as the Tigers head to Athens on Saturday for a huge Week 7 challenge against top-ranked Georgia (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Brown has been a work in progress, too. The senior has a 64.8 QBR this season, which ranks 45th in college football. He’s thrown for 1,055 yards and has 7 interceptions against 7 touchdowns, so not the ideal TD-to-INT ratio so far.
While he’s shown an ability to beat defenses with his legs, rushing for 344 yards and 4 touchdowns this season, it’s those interceptions that need to be kept to a minimum and it’s Brown’s questionable decision-making that Gordon was referencing on Monday as he met with reporters in the leadup to the Georgia battle.
“We have to make better decisions with the football. … Five games playing this schedule, what has to happen is: ‘I have to learn from my mistakes,'” Gordon said. “The games happen fast in this league.”
Gordon also provided some hope going forward regarding Brown, saying his mistakes “are avoidable” and “fixable.”
Auburn has a mighty challenge on its hands in Week 7 as it heads to Athens to face the new No. 1 team in the country. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the Tigers’ chances to shock the college football world and take down Georgia on Saturday:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
