Auburn Football Head Coach Alex Golesh seemed poised and confident as he took the podium to address reporters to begin his first fall camp on the Plains. “From a coaching standpoint and player standpoint how do we control, talk about winning in the margins like the situational football piece. It’s so much further ahead from just the schematic standpoint then it used to be.”
WHAT BETTER WAY TO BEGIN THE FIRST DAY OF CAMP WITH THIS EXCLUSIVE OFFER
Golesh added that the situational aspect of the game will work itself out once they put the pads on. He has talked ad nauseam since being hired about wanting to be a run-heavy offensive football team. Last year, the Tigers averaged almost five yards per rush attempt. Golesh will doubtless be looking to improve upon that. While Jeremiah Cobb was the primary running back option last season, Golesh has made it a point of emphasis to bring more balance to the position.
“In a perfect world I’ve always told our offensive staff you need three to five ready to go into a game. Meaning naturally those guys take a good beating like You have to go into the season with five.” Golesh stated.
One player hoping to see an increase in production this year is sophomore and Auburn native Omar Mabson. Last year, he played in 10 games but only carried the ball 14 times, including one touchdown. His coaches feel, however, with the effort he has put into this offseason, those numbers will go up.
Golesh said, “He doesn’t say a whole lot, but he is on a mission to win a job. He has pushed others in that room to either get on his level or they are going to struggle.”
Auburn Offensive Coordinator Joel Gordon was also effusive in his praise for Mabson. “He’s a great teammate. He’s a leader for us. He’s gotten better. Even though we aren’t playing against anybody throughout the summertime you can see that he is getting faster. He is getting smoother.”
One thing that will help establish an effective running game is solid offensive line play, a position group that has struggled in recent seasons for the Tigers. As a unit last year, Auburn gave up 345 yards in negative rushing plays. They also gave up 42 sacks, which was fourth worst in the country.
The Tigers did get some good news regarding the left tackle position as camp begins. Michigan State Transfer Stanton Ramil is cleared and ready to go following an offseason surgery.
Regarding Ramil, Golesh stated, “As he’s become more confident and ingrained in that room you’ve started to see some leadership ability. You can see why he was a captain, as a sophomore, at the previous place. We need that in that room. We need a sense of veteraness. We need leadership and he has done a really good job at that.”
“He’s been really exciting to be around. I think the entire offense would agree he’s been a spark for us. He’s given us some juice everyday we are out there working out. He’s been a great addition to the culture of who’s on offense.” Coach Gordon added.
The next 13 days will include the team staying off campus at Marriott Resort Grand National in Opelika. Coach Golesh made this decision in an effort to remove all distractions and grow together as a team.
“Continuing to build this identity and holding this program to a standard and what that looks like. Continuously pointing to that aint the way it is and demanding that or when it is reaffirming that this is the standard and this is what things should look like at Auburn.” Golesh concluded.
Only 30 days remain until Auburn and Baylor square off inside Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta. Kickoff is set for 2:30 central.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
