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PODCAST: The Alex Golesh era begins at Auburn · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

0:07
Welcome on in everybody. Another edition
0:09
here of the Auburn Undercover podcast on
0:11
the 247 Sports Network. My name is
0:14
Nathan King joined by Jason Caldwell and
0:18
as we predicted when we did the postgame
0:20
pod after the Iron Bowl, uh it was had a
0:23
very short shelf life because Auburn
0:26
turned around and made a higher quite
0:28
quickly. I'll have to look at the time
0:30
stamp when they announced it or at least
0:32
when we posted it, but it could not have
0:34
been later than 9:56 a.m. something like
0:38
that. It was right before the team
0:39
meeting.
0:39
>> Yep.
0:40
>> At 10 a.m. Uh, if you're listening to
0:41
this, you know by now that USF head
0:44
coach Alex Golish is Auburn's new head
0:46
coach. He becomes the 33rd coach in
0:49
Auburn football history, ending a
0:50
four-week search to find a replacement
0:53
for Hugh Fes.
0:55
Jason, it's been a jam-packed Sunday as
0:58
these things always are. Um, it was a
1:02
couple days ago that Golash's name
1:04
started to kind of resurface
1:07
as the John Sallall saga turned
1:09
Florida's direction. Florida, by the
1:11
way, officially hired Sumall today. Um,
1:15
but it was clear that this was a guy
1:17
that John Cohen really, really liked
1:19
during the interview process. as we were
1:20
told he interviewed early on and
1:22
Auburn's impression was he would take
1:24
the job if it was offered like he was
1:26
really gung-ho about the opportunity and
1:28
when it didn't work out with some roll I
1:30
think some of these other guys were kind
1:31
of prickly as you and I had reported you
1:33
you really weren't sure about some of
1:35
these guys so John Cohen turned back to
1:37
a guy that he was impressed with in the
1:39
very beginning and said come on with it
1:41
and now Auburn's turning to a young uh
1:44
41-year-old offensive coach to try to uh
1:47
to inject some life and get the program
1:49
back to a healthier place.
1:52
>> Yeah, really interesting hire. Um, you
1:55
look at him and you look at at
1:57
offensively what they've been able to
1:58
do. Um, and and you know, we've we were
2:02
told a little bit today like I I think
2:04
you know, his his quarterback coach co
2:07
has been kind of the play caller for
2:08
them. So, that's a little different than
2:11
Yeah, I think that's what you need. So,
2:12
I think that's important. Look, uh,
2:15
offensively they've been great. Um this
2:17
this year they were what? Number four
2:18
team in the country in in total offense.
2:21
>> Yes.
2:21
>> Quarterback is the national leader in
2:23
total offense. They they scored points
2:25
in bunches. I mean like all the things
2:27
you're looking for and they do it a
2:28
bunch of different ways. I think I
2:30
counted eight games where they ran for
2:31
200 yards and threw for 200 yards in the
2:33
same game. That's pretty good. Uh so
2:37
interesting higher, but you know, you
2:40
start digging into them a little bit.
2:42
And listen, we we said this before.
2:45
There's no guarantee. No guarantee that
2:48
any hire you make is going to be the
2:49
right one. No guarantee that any hire
2:51
you make is going to be the wrong one.
2:53
Do I feel like this guy has what it
2:55
takes to to go out and win games? I do.
2:57
Um, you know, I think can you, you know,
3:00
can you kind of keep some of this roster
3:02
um most of this roster? We'll see. I I
3:06
Nathan, just from talking from folks
3:08
around, I think they feel like, hey, you
3:10
know, we feel like we're going to be
3:11
able to to keep most of these guys in
3:12
place, but being at a place like USF, I
3:16
I don't think they're they're like, "Oh
3:18
gosh, it's going to be over with if you
3:20
lose a player or two." They know that's
3:21
going to happen. They'll go out and get
3:23
somebody else. Um, I think that's the
3:25
the maybe the excitement of this one is
3:27
look these guys just in the end n we
3:31
both talked to people and they said one
3:32
of the things they wanted was somebody
3:33
that wanted to be at Auburn and they
3:35
found like hey this guy wanted to be at
3:36
Auburn um that was a big deal and so I
3:40
think when push comes to shove um that
3:43
was an important part of this as well.
