Alex Golesh tells Auburn football to humble itself after fall camp scrimmage

AUBURN — Nine days into its preseason camp, Auburn football had its first scrimmage since the spring on Friday, Aug. 14, at Jordan-Hare Stadium, which was closed to the public.

Head coach Alex Golesh spent more than 20 minutes post-scrimmage highlighting what he saw from a 115-play affair, which he said was the equivalent of one half of football. He didn't hold back when summarizing what he saw as a disappointing performance.

"I told the entire team — coaches, everybody — like, humble the heck out of yourselves here," Golesh said. "Coach, take the coaching. I would walk out and say, overall, a sloppy day on both sides. ... We didn't look like a veteran team. We looked like a team that has highs and lows, and is emotional and rides with that, which is the complete opposite of what we want. So, a lot to work on. Like, a ton to work on, and that's the truth on that."

While it was described as sloppy, Auburn's scrimmage wasn't a total loss in the eyes of its head coach. It was the program's first chance this preseason to go from working "scrimmage-type" situations, Golesh said, and simulate a game-day feel.

"For us to get everybody off the field, coaches up in the box, game0-day operation, did TV timeouts, started with our full warmup," he said. "Tried to simulate what it would be to be a game day."

But considering the Tigers' performance, Golesh preached humility, which they'll need to find in the next three weeks. After that, Auburn opens its season, traveling to Atlanta to face Baylor on Sept. 5. Golesh was also mindful of what else is nearing on the calendar, as Auburn's set to begin classes Monday.

"There's elements now that will create distraction," he said, "and that's why I say humble yourself to show up and go right back to work."

Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.To support Adam's work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alex Golesh tells Auburn football to humble itself after fall camp scrimmage