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The 2026 season just around the corner for the Auburn Tigers. Year one of Alex Golish. A new era of Auburn football officially beginning. Guys, normally we spend time looking back on how things went the previous season, set the scene and set the tone for what's to come in this one. The 2026 season, but not a lot to talk about. From 2025, Auburn went 5 and 7 as they went 1 and 7. An SEC play and the Hugh Freeze experience. The Hugh Freeze era mercifully comes to an end in Hugh Freeze insert. Alex Golish coming over from South Florida, who I thought was a really good hire. You know, the Auburn coaching search, I mean it was a wild time for coaching searches as we all recall last year. I thought Alex Goldish was a really good hire, especially after it looked like Arkansas was going to get him. Then that falls apart, then Auburn gets him. And you know, I've liked everything we've seen from goal ish at this point. I mean it's all about wins and losses. That's what it comes down to. But I think from the standpoint of number one, getting Auburn back to playing good offense, back to good quarterback play, I think he's a great hire for that reason. An early win, which we're going to get into in just a moment. DJ Durkin retaining him as defensive coordinator, a guy that I think some Auburn folks thought should have been the head coach after what he did as the interim. But it's just such a breath of fresh air, right? Hugh Freeze. Hugh Freeze was a guy that the hire made sense, has coached in the sec, he's won in the sec, he's beaten Nick Saban in Alabama. Those things matter when you get the head coaching job at Auburn, right? But it became evident very quickly as far as the culture, the culture of losing games late, the culture of bad offense, if you want to call it the culture, bad quarterback play became a theme. Hugh Freeze playing way too much golf and not, not recruiting. And listen, I'm a golfer myself. I love to play golf. It is what it is. But the optics aren't great when you're a head football coach at a big time program that is not winning at the level your fan base wants and you're not recruiting at the level they want and you're out playing golf all the time. Not great, not great. So there was just, there was a lot of extracurricular stuff on top of the losing that just made the, and, and then what he would say at the podium, what he would say in press conferences, it just made The Hugh Freeze experience. Excruciating. So Auburn fans get to take a breath of fresh air. Alex Golish is your new head coach. Obviously known for his offense. What he did at South Florida, what he did at Tennessee under Josh Hyple. They're still ball fans that say, hey, we haven't been the same since Alex Golich left. I think a really solid hire. How good of a hire is he? Well, only time will tell as we take a Look at this 2026 Auburn Tigers football team. Guys, let's start on the offensive side because that is Alex Golis's bread and butter. And again, guys, they have not finished top 15 nationally in scoring since 2019. I, I think immediately you talk about having a successful season. Can you get Auburn inside the top 50? Well, there's a lot of new pieces you're going to have to do it with, but that, that should be, I think the early goal. Early on, Cody Burns and Joel Gordon take over at cooc. Obviously it's Alex Golish's team and his offense. Byron Brown coming over from South Florida, he takes over at QB1. This is the theme. Obviously a lot of South Florida bulls on this roster on both sides of the football. But Byron Brown's your guy at quarterback and you know, you saw him last year against Florida and really throughout the season though, a really dynamic player. I mean, one of the most exciting players I think that we're going to see in the SEC this upcoming season. He can do it with his arms, he can do it with his legs. I just think the big question is how does it all translate to the SEC level? There were, you know, granted, rival fan bases, but people on social media picking apart is throwing motion and he kind of has that drop down. It's like, hey, our SEC defensive back's going to feast on that. I don't necessarily think so. And listen, if some dude on Twitter's seeing it, you bet that coaching staff is seeing it. Whatever it is that needs to get cleaned up, corrected, it will. But yeah, how does it adjust? Because he is a very exciting player. He is a game breaker. He is dynamic, no doubt. And if Auburn's going to have a big year and overachieve, he, it's going to be because of QB1. You do get Jeremiah Cobb back at RB1. You add Byron Washington over from Baylor as well. Chaz Nimrod, Keshawn Singleton, Jeremiah Coer all lead the receiving tack. They all are following Alex Golish from South Florida, you might recall most notably the big losses. No more Cam Coleman no more Eric Singleton. So you had to reload a receiver. It's those guys coming over from South Florida that are going to look to pick up the pieces and do a job for you. Excuse me. You add Jake Johnson from UNC and Jonathan Echols from South Florida who are competing at the tight end spot. 5 new offensive line starters, they are all out of the portal. Cole Best at South Florida leads the group. Joe Simmons from James Madison was a really big pickup as well. But again, guys, as is the theme with Auburn, it's just a lot of new. It's just a lot of new. But I think for Auburn, new can be good. I, I do, man. Because listen, they weren't good on offense under Hugh Freeze, especially at the quarterback position. I, I talked about this a couple months ago. We did our season would be successful segments. What would spell a successful season for each individual team? And when it came to Auburn, guys, I said just get competent quarterback play. Now I've kind of revised it to get competent quarterback play. Leading to guys, if you can be top 50 nationally in scoring, which I don't