3:45
Yeah, and John Sumall, look, I I think
3:48
people we talked to today were not
3:49
shying away from the fact that Auburn
3:52
had him as their guy throughout the
3:53
search. Um, but it was very clear he was
3:56
kind of once the Florida job introduced
3:59
itself as a possibility. He wanted to
4:01
play both sides. It did not end up being
4:03
a money thing. You and I talked about it
4:05
not being a money thing and then it
4:06
comes out today. Glesh is going to be
4:07
making 7.4 million. Uh, Summer's making
4:10
7.5 million. So, I mean, it's not it's
4:11
not a money thing. um he just made a
4:13
very clear decision to go coach at
4:15
Florida and and again Auburn turned
4:17
around and and went back to Golish.
4:20
Yeah, I mean tremendous offensive acumen
4:23
for this guy. Uh he's he's the
4:25
influential probably the most
4:27
influential branch on the Josh Hypel
4:29
coaching tree. That was kind of his big
4:31
break. Um he had assistant jobs up in
4:33
the north uh guess northeast at uh at
4:36
Iowa State and Illinois. Um before
4:39
becoming the coc sort of right-hand man
4:42
to Hypoel when Hypo was at UCF. It was
4:44
there that he was uh part of Dylan
4:47
Gabriel's passing attack. They were
4:48
number four nationally.
4:50
>> Then Tennessee then then the two-year
4:52
stretch at Tennessee where Henden Hooker
4:54
throws for more than 6,000 yards, 58
4:56
touchdowns, and only five picks. Uh, I
4:59
was looking it up just to confirm before
5:00
this, Jason, talking to our buddy Ben
5:02
McKe at Arvall's 247 site. Um, Golish
5:05
was the primary play caller at that
5:07
time. You know, Josh Height gave him
5:09
credit as the play caller then and
5:11
Tennessee had the uh the number one
5:12
offense in the country in 2022. And so,
5:15
you're hoping to now translate that back
5:17
to the SEC. But, like you said, yeah, I
5:19
mean, quarterback play, all of it
5:22
offensively was off the charts, has been
5:23
off the charts for him throughout his
5:25
career. Uh he's done it at USF all
5:27
basically with one guy, Byron Brown,
5:29
who's a former three-star recruit from
5:31
North Carolina. Um like you said, number
5:34
one nationally in total offense this
5:35
season. He's got a year of eligibility
5:37
left by the way. I don't think that is
5:39
insignificant just nowadays as we sort
5:41
of talk about this thing. But uh let's
5:43
shift for a second, Jason, talk about
5:44
the DJ Durkin question because I don't
5:46
know how long the shelf life will be of
5:48
this depending on what we hear about DJ
5:50
Durkin, but we reported today that U
5:52
Glesh is set to meet with him tonight.
5:55
It sounds like the ball is in DJ
5:57
Durkin's court. I think from everything
5:59
we've heard, Golish wouldn't mind having
6:02
him and actually be willing to give him
6:04
a raise. And he's already one of the
6:06
highest paid defensive coordinators in
6:08
the country. Um, but you talked about it
6:11
with me a little bit today. It's tough
6:13
for these guys to have that mindset
6:15
shift. And I do think DJ Durkin was in a
6:17
place over the last week he legitimately
6:19
thought he had a shot at becoming
6:21
Auburn's next head coach. now you make
6:23
that shift back to defensive
6:25
coordinator. Is that something he's
6:27
willing to do or does he want to go try
6:28
to be a head coach somewhere?
