Auburn concluded its spring football practice with the first A-Day scrimmage of the Alex Golesh era on April 18, drawing a crowd of 34,276 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The event marked an important step for the team as it adapts to new leadership and evaluates player performance ahead of the upcoming season. The large turnout provided players with a gameday-like environment, which head coach Alex Golesh described as invaluable for both newcomers and returning athletes.
“Beyond grateful for what that Tiger walk crowd was for our kids,” Golesh said. “For me to get off the bus and it look like that was incredible. It was great to get a gameday environment. I can only imagine what it’s going to be like with 88,000 in there. Especially for guys who have not been here, to get that environment and play in front of people is priceless for us.” The scrimmage used a unique scoring system rewarding both offensive achievements such as touchdowns and defensive accomplishments like takeaways. The offense finished ahead with a score of 66-43.
Golesh emphasized that staying healthy was more important than the final score: “There’s no winner in the whole thing other than our team with nobody getting banged up,” he said. “We made it out healthy. It was physical, which we wanted… if we can stay together, stay connected, continue to build a level of trust within that locker [room], we’ve got a chance to have a good football team.” Freshman receiver DeShawn Spencer earned offensive MVP honors after catching nine passes for 93 yards. “It was a huge thing for me,” Spencer said about his performance.
Sophomore edge Jared Smith received defensive MVP honors after intercepting a screen pass and returning it 75 yards for a touchdown; he also recovered another fumble during play. Kicker Alex McPherson made field goals from distances including 55 yards and received special teams MVP recognition.
As spring practice concludes, coaching staff will shift focus to recruiting while players rest before resuming training next month. Looking ahead, Golesh urged unity: “If in any way, shape or form we splinter and don’t come together, then it’ll be an average squad… We have a long, long way to go… We’ve got a huge summer ahead of us.”
