An emphasis on running the football is something former Auburn running back Brad Lester feels will lead to success for the Tigers under Alex Golesh.
Lester played at Auburn from 2004 to 2008. He rushed for 1,689 yards and 19 touchdowns on 371 carries during his time with the Tigers.
The former Auburn back feels a stable rushing attack should be a priority for Golesh and his staff because a successful rushing attack is synonymous with wins for the Tigers.
"If you think about Auburn football up until maybe six to eight years ago, maybe I'll just say up to eight to ten years ago, when you think Auburn football, the first thing that comes to your mind, it's a rhetorical question: running backs, and I feel like that standard has kind of changed," Lester said. "I feel like Bama has kind of taken over that title in the state and then the SEC for creating better backs. But Auburn really has to get back to recruiting the right guys for their system. When I came to Auburn, you had Cadillac Williams, Ronnie Brown, Kenny Irons. They truly recruited guys that were dogs, that got downhill, that were elusive. They catch the ball out of the backfield. That was that every-down back, and I feel like the system has changed to where it just keeps changing. Keep changing coaches, keep changing running back coaches, and it's hard to create an identity at the running back position when you're doing that. The focus for Auburn, the last several years, is quarterbacks. I feel like when Auburn goes back to focusing on the run game, and I hate to say this, but go back to the Nick Saban system. The Nick Saban system, always say, you play great defense. You recruit high on defense, and now you spend your money mainly on defense. And then you just run the football. You control the clock. If you do those two things, you're going to win the majority of your games just by those two simple concepts."
Lester is a fan of the direction the Auburn football program is headed in with Golesh and his staff leading the way.
"I just feel like now with NIL and with the way the game is changing a little bit, you go back to the basics and just recruit well and coach football, Auburn's going to be back on top of Alabama here the next two years," Lester said. "That's my prediction if they do things the right way. Kodi Burns over there, the assistant head coach, me and him had a great relationship at Auburn. I'm looking forward to seeing him doing a great job with those guys. He's a great mentor. He's played quarterback, played receiver. He's been around the league for a while, so he's going to be a good attribute to those kids and just, having the right mental for them. And then also Coach (Larry) Porter, running back coach, he's done a great job with running backs for years. I see him bringing the standard back, and they're recruiting heavily. I say give them about two years. They may can get eight games this year. That would be great for them. But after this year, I mean, sky is the limit."
There appears to be growing optimism about the future of Auburn football.