6:30
>> Yeah, I think that's the question. Um,
6:32
obviously family likes it from what we
6:34
understand. They're happy in Auburn. I
6:36
think that's a big deal. But you're
6:38
right. It's the it's the tough thing to
6:39
go, hey, look, I that's the job I
6:41
wanted. I think the positive is is that
6:44
it's not a demotion. You're not getting
6:46
demoted. You're still the same job you
6:48
would have been in, and you might make
6:49
more money doing it. So, it probably
6:52
comes down to just a matter of, hey, do
6:53
these guys mesh together? Do they feel
6:55
like, hey, we do we feel like we fit
6:57
together? We know DJ Durkin from
7:00
everything we've heard of Alice Gooish,
7:01
it feels like they would fit because
7:03
they're simply they're they're similar
7:06
in that it's it is uh hard um you know,
7:11
physical uh demanding. I coach guys hard
7:15
uh expect high expectations, all the
7:17
things. That's what we've heard about
7:19
Alex Gullish as well. And so you start
7:21
thinking about that going look it would
7:22
seem like those guys would would mesh
7:24
together pretty good. But look,
7:26
sometimes maybe personality, make sure
7:28
you're on the same page, all the things.
7:29
And that's just something you have to
7:31
talk about. But obviously if if you
7:33
could make that work, it'd be big. Uh if
7:36
not, if you're Auburn, then um you know,
7:38
you move forward and and you know, you
7:40
you got a lot of money to spend on a on
7:42
a defensive coordinator if you can't
7:43
make things work out. So yeah, you're
7:45
right. I would expect that that you know
7:47
we might know something on this one
7:49
probably tomorrow uh as we get ready to
7:52
to meet Alex Gullish with with the media
7:55
at noon tomorrow.
7:57
>> Yes. Yeah. Noon Monday. He'll be
7:59
introduced as the uh he'll be introduced
8:01
as the head coach and his formal press
8:03
conference. You're talking about the
8:04
staff. Uh there was one guy we already
8:06
know of and that is a very familiar
8:08
face. Cody Burns makes his return to
8:11
Auburn. Um he was a guy who went to when
8:14
he was at Tennessee, him and uh him and
8:16
Golish were together. He was the
8:18
receivers's coach while Golish was the
8:19
offensive coordinator. Then Cody Burns
8:21
spent some time in the NFL, he was the
8:22
receivers's coach for the Saints for
8:23
three years. And then when he was out of
8:25
a job last year, Golish said, "Hey, come
8:27
on back. Be the be the receivers's coach
8:28
for me and co at uh at USF and decided
8:32
to bring him right along." That was
8:33
pretty much it seemed like from
8:35
everything we heard, Jason, that was no
8:36
question from the very beginning, him
8:38
him wanting uh Cody Burns to come with
8:40
him. So that is one assistant slot we
8:42
know of filled right now. An interesting
8:44
note today um that we were told and it
8:46
was kind of brought to our attention
8:48
Gulish was coaching at Illinois when
8:50
Vontrol King Williams was a player
8:51
there. Um and so obviously he has that
8:53
connection with Auburn's defensive line
8:55
coach. Today was a team meeting. Today
8:57
was meeting with players as we
8:59
understand it. Tonight and into tomorrow
9:01
is meeting with this staff. But you and
9:04
I talked about it today. He wants to get
9:06
this thing like it kept popping up. He
9:08
wants to get this thing done now. Like
9:10
he wants these position coaches in place
9:12
as fast as possible. You mentioned uh uh
9:15
Joel Gordon, the the offensive
9:17
coordinator, quarterback coach at USF.
9:19
It seems like I would be stunned if he
9:22
doesn't bring him along as his OC here
9:24
just because like you said, he is his
9:25
right-hand man play caller kind of guy.
