After eight days of preseason camp, the Auburn Tigers held their first scrimmage giving head coach Alex Golesh his first extended look at the team under game-like conditions. However, Golesh made it clear that rebuilding a program takes time, and Auburn still has plenty of work to do before opening the 2026 season.
The defense was the bright spot for the Tigers a year ago and is expected to remain one of the team’s biggest strengths with DJ Durkin continuing to lead the unit. Still, early concerns emerged following the first scrimmage, particularly in one crucial area: tackling.
Golesh admitted that Auburn’s performance in that department was not where it needed to be and took responsibility for the lack of progress.
“I would tell you I’m leaving the scrimmage today and telling you that I’m all in. And I’ll take some ownership there,” Golesh said. “We’ve tackled once so far leading up to this in a limited way, practice 7-on-7, and I thought we tackled just OK then. I thought Friday we tackled just OK at best.”
Several offensive players who had been sidelined or limited by injuries returned for the scrimmage, giving the coaching staff a more complete look at the offense. However, the defense was without several key contributors, including safeties Kaleb Harris, AnQuan Fegans, and Sylvester Smith-Reed, who were held out of the session.
Despite the early struggles, Golesh emphasized that tackling will remain a major priority as Auburn prepares for his first season on the Plains.
The new head coach explained that tackling in space is one of the most difficult aspects of football, especially against an offense designed to create one-on-one situations in the open field.
“Defensively, we work tackling daily. We have all summer,” Golesh said. “But the hardest thing to do in football is tackle in open space. That truly is. That’s the entirety of our offense, is getting people in space one-on-one, and it’s the hardest thing to do defensively.”
Golesh added that Auburn must continue improving through repetition, even while balancing the need to keep players healthy during camp.
The Tigers are now less than three weeks away from their 2026 opener, which will mark the beginning of a new era with Golesh as head coach and transfer quarterback Byrum Brown leading the offense. Auburn will open the season against the Baylor Bears on Sept. 5 in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.