What Alex Golesh said ahead of Auburn football's Week 1 game vs Baylor

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Auburn football kicks off its season on Saturday, and with it comes the first game-week press conference of the Alex Golesh era.

Golesh met with the media on Monday ahead of Auburn football's season opener against the Baylor Bears in Atlanta. Not only was Monday the first time Golesh addressed the media ahead of an official game week, but it is also the first time he has led game-week practices at Auburn. Golesh outlined this week's practice plans and said that he is excited to get the season started.

"As you go into year one and get rolling, for me, it’s just as exciting as anything to see us go perform," Golesh said Monday. "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."

What else did Golesh say ahead of Week 1's game? Here are the key quotes from Golesh's Monday press conference at the Woltosz Football Performance Center.

Preparing for Baylor, Dave Aranda

Dave Aranda is entering his seventh season as Baylor's head coach, which brings a unique angle to game prep. Golesh speaks about how challenging it will be to defend Baylor's air raid system.

"Got a ton of respect for Coach (Dave) Aranda and what he’s done. Not just at Baylor, but over the course of his career having coached against him for awhile now. But for him going into his seventh year, there’s a lot of new there, a lot to prepare for, a lot of challenges that are presented, simply with as much newness as you’re getting ready for. They’re obviously in the same boat, there’s a ton of newness they’re preparing for, so it should be a really good matchup. These guys offensively, this offensive coordinator, we’ve crossed paths a ton, going back to West Virginia. He’s done a really good job, in reference to Coach (Jake) Spavital. He was there at the foundation of the Air Raid, and he’s made it his own. Watching it transition from West Virginia to where they are now, obviously really, really tough and present a lot of challenges in terms of using the entire field, in terms of the vertical shot game. Just the ability to spread the field, width-wise, will present a lot of challenges." 

Thoughts on DJ Lagway

Baylor quarterback DJ Lagway had plenty of hype surrounding him as a high school senior in Texas, but he never got the chance to live up to it at Florida due to injury and the Gators' offensive system. Golesh discusses the respect he has for Lagway and what a healthy Lagway could bring to the table.

“You’ve got a brand new quarterback in a young guy that’s transferring over. He’s had two years at the University of Florida, where he obviously played as a young guy, got better and better and better as it went, and now a fully healthy version of D.J. Lagway, I would imagine, is the best version of him. Presents a ton of challenges – one, with what he can do with his arm, but two, certainly what he can do with his legs. In all honesty, if this is the best version of him, he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the entire country. Again, he’ll present a ton of challenges. Here’s a young guy that’s started a ton of games and is just a junior, so it will be really interesting. I’ve got a ton of respect for him, and for that young guy, a year ago, to watch him play through a bunch of injuries was tough. Certainly presents himself as a leader, and you talk about an offense that was top-5 in the country in passing a year ago, you add somebody like him, top-20 in the country overall offensively, he will present a lot of challenges for us."

Establishing an identity

All eyes will be on Auburn as they aim to build an identity in Week 1. Golesh believes the team is in a "great spot" in several aspects, and is looking forward to see how it translates to the field.

“Outside of that, we’re in a good spot health-wise. We’re in a good spot mentally and emotionally. We’re ready to go attack week one. I’m excited to see our guys go play really fast, play free, and go into week one as we establish the identity of what Auburn Football’s going to be for years to come.”

How "mock game week" went last week

Auburn football went through a trial run of game week preparation last week. Golesh breaks down what he saw from his players, and how they responded to the new routine.

"I thought they responded fairly well. I'm so process-oriented, and hammering home what authentically high-end routine should look like is what we needed last week. There was some really solid, and then there was a lot we coached off of. 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. Now, this week, the expectation is that it's flawless, and we rock and roll. Like I said, I think the kids in general adapt really quickly to whatever the situation is. It's just as much for the coaches: what does a Tuesday look like and what's the expectation from us? It'll be big for us this week to go through another one. I think we all learned a bunch and adjusted some things. So it will be big.”

After nine months, it is finally game week

It has been a long journey for Golesh since he was introduced as the Tigers' next head coach last November. This week, he finally gets to lead Auburn onto the field. Golesh discusses the excitement he has now that game week is finally here.

“In a lot of ways, it’s flown by really quickly. And in a lot of ways, it's this anticipation of you really don't know what it's going to look like until you do it. And so there's an excitement level, but it has flown by really quickly.
It's almost surreal. It really is.”

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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: What Alex Golesh said ahead of Auburn football's Week 1 game vs Baylor

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