9:28
Um interesting to see what he does at
9:30
defensive coordinator and and we we
9:32
anticipate there would be a bunch of
9:33
support staffers that come with him from
9:35
USF as well. I think this was a guy who
9:36
was hired and had a plan in place right
9:40
away and was like, "Get me on the plane
9:43
because every second I'm not in the
9:44
building is a second I'm losing and not
9:46
working." It definitely seems like he
9:49
has got that type of personality now.
9:50
>> Yeah, that's what that's what it sounds
9:52
like. Uh this is a guy that that works
9:54
lots of hours. He's a football junkie.
9:57
That's what he does. Um so we've heard a
9:59
lot about that. And yeah, you're right.
10:00
I mean, you know, how do you mix current
10:04
staffers, current support personnel,
10:07
um, you know, guys like Will Redmond,
10:09
Kinyatta Watson, all them with guys he
10:12
knows from from USF and and how do you
10:15
how do you, you know, put all these
10:16
people together and and make it work as
10:18
one? I think that's that's a lot of work
10:20
to be done in the next few days. That's
10:22
why decisions like this most everybody
10:26
wanted these things to get done very
10:27
quickly which is why Auburn wasn't the
10:29
only coach to hire I mean the early
10:31
place to hire a coach Florida did as
10:32
well Kein is officially now at LSU
10:35
Arkansas silverfield from Memphis look
10:38
all these schools realize the importance
10:40
of getting this thing done as quickly as
10:41
possible with this upcoming portal
10:44
obviously signing day Wednesday for
10:45
Auburn but
10:47
getting and keeping your players and
10:51
making sure that those guys are are good
10:53
in a good spot when this thing opens up
10:55
on January 2nd is a big big deal right
10:58
now.
10:58
>> Yeah. Something I forgot to mention as
11:00
well from everything we've heard. Uh
11:04
Florida is willing to let Summerall
11:06
coach not sure if that's been put in the
11:08
press release for them or not. Uh
11:10
willing to let him coach the rest of the
11:12
season and for all the reasons you just
11:15
mentioned, Auburn didn't want to do
11:17
that. Um maybe a conversation was there
11:19
to be had about the American title game.
11:22
That's just
11:22
>> maybe that one. Yeah.
11:24
>> But the playoff has the potential to be
11:26
a three four-week long process and
11:30
Auburn just wanted a guy to need needed
11:32
a guy to get in their building. Um as we
11:34
talked about today too, you mentioned,
11:35
you know, retaining this roster and him
11:37
going to work on that. Of course, that's
11:38
that's one of the checklists right now
11:40
for Alex Gooles. But contrary to what I
11:42
thought going into today, I guess I
11:44
didn't look into it that much. The NCAA
11:46
rule change with the portal window is
11:48
not that once you hire a coach, you have
11:51
five days and then the portal triggers
11:53
for that team. I thought that was the
11:54
case. I thought they made that change
11:56
from the 30-day window previously where
11:58
you fired a coach and then you have 30
11:59
days.
11:59
>> Yeah,
12:00
>> they actually sent a memo in October
12:02
that they updated their change. So, it's
12:05
just kind of gone over some people's
12:06
heads. As long as you hire a coach
12:08
before the January 2nd window opens,
12:10
you're good. Meaning, it's no that's no
12:13
small thing. He has a month to work on
12:15
this roster. He has until January 2nd.
12:17
These guys can't go anywhere. They can
12:18
de They can
12:19
>> They can say they're going in the
12:21
portal,
12:21
>> but they cannot enter the portal until
12:22
January 2nd.
12:23
>> Yeah. They can say, "Hey, I'm I plan to
12:25
enter the portal January 2nd, but you
12:26
can't take visits." Um can't get
12:29
contacted by other coaches,
12:31
contacted by other coaches. Um but yeah,
12:35
no, I think it's important because
12:36
you're right like um roster retention
12:38
for this Auburn roster because of the
12:40
young talent on both sides of the ball,
12:42
it's gonna be a big deal. And so I think
12:44
you know you look they started it right
12:46
away. I mean look, you know, Alex
12:48
Golish, Kobe Cody Burns were there.
