Auburn operated under a mock game week last week, but it’s now the real deal.
The Tigers will open their season against Baylor in Atlanta on Saturday, but getting the game week routine down early is just what the team needed according to head coach Alex Golesh.
“There was a lot to work through,” Golesh said. “When you have a new staff, it's so different for the staff, just as much as the players. I thought they responded fairly well. I'm so process-oriented, and hammering home what an authentically high-end routine should look like is what we needed last week.”
While there were some encouraging signs throughout the mock game week, Golesh admits there were also moments where coaching was needed.
“I think the balance of teaching and introducing an opponent, and then on top of it, us going through our process of what it needs to look like week in and week out, it was really big,” Golesh said. “Now, this week, the expectation is that it's flawless, and we rock and roll.”
The mock game week isn’t just beneficial for the players, but for coaches, too. Especially considering the staff is a mix of coaches that were with Golesh at South Florida and some that weren’t.
“Obviously, the full staff for the first time going through it, it was valuable to go through that and kind of work out the kinks and talk through it,” said defensive coordinator DJ Durkin. “I've said it before, (Golesh) just does a great job communicating. The communication of this is a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, so on and so forth, of what the expectation is and how we do it, I think it was good for our players. We're all so routine as players and coaches, and you want to get in that routine and find out if this is what we do on a morning meeting on a Tuesday or whatever it might be. So, it was great for our plan.”
Meanwhile, this is offensive coordinator Joel Gordon’s fourth time going through the mock week with Golesh. He notices the difference.
“I remember the first time I was going through, I'm like, 'Man, we have a difference here and a difference there,” Gordon said. “Before long, if you have players that are just adjusting to a schedule, as little as that seems, it can cause hiccups in execution and what am I supposed to do on this play or that play. I think it's a great deal that we do just to expose the players to what this week is going to be.”
Auburn will have its normal Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The team will practice Friday morning before traveling to Atlanta in the afternoon.
“Just excited to get to game one,” Golesh said. “As you go into year one and get rolling, for me, it’s just as exciting as anything to see us go perform. We’ve spent so much time talking and working through so many different things that you just want to go and play the very best that you can, and then continue to grow and learn from that.”
Kickoff against Baylor is set for 2:30 p.m. CST.
