Auburn, Georgia headline second day of SEC Media Days

TAMPA, Fla. (WSFA) - First year head coach Alex Golesh made his SEC Media Days debut Tuesday in Tampa, the place he called home for three seasons as the lead man at the University of South Florida.

Golesh took the stage on day two representing one of the SEC teams with the most questions surrounding it; the Auburn Tigers.

Golesh will face high expectations in year one as the third head coach the Tigers have had in just three seasons.

Despite the tall task of delivering Auburn’s first winning season this decade, Golesh said he understands that it starts with him.

“I set standards. We set standards as a program,” Golesh said. “Our standard is to be the best versions of us every single day. The standard when I got to Auburn was to get as good as we possibly can as fast as we can.”

Golesh said his main goal in year one is laying the foundation for what the Tigers will become years down the road.

“That starts with building an identity,” he said. “This word ‘identity’ is the only thing we’ve talked about as a program, and what does that look like for us, what is the identity of our program, who are we when people sit down and watch us play on Saturdays?”

Establishing an identity for Auburn is what Golesh said the measure for a successful first year will be as the Tigers seek to return to national prominence.

Reigning SEC Champions Georgia take the stage

As Georgia, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina followed Auburn, Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart drew much of the focus.

Despite the many changes within the SEC over the past few years, one thing that has not changed are the expectations for the head coach of the back-to-back SEC Champions.

Amid massive coaching shakeups within the SEC, Georgia’s staff have remained virtually intact for the past three years, a feat Smart attributed largely to Georgia’s commitment to retaining valued staff members and talent.

“I think the growth, the biggest challenge you have when you retain not only your roster, but your staff, is you have to be willing to grow,” he said. “You have to be willing to experience, try new things. You can’t just sit back and do the same old things and expect to get the same return.”

Smart also joined the conversation surrounding the potential for the SEC to break away from the NCAA.

Commissioner Greg Sankey sparked the conversation Monday when asked about the potential split answering, “So they’re real.”

Smart stated that while the landscape in college football is shifting, his focus remains on Georgia’s ability to win games.

“I enjoy talking about what wins and what allows our team to have the best chance,” he said. ”The consistency and performance is probably what I’m most proud of over the last 10 to 11 years, including this season.

Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss and Texas A&M are set to take the stage on Day 3.

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