Alex Golesh compares Auburn roster-building to what Curt Cignetti did at Indiana

Don’t look now Auburn fans, but head coach Alex Golesh already heard the comparisons to Curt Cignetti and Indiana. ESPN’s Paul Finebaum brought it up to the new Tigers head coach during the SEC Spring Meetings.

Coming from USF, like Cignetti went to Indiana from James Madison, there’s similarities to the roster building approach. Now, if the success on the field is the same, Golesh might have a statue at Auburn in a couple of years.

“I would say probably, if that’s the expectation, awesome,” Golesh told Finebaum. “What those guys did in that two-year run that they’ve had so far is unprecedented. This can be, and I’m okay if that’s the expectation, like you come to Auburn, you come to this conference because you want real expectations. So I’m okay with that. If that’s the floor of where we get to in two years, I’d be happy. I think you’d be happy. We may be talking about Auburn more often.”

Cignetti led Indiana to an 11-1 record in his first year, capped with only a second loss in a first round CFP gam to Notre Dame. But Year 2, there was no messing around. The Hoosiers went 16-0 en route to a national championship and had Heisman QB Fernando Mendoza.

Golesh brought some familiar faces to The Plains with him. That includes QB Byrum Brown, who’s ready to set a new standard at Auburn.

“Yeah, I think it gives you a level of comfort, certainly offensively,” Golesh said. “There’s 11 guys that have been through this. Chas Nimrod, this is his fifth year with us, where he. it’s truly his fifth year in the system, quarterback fourth year, you know, we’ve got some skill guys that are in their third year, it gives you some continuity offensively. Defensively, gives you some guys that are big pieces in the sense of just culture. I think more than anything schematically or even football wise, it’s those guys sitting in the locker room.”

Culture is the biggest thing in a locker room, any college football coach will tell you that. Golesh echoed those comments as he began to build his vision of Auburn football this winter.

“And Paul, we had some, some incredibly tough winter workouts, had some incredibly tough practices, as tough as I’ve been through, intentionally,” Golesh said. “And for those guys to walk in the locker room, and you know, the guys that either came in through the portal came in as high school guys, or the 60 some that were here a year ago, for those guys to say man like that guy’s out of his mind or man is that guy for real, and if nothing else those 13 guys to be able to say man, it’s just trust the plan or it sounds tacky or corny, but trust the process. 

“More than anything else like hey he’s in it for the right reasons, just give them a shot for those guys. When it’s your peers saying that, rather than the coaches saying that, I think it could be monumental to compare it to coach Cignetti, what they did in Indiana.”