The Auburn Tigers are in the midst of a new era this spring with the first offseason program under head coach Alex Golesh.

Golesh arrived on The Plains during one of the darker eras of Auburn football in some time and hopes to turn it around, and while there is a ton of work to be done, fair or not, he will be judged on how he fares against the Tigers’ most hated rival.

Having lost the Iron Bowl now six years in a row, Golesh is being brought to Auburn to find a way to beat Alabama on the gridiron, a game which will be held in Tuscaloosa this year.

At practice, it seems like he is attempting to get his team ready for that game already, blaring Dixieland Delight through the speakers at the facility.

Should the Tide defeat Auburn again this year, it would be just two victories away from matching the longest winning streak in the history of the rivalry — nine in a row for Alabama from 1973–1981.

Golesh needs to get the Tigers back to a place where they are competing for conference titles and ideally pushing towards the College Football Playoff, and he knows better than anyone that standing in their way of doing that will be the Crimson Tide each and every November.

He’s doing everything he can to make sure they are ready for that challenge.