think is that crazy of an ask, if you can be top 50 nationally in scoring, I think you spell that success because you're going to win some games. You may not be the best team in the country or make the playoff or whatever, but you're going to win some games and it's going to be exciting to watch and it's going to be fun to watch. That's the biggest problem with Auburn football, guys. It just became like nails on a chalkboard at times. Even when they did win, it was excruciating to watch. So, you know, a lot of new, a lot of pieces have to come together. It starts at the quarterback. They do have some exciting players that again did some big things at South Florida. But how does this essentially a South Florida roster compete in the SEC on the offensive side, that's the big question. But. But I'm excited to watch Byron Brown. He is a dynamic playmaker. He should make some big things happen this year and be a real headache for SEC defensive coordinators. Guys, on the defensive side of the football, maybe the biggest win of the off season or the biggest win of the Alex Golish era to date. You got DJ Durkin back on campus and Auburn, it should lead to the defense being a strength for you yet again. First team all SEC linebacker. Excuse me. Xavier Atkins is back to leave the defense or lead the defense. Excuse me. The defensive front consists of transfers. Cody Sigler from Arkansas State, Deshaun Womack from Ole Miss, Nate Johnson from Mizzou, Saint Ferriero from App State, Walter Mathis Jr. From LSU. You do get Jordan Crawford, Jared Smith and Devon Smith all back as returners. Eric Winter, Sylvester Smith and Quan Fegans are all back in the secondary. You added Andrew Jordan Jr from UCLA to help out as well. Guys, I just trust DJ Durkin at this point, right? Still some new here, obviously, as you would expect. But I mean, DJ Durkin has done wonders with that Auburn defense as he got on campus. Why would I expect anything different at this point, right? I, I fully expect, fully expect the Auburn defense to be a strength yet again. Again, love Xavier Atkins at linebacker spot. Getting him back was huge. He's a big time baller, big time player, makes things happen. But yeah, DJ Durkin, again, I think you have talent at all three levels. Certainly some question marks, but I think you got talented all three, three levels. I think the defense should be a strength yet again. Keeping DJ Durkin on staff was just massive. A massive win for Alex Gollish. Guys, let's go to the special teams. Alex McPherson's back at kicker, Hudson K back at punter. Y' all can tell me in the comments how to say his last name. I'm not going, I'm not going. I'm not even going to attempt. Rayshawn Pleasant is back at your kickoff. Specialist Bryce Kane expected to help out the punt return game. Hey, listen, when you're trying to overachieve in year one, making big plays in special teams, it helps. And also in the sec, you're going to be in some dog fights, gonna be in some close games. Having a guy like Alex McPherson is a massive boost for you. He has been really, really good for Auburn throughout his career. Now as we take a look at Auburn, when it comes to our friends over at Kalshi, here's what Kalshi has to say. If I can get it pulled up, here's what Kalshi has to say about the Auburn Tigers. We're going to start with win totals, okay? Percentage chance for Auburn to win five or more games. Kelsey's got 83% chance to win five or more, 63 chance to win six or more, 56 chance to win seven or more. So still pretty good odds here. Drops to 35 chance to win 8 or more, 22% chance to win 9 or more, 21 chance to win 10 or more, 10% chance to win 12 games. So it kind of breaks right at that 7 and 8, 7 win, 8 win mark. So you know you do the math there. Seven and a half is probably what you're looking at for Auburn as far as a win total, which, I mean, listen, year one of a new head coach after the seasons you've had and you haven't even had a winning season since What, Covid? Essentially 20, 21, I think however long it's been, you know, that's, I mean, that's. I think you'll take that. Right. Means there's some expectations, means there's some belief in this roster. Means there's some belief in this roster. No doubt. As far as the College Football Playoff is concerned, if we can find it here on Cowshi, which this is normally not this difficult to find futures. Here we go. Yep. As far as qualifying for the College Football Playoff, Auburn has a. A 10% chance, which is not bad, to make the College Football Playoff. And when it comes to winning the national championship, Auburn has less than 1% chance to win the Natty. I mean, fair though, Fair even for the most optimistic Auburn fan. Fair. Now the overall outlook for the Auburn Tigers. Two starters are back on this football team. One on the offense and one of the defense. I don't think that's something that really upsets you though, if you're Auburn. Listen, and I think there were others out there that made a great point when people were all up in arms about a guy like, like Cam Coleman leaving. Like, does it suck to lose a playmaker like that on the outside? Sure. But guys, you didn't have a winning season with him. So when you, when you've had the seasons you've had over the last couple years, everybody's expendable. Who cares? Let's just start new, let's start fresh. Let's all take a deep breath. All we got is all we need mentality. And into year one of the Alex Golish era we go. And this is what the first season for Alex Golich looks like as we take a look at the schedule. Auburn will open up with the Baylor Bears in Mercedes Benz in Atlanta in the aflac. AFLAC kickoff game. Then you get Southern Miss in non conference play at home. Then your SEC home opener. Alex Golish's SEC debut. The Florida Gators come to Jordan Hair Stadium. That one should be an electric matchup, guys. A seven o' clock eastern time kickoff. That place is going to be rocking. Rocking