12:50
Look, they're meeting with players and
12:52
talking to guys and doing some of those
12:53
things already today and meeting some of
12:55
the recruits as well and and talking to
12:57
them. I mean, look, that's uh that's
12:59
part of it and a big part of it right
13:01
now is is making sure that you put all
13:02
those pieces in place.
13:05
>> Yeah, for sure. It's going to be it's a
13:06
busy day or excuse me, busy few days now
13:09
leading up to signing day. Um shouldn't
13:11
be a giant signing class for this team
13:14
on Wednesday. Jason, just just talk for
13:17
a minute from the recruiting perspective
13:18
of about not necessarily guys, but what
13:22
this will look like in terms of them
13:24
patching together a 2026 class because
13:27
obviously this is they're getting in
13:29
late. It's going to be a lot of work
13:30
here and really moving forward will be
13:32
their their full recruiting classes.
13:34
>> Yeah. No, I think you look at it and you
13:36
know the the interesting ones are, you
13:39
know, kind of what happens with a couple
13:40
of guys. I think you look at it and and
13:42
you know Brayen Wulmarmac's a guy that I
13:44
mean obviously Texas A&M's in in the mix
13:46
and you know he's a he's a big Derkin
13:48
guy that could impact him some uh but I
13:52
think you look at him another one is a
13:55
guy like Peyton Foulone um quarterback
13:57
is such a different deal you want your
13:59
own quarterback you like your guys you
14:01
know they got to take a look at him
14:02
decide here in the next couple of days
14:04
is look is that a guy we want to bring
14:05
in as part of this class um I think
14:07
that's still a question mark but
14:09
obviously um was here this weekend. Had
14:11
a chance to sit down and talk to the
14:12
coaches uh today, but you know, talked
14:15
to to several guys, talked to Shadarius
14:16
Toutel and and Parker Pritchette, some
14:18
of these guys, and they're look, they're
14:20
good. Uh I think Auburn has put
14:22
themselves in a really good position.
14:23
Jay Matthews seems like he's in a pretty
14:25
good spot as well, but Auburn's put
14:27
themselves in pretty good positions for
14:28
a couple other guys, um you know, that
14:31
visited. You know, Wilson Zire was there
14:33
and hung around for a while today. Um
14:35
you know, obviously Shadarius Toutel and
14:37
I think Dquz Wils is is good in good
14:39
shape. So, um, you start looking at it
14:42
going look probably 10 11 guys early on
14:45
in this class. Um, give them a chance
14:47
then to to maybe recruit a few other
14:49
guys, um, you know, for for the the
14:52
actual signing period in February. But,
14:55
uh, look, it'll be again roster some
14:58
pieces out of the portal. I would expect
15:01
to see Auburn bring in three or four
15:04
guys from USF, maybe a few more from
15:07
that from that squad depending on who
15:09
they are. depending on numbers that you
15:11
have in certain positions, some of those
15:12
things. I would I would think, look,
15:14
they got a young tight end that's a
15:15
pretty good player. If you're Auburn,
15:17
uh, you need tight end depth. There's no
15:18
question about that. So, maybe you go
15:20
get a built-in piece, a guy that knows
15:22
your your offense and is comfortable in
15:24
it. So, I would expect at least a little
15:26
bit of that as well.
