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AUBURN — Alex Golesh was rather chipper for the first media availability of Auburn football's preseason camp because, he said, it was the "best time of the year."
Those were quite literally the first words of his Tuesday, Aug. 4, media availability, which ended with a message to the media in attendance saying, "It's football time, guys. Let's ride," as he walked out of the room.
Soon after his opening sentence, Golesh repeated the message. It's the best time of year because he gets to coach, but he added that there's "nothing else really going on other than us, the team, and our staff."
It turned out he was being quite literal, because the Tigers will kick off their first preseason under Golesh with a near-two-week stay at the Auburn Marriott Opelika Resort & Spa at Grand National, which describes itself on its website as having cabanas alongside resort-style pools. There's also the three-course (as in 54-holes) RTJ Golf Trail at Grand National right next door.
Golesh did not specify whether or not the program would be spending any time at the pool or on the links in their off days, but his explainer of the move didn't provide much optimism for anything beyond football.
"Reasoning there is just to be able to take the guys, move them off campus, eliminate every single bit of distractions that we possibly can," he said. "There's no nothing; no girlfriends, no dogs, cats, whatever guys are into. It's truly just us for the next 13 days, which is absolutely huge for us. We need it."
Golesh also explained that this isn't some break from his usual process. He first instituted it when he got to South Florida, and it became an annual tradition.
"I think what's changed over the years in college football is back in the day, everybody stayed in the dorm for four years," he continued. "Everybody was together year-round. Now, after their freshman year, these guys are all over the place. Some guys got apartments, condos, houses. They're living a little different than we did when we were in college, so they're just everywhere. The distractions naturally come from guys driving back and forth. There's always something: 'Man, I'm going to sneak an hour nap in here or I don't set my alarm.'"
It's all about building out 'process,' Golesh said. It's wake up, get on the bus, come back that evening. The in-between provides everything one could need. There's a locker room built for recovery within Auburn's facilities.
"There's no need to go back and forth," Golesh said. "We'll take their car keys tonight, and they won't have them."
The process build-out doesn't stop at eliminating the distraction. Players will be educated on "what waking up, and what a day and a structure should look like for an elite high-level athlete," Golesh said. Room placements were also strategic, with one older player bunking with one younger.
And, well, maybe there was a hint of optimism for breaking out the golf clubs or a swimsuit.
"There's three built-in off days in there, mandated that way," Golesh said. "We'll take them to Hey Day (food market) one day, grab lunch together and go to the movies. We've got some team dinners over there, but for the most part, outside of those three off days: Wake up to get on the bus, they're here. At the end of the day, get on the bus, go back.
"The team building, I think, happens in the fact that they're all together the entire time with absolutely nothing else pulling them from it."
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at [email protected] 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: Why Alex Golesh is putting Auburn football off campus for preseason's start
Continue reading...
Those were quite literally the first words of his Tuesday, Aug. 4, media availability, which ended with a message to the media in attendance saying, "It's football time, guys. Let's ride," as he walked out of the room.
Soon after his opening sentence, Golesh repeated the message. It's the best time of year because he gets to coach, but he added that there's "nothing else really going on other than us, the team, and our staff."
It turned out he was being quite literal, because the Tigers will kick off their first preseason under Golesh with a near-two-week stay at the Auburn Marriott Opelika Resort & Spa at Grand National, which describes itself on its website as having cabanas alongside resort-style pools. There's also the three-course (as in 54-holes) RTJ Golf Trail at Grand National right next door.
Golesh did not specify whether or not the program would be spending any time at the pool or on the links in their off days, but his explainer of the move didn't provide much optimism for anything beyond football.
"Reasoning there is just to be able to take the guys, move them off campus, eliminate every single bit of distractions that we possibly can," he said. "There's no nothing; no girlfriends, no dogs, cats, whatever guys are into. It's truly just us for the next 13 days, which is absolutely huge for us. We need it."
Golesh also explained that this isn't some break from his usual process. He first instituted it when he got to South Florida, and it became an annual tradition.
"I think what's changed over the years in college football is back in the day, everybody stayed in the dorm for four years," he continued. "Everybody was together year-round. Now, after their freshman year, these guys are all over the place. Some guys got apartments, condos, houses. They're living a little different than we did when we were in college, so they're just everywhere. The distractions naturally come from guys driving back and forth. There's always something: 'Man, I'm going to sneak an hour nap in here or I don't set my alarm.'"
It's all about building out 'process,' Golesh said. It's wake up, get on the bus, come back that evening. The in-between provides everything one could need. There's a locker room built for recovery within Auburn's facilities.
"There's no need to go back and forth," Golesh said. "We'll take their car keys tonight, and they won't have them."
The process build-out doesn't stop at eliminating the distraction. Players will be educated on "what waking up, and what a day and a structure should look like for an elite high-level athlete," Golesh said. Room placements were also strategic, with one older player bunking with one younger.
And, well, maybe there was a hint of optimism for breaking out the golf clubs or a swimsuit.
"There's three built-in off days in there, mandated that way," Golesh said. "We'll take them to Hey Day (food market) one day, grab lunch together and go to the movies. We've got some team dinners over there, but for the most part, outside of those three off days: Wake up to get on the bus, they're here. At the end of the day, get on the bus, go back.
"The team building, I think, happens in the fact that they're all together the entire time with absolutely nothing else pulling them from it."
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at [email protected] 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: Why Alex Golesh is putting Auburn football off campus for preseason's start
Continue reading...