for Alex Goelish's first ever SEC game. Then you got the Vanderbilt Commodores coming to your place. Does no Diego Papia mean you finally in this streak of bad performances against Vandy your SEC road debut at Tennessee in Neyland, then you get a bye week. Excuse me, you're at Georgia, LSU at home, at Ole Miss, Arkansas, at Mississippi State, Sanford, and then at Alabama. It's a difficult slate. It's a difficult schedule. There's no question. I mean, opening with Florida is really tough. Again, you do get them at home at night, but Florida is going to be a really good team. Having to go to Knoxville, to Athens, to Oxford, to Tuscaloosa and then to Starkville, which, I mean, what is Mississippi State going to be? But, like, that's not exactly the easiest place to go play a football game. So it is a really tough schedule. It is. There's a lot of opportunity on this schedule. You know, it's, it's, it's not the Auburn schedules of old to where it felt like the last two years we've come into seasons where it's like, man, if Auburn's not five and, oh, they're not five and one, if they're not six, zero, like, boy, this is, this is a massive disappointment. I mean, guys, if you can be, if you can be four in one out of the gate, that's a heck of a start. I mean, if you're 5, 0, you're playing with house money. We're talking about you going into the bye week. Going in that game against Georgia is like, hey, Auburn's putting themselves in position to make a run in the playoff, right? But realistically, if you can be four in one, you need to, you need to beat Vandy. You got to get off that hump, right? Like, you gotta, you gotta get over that hump. I should say you need to beat the Vanderbilt Commodores, period. You got to beat Arkansas, you got to beat Mississippi State, you need to beat Baylor out the gate. That'd give you six wins right there. And then you got your big games. Florida, you know, at Georgia, LSU at home. Who knows what happens at Alabama, you know, So I, I think a winning season is on the table here. It just is really indicative of how quickly these pieces come together. And that's where we go next, guys, as we put a pin in this, I think the question for Auburn this year is really truly. Yeah. What does success look like in year one? Or Alex Goldish? And can essentially a largely. A roster largely built from the Portal via South Florida, can they compete at the highest level? And really the offense is my question. I, I feel really confident either even with changes and not a lot returning, I think the defense under D.J. durkin, he has Proven is going to be just fine. Can Auburn have an offense that complements the defense, that does not shoot themselves in the foot, that doesn't lose football games? And I think the other big piece of this too, Alex Golish is tasked with changing a culture. Auburn's a tough job. It is, right? But changing a culture of crumbling in the biggest moments, for whatever reason, under Hugh Freeze, guys, the opportunities were there and it just always slipped through their fingers when Auburn gets the opportunity, because they will when they get the opportunity in these big games against these high profile opponents and they've got them on the ropes. Can Auburn make the big plays down the stretch when it matters most? Or is there still some Hugh Freeze in this program? And, and we see them crumble late in games and, and have some heartbreaking losses. I think essentially, guys, because listen, Auburn is a rebuild of rebuilds. It is a rebuild, right? You are building for the future. You'd like to win this year, but you are building for the long term. In my opinion, if you can just have a winning season. I think you got to chalk that up as a W. I mean, guys, you got to walk before you can run. You gotta crawl before you can walk. You haven't had a winning season in over five years. Is it something like that? Feels like since COVID it's been a long time. Like I can't remember the last time Auburn went above.500. It's been a while. So get to 7 and 5. I think if you do that, you will have scored at least one signature win. Can Alex Golish get that signature win? I, I understand in a world we live in, a college football playoff or bus where it's like if you don't make the playoff, you didn't do anything. I, I don't believe in that. I don't buy into that notion. A lot can still be achieved. Having a signature win in year one, right? Making a statement in year one, laying the foundation in year one. Those things still matter. Those things are still important. It's not just as simple as, well, we didn't make a playoff. It's a wash. Let's go to year two. No, I still believe in building a program and I think that's what Alex Golish is tasked with. I think he was a good hire. I think if nothing else, thank God Hugh Freeze isn't there anymore if you're an Auburn fan. But I think, I think Alex Golish was a really good hire. Comes down to wins and losses at a place like Auburn. We know that. And it's about building for the long term, building for the future in the short term. Byron Brown needs to perform at a high level. The offense needs to be fun and exciting. Compliment a defense that should be really solid. You do all that, start to change the culture. Win some games late. Some of these games where you got a team on the ropes, make the big plays, don't piss down your leg when it matters most. Score a signature win or two, have a winning season, you do all those things. You know, I think Auburn's probably sitting 7 and 5, 8 and 4, and I think that's a massive success in year one. So Auburn One of those interesting teams and they're one of those teams that people have been talking about, hey, good, could the Auburn Tigers sneak up? The Auburn Tigers be a a surprise team? Maybe. Maybe. Guys, love to hear your thoughts. How do you feel on Alex Golish the Auburn Tigers what are your expectations for Auburn in Year one of the Alex Goal share. Sa. Sam.