15:28
I
15:28
>> mean, when you when you kind of zoom
15:30
zoom back out after a hectic day today,
15:34
um, it is a it is a step out, I think,
15:37
for Auburn. this hire is it is I
15:39
hesitate to say outside the box because
15:41
Golish is a guy that's been talked about
15:43
for big jobs all off seasonason um or
15:46
excuse me since the coaching cycle
15:48
started uh Arkansas thought they had him
15:51
>> and I believe Miss was really pushing to
15:54
to try to get him. Yeah,
15:55
>> they end up they end up promoting Pete
15:57
Golding, of course, to
15:59
>> to uh to replace Lane Kein, but it's not
16:02
it's not necessarily the most surprising
16:04
hire in the world, especially with the
16:05
way that things ended. But it does feel
16:08
like it it's it differs a little bit
16:10
from what we've come to expect these
16:12
last few Auburn hires. Brian Harson was
16:14
a was a G5 coach, but the fact that
16:19
Golish has an understanding of the SEC,
16:21
I think is a big
16:23
>> thing. And just coaching stylewise,
16:27
having a guy who's sort of this the
16:29
young wonder team has an offensive
16:31
system and is going to abuse it until
16:33
somebody figures out a way to stop it
16:34
is, I think, a a different approach. And
16:36
Auburn's going to try to give him as
16:38
many resources as they can to to try to
16:40
keep that offense rolling for as long as
16:41
possible.
16:41
>> Yeah. And I think completely different
16:43
personality.
16:44
>> Absolutely.
16:44
>> Alex Gles feels like a an offensive
16:47
coach that has a personality of a
16:49
linebacker. That's what it seems like a
16:51
little bit. you think about him, you go,
16:53
"Look, it feels like aggressiveness um
16:57
in your f." I mean, like like the word
16:59
edge and is is on the hat. Like I think
17:01
that's that's the mentality, the
17:03
mindset. And as we're talking to to a
17:05
couple people today and like thinking
17:06
back to early on in their days at USF
17:09
where where Tom Herman um ran up a score
17:12
and and kicked an onside kick and did
17:14
some things to them and you know beat
17:15
him the next year and basically Alex
17:17
Golish just just said look just ignored
17:20
him at midfield and said okay we're fine
17:22
we're good. I'm I'm I did my thing and
17:25
they they won handley the next year and
17:26
and you know like look I think this guy
17:29
has an attitude. Uh but I think it's an
17:31
attitude of of going out and winning and
17:33
and you know kind of development and
17:36
what they're doing offensively but they
17:39
play defense too. They get after you and
17:41
they're physical and so yeah it it it is
17:45
a little bit different but it's not
17:47
Brian Harson outside the box. This is
17:50
Auburn outside the box for the first
17:51
time because Brian Harson would have
17:52
been outside the box for anybody almost
17:55
if you came this side of uh Colorado
17:58
probably. It's it was pretty much um
18:01
outside the box. Alex Goo feels like a
18:03
guy that understands exactly what
18:05
big-time football is about when you
18:07
start talking about where he's been and
18:09
um the the jobs he's had. So, he
18:12
understands big-time football. He
18:13
understands football in the South. And
18:16
uh and I I think it's a really
18:18
interesting dynamic to bring a guy like
18:19
this in now to Auburn because look, um
18:22
if you can start scoring a few points
18:25
and legitimately doing it and being
18:27
successful doing it, um it it can change
18:30
things pretty quickly for you.
18:32
I just I I think they and it's very
18:35
boiled down and simple to say, but
18:38
they're just I think they want their
18:39
version of it'd be great if he was for
18:41
them if he was their version of Josh
18:42
Hypel. Like it's just it's that sort of
18:44
hire. And funny enough, Hypel went and
18:47
was the head coach at UCF and Golish
18:49
goes the head coach at USF after both
18:51
having SEC coordinator jobs. And um
18:55
yeah, I mean I think that's that's
18:56
that's your goal, right? is to have
18:57
somebody who has this offensive style
18:59
that that works and try to inject some
19:02
excitement because like you said,
19:04
>> developing defense is very important in
19:05
the long run for winning championships
19:07
and being a championship level team, but
19:10
having an offense gets you maybe gives
19:13
you that initial boost even faster. Like
19:15
if you can I don't remember what
19:17
Tennessee record-wise any any of that,
19:19
but it's like it did not take long for
19:21
them under Josh Hypel to jump up and
19:23
immediately be a threat because of that.
