The Auburn Tigers are in the midst of beginning a new chapter led by head coach Alex Golesh — revered as one of the brightest, young offensive minds in the sport.

With the arrival of Golesh, there is plenty of hope that the subpar program history is about to come to an end. Auburn may finally be able to work their way back to competing for SEC and national titles.

That fresh start is not coming this bowl season, however.

As teams opt out from postseason games entirely, bowl games have to scramble to find participants. When eligible 6-6 teams run out, they turn to teams who won just five games. The Tigers were among the group of 5-7 squads, and were offered a chance to compete in the Birmingham Bowl, but turned it down.

Golesh explained to media that it simply was not in the cards.

“If it all had happened a week ago and our guys were all here, and the staff that was previously here was still here and intact for the most part, I think that would have been realistic,” Golesh said Monday. “It would be hard to put it all together and be competitive to where you have a chance to go win a football game, because if you’re gonna play a game, you’re gonna go win the game.”

“The timing of it all was just not practical, it wasn’t realistic. Would you love to go play a game? Absolutely. Would you love to go compete and win a game? Absolutely. But the timing of it all, just not realistic.”

Auburn fans will instead have to wait until next season to see the start of the Golesh era. It might be worth the wait, given that a non-competitive showing could dampen excitement for what could be a strong upcoming season for Auburn.

Golesh and his staff are going to try to build this the right way, which takes time. Until then, the Auburn family will hope their patience pays off when the Tigers take the field again in 2026.