Alex Golesh challenging Auburn’s response to success: ‘Don’t listen to anybody’

Alex Golesh is trying to get his team to look beyond the scoreboard.

Instead of focusing on the end result, the first-year head coach is driving the importance of the process in his program. He doesn’t want his team to just enjoy the process — he wants them to love it.

“I'm trying to drive it to an intent to be elite in every aspect of their life so that on Saturdays, you see the best version of that,” Golesh said. “Whatever that is. So I've said it numerous times, we are truly in a race against ourselves to get as good as we can as fast as we can.”

BIG WIN OR BAD LOSS, IT HAS TO BE THE SAME

Auburn got its first taste of major success over the weekend with its upset victory over Georgia. The buzz around the program is as high as it’s been over the last several years. However, Golesh remains guarded around the win.

“Now they all got everybody telling them how good they are,” Golesh said. “I still have 500 some unread texts on one phone and God knows how many on the other. After the Florida game, I only had like three, and two of them said I suck.”

He needs the team to understand that although it’s a big win, it can’t cover up where improvements are still needed.

“The entire two-and-a-half hour staff meeting [Sunday] was, here's fundamentally where we suck,” Golesh said. “Here's our pad level, here's our missed leverages, here's our hat placement, here's our hand placement, here's our run track that isn't going exactly where it's got to be.”

Enjoy the win. Then flush it, just like you would a bad loss. That’s how Golesh operates.

“Everybody take a deep breath, fundamentals, technique, process, rewind right back to it,” Golesh said. “That's why I say like, good win, bad loss, it has to be the same. And if I've learned anything from this conference, like you are just good enough to get your ass beat every Saturday if it ain't right.”

TRUSTING THE PROCESS

Auburn has to keep the focus this week on LSU. The team can’t dwell on the previous success and lose sight of what Golesh is trying to establish within the program — an elite process where the players are the driving factor.

“I've talked about this a bunch, but in every position, have guys that you can point to, you can accelerate growth that way,” Golesh said. “It's easier after a win, for sure than after a loss, it's like man, guys, you just gotta trust me on this. If you just do this and this and this.”

Establish the process through the players and the wins will come. The team reaped the benefits with a win over Georgia, giving Golesh an ample opportunity to express his confidence in the process even more.

“It certainly is a great opportunity to…be able to point to guys and say, ‘Man, look at his process,” Golesh said. “Look at the way that guy works, look at the way he treats his teammates, look at the way he's all into this team. I need you to do the same thing. Just follow him.”

BLOCK OUT THE NOISE

It’s about trusting the guy beside you, the people in your inner circle and only your inner circle. Not the outside noise. Not those telling you how good you are. Strictly the 74 players the 60 staff members in the building.

That’s the point Golesh vocalized in his postgame locker room speech following the win.

“Don’t listen to anybody!” Golesh said.

In a state where there’s no professional sports teams, it’s either Auburn or Alabama for the most part. That’s where the attention turns, and with it comes the opinions that ring throughout social media, campuses or even conversations had by the water cooler at the office.

“The challenge to us is don't listen to anybody outside of your inner circle when it comes to football, when it comes to mindset and when it comes to what we're asking you to get done,” Golesh said.

Take the scoreboard out of the equation. Focus on the task at hand, and only on the task at hand. Good win or bad win, the response has to be the same. And don’t listen to anyone outside, regardless of if they’re pumping you up or tearing you down.

“You can't sit here and listen to what somebody thinks of you, because if you do, then I wouldn't be here,” Golesh said. “If I ever listened to anybody that said I should do this or I should do that, I wouldn't be here. I'm here because of the work I put into it. Our players are here because of the work they put into it. That was the message.”

Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.