19:26
Maybe they wouldn't do it every game and
19:27
maybe their recruiting wasn't where they
19:28
needed it to be yet, but like they had
19:30
the potential to score 45 points in
19:32
every single game they played and that's
19:33
just a that's a dangerous thing and like
19:36
you said, it's something Auburn has not
19:37
had in quite some time.
19:39
>> Yeah. No, I agree. And you look at it
19:41
and go, you know, you know, USF, you go
19:44
kind of the mid50s in scoring defense
19:46
this year, giving up 23 points a game,
19:48
but 14 points a game at home, giving up
19:50
a few more on the road. you look at
19:52
that, you look at that league and you
19:54
start going, man, look, there's some
19:55
teams that can score in that league. And
19:57
you start talking about, you know, some
19:59
of those teams you play and and um
20:02
you're going to give up some points. I
20:03
mean, they, you know, they gave up some
20:05
points. The most points they gave up was
20:07
was was they go 49, but it was at Miami
20:09
and it was a week after they beat
20:10
Florida and Gainesville. So, you go back
20:12
to back for USF and is at Florida and at
20:15
Miami. Um, that's a difficult situation
20:18
for anybody.
20:20
It's a really difficult situation for
20:22
for a USF team, especially when you beat
20:24
Florida and you're riding that high all
20:26
week. And so, um, but they they run it.
20:29
Uh, quarterback is a big part of things.
20:31
Uh, he likes athletic quarterbacks that
20:33
can run. And you think back to Henden
20:34
Hooker and guys like that at at, you
20:37
know, at Tennessee. And, hey, listen,
20:39
the the quarterback coach, if a guy like
20:41
Joel Gordon were to come with him,
20:43
that's a guy that coached Brock Perie at
20:44
Iowa State. And so you start to to think
20:47
about all the connections and the the
20:48
quarterback development that has been
20:50
done and I I think that's something that
20:53
um needs to be remembered and and maybe
20:56
with a check mark beside it going look
20:58
look what they've done at that position.
21:00
>> Yeah. And it and it you know begs the
21:01
question of what they'll do at that
21:02
position. Um you Ashton Daniels has an
21:06
opportunity to be back next season.
21:08
Deuce Knight has an opportunity to be
21:09
back next season. The idea of Deuce
21:11
Knight in this offense is pretty fun. I
21:16
mean, he's he's kind of tailor made for
21:18
for this. Um, but not to not that we've
21:21
heard anything about it. It's day one.
21:23
But
21:24
>> when you have the number one total
21:26
offense player in the entire country, if
21:29
he does if Byron Brown does hit the
21:30
portal, like in my opinion, what else is
21:33
NIL for if not to go get that guy and
21:36
just try to and you know, bring him in,
21:38
see if you can keep deuce. And if you
21:40
don't keep deuce, well, you gota you got
21:42
to go season by season at this point.
21:44
>> And that's it. And it's it's it's part
21:46
of this where it it it it's just
21:48
different. It just is. Um I don't think
21:51
there's any question that's a guy they
21:52
want to keep and they want they feel
21:54
like he could be a really really big
21:56
interesting piece uh to the puzzle for
21:58
them at quarterback position. But you're
22:00
right, if you can go get a guy that that
22:01
led the nation in total offense, um,
22:03
still has a year left to play and knows
22:05
your system and do those things, it it
22:06
kind of feels like, look, that's where
22:08
you've seen success at several places
22:10
where it's like it's coordinator and and
22:12
coach and and and quarterback coming
22:14
together and doing some things. And um
22:16
so I
22:18
while I think Auburn has a a good a good
22:21
spot at quarterback with Ashton Daniels
22:23
and Duce tonight um you also I don't
22:26
think you would hesitate if you're
22:28
saying hey look we're going to bring our
22:29
guy in because I know what he can do. Uh
22:30
so well remains to be seen. We we'll see
22:33
what happens.
22:34
>> Yeah. I mean it's we've there's so much
22:36
to get into here and and we'll have more
22:38
tomorrow from his press conference. you
22:40
know, just not only getting to know Alex
22:42
Gooles and, you know, getting those
22:45
questions asked to him, but probably
22:47
getting even more news. You mentioned,
22:48
you know, DJ Durkin, that's something we
22:50
don't expect to take very long. The
22:51
coaching staff should probably come
22:53
together here pretty soon and then it's
22:55
off and running and it's uh it's it's
22:56
it's roster retention and it's all that
22:58
as this coaching search comes to a
23:00
close. Yeah, you mentioned what he uh
23:03
excuse me, I had to sneeze. He you
23:04
mentioned what he accomplished at USF. I
23:06
didn't even touch on that. and he goes
23:07
23 and 15 in in three seasons there.
23:11
Nine and three is kind of this this
23:13
season. You mentioned the wins at the
23:14
beginning of the year ranked Boise
23:15
State. Florida was ranked at the time
23:17
that
23:17
>> sort of propelled him a little bit into
23:19
a bigger spotlight.
23:20
>> Um they were 8 and 37 in the four years
23:24
before he got there. So they they they
23:26
tried the Jeff Scott experiment um the
23:29
Clemson offensive coordinator and it
23:30
just didn't work out. Yeah.
23:31
>> Um and
23:32
>> only four only four wins the three the
23:35
three years.
23:36
>> Yeah. ran four games in the three years
23:38
before he took over.
23:39
>> So you you have a guy who in his first
23:41
time as a head coach
23:43
>> built built up a program pretty quickly.
23:46
Um now USF was not without resources,
23:48
but I think Auburn is also not without
23:51
resources. Uh they're just downtrodden
23:53
right now and uh and have the
23:54
opportunity to sort of inject some life
23:56
back into them. And so uh really
23:58
interesting hire and uh in the end of
24:00
this coaching search and it's been a fun
24:01
day over at auburn undercover.com. And I
24:04
don't know about you Jason, I'm just
24:05
glad to have this thing
24:06
Glad to have it over with because I
24:08
would guess I would guess combined um
24:11
Saturday night, Sunday morning, we
24:13
probably have six hours of sleep between
24:15
us maybe.
24:16
>> Oh, I don't know if we have that much.
24:18
Maybe.
24:19
>> Um been a long night, long day. Um long
24:22
Sunday, be a long Monday and you know,
24:25
signing days Wednesday, basketball
24:27
Wednesday night and we start the Super
24:29
Seven Wednesday in Birmingham as well.
24:30
So there's not much downtime. So
24:33
hopefully we can get a little bit of
24:34
rest. But thankfully it is done. Uh we
24:36
know who Auburn's head coach is.
24:38
>> Yes. And we are looking forward to
24:39
continuing to talk about it, learn about
24:41
it, write about it. If you would like to
24:43
do that alongside us and get to know
24:45
everything that we have to know and want
24:47
to talk about, head over to auburn
24:48
undercover.com. Still running 75% off. I
24:51
said through the end of the coaching
24:52
search. Uh haven't cut us off yet. So be
24:55
sure to get in there and do that. All
24:56
sorts of all sorts of stuff today.
24:58
There's stuff from a couple hours ago
25:00
that isn't even on our homepage anymore
25:01
because
25:01
>> correct. uh cuz Christian's coming in
25:03
firing with with recruiting stuff and so
25:06
um be sure to head over there guys.
25:07
Thank you so much for sticking with us
25:09
through this coaching search. Did our
25:10
best to keep you guys informed at every
25:12
twist and turn and it ends up with USF
25:13
head coach Alex Gooish taking over on
25:16
the planes. Reminder press conference at
25:18
noon central time on Monday. Until then,
25:21
probably later in the week when Jason
25:23
and I will catch up with you guys again.
25:24
We'll talk to you all later
25:27
start to your week.