Auburn HC Alex Golesh gets self-reflective after win over Georgia

The middle of the boat can be a peaceful place, and Auburn Tigers head coach Alex Golesh is trying to live there.

If you get too far to either side in a boat, you're liable to fall over the edge. As a first-time head coach in the SEC, Golesh is learning that.

The highs are very high, and the lows are very low.

He's learning that by experience. 

His Tigers just knocked off the No. 1-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, 27-24, in Athens, and he told the media on Monday that his phone was blowing up with all kinds of attention after the game.

Golesh figured he had over 500 unread texts on his phone on Monday and more on a secondary phone.

Things were a lot quieter a few weeks ago when Auburn dropped its SEC opener to the Florida Gators.

"I only had, like, three (texts)," Golesh said of the lack of love he got after the loss to Florida. "Two of them said I suck, and one of them is my wife that said, 'Man, like maybe you don't suck as bad as everybody says, but you suck."

The Tigers don't suck, but Golesh also isn't happy about where they are — even after beating the No. 1 team in college football.

Auburn is 4-2, unranked and seventh in the SEC. Even in the win against UGA, he found plenty of things that he wants to keep working on.

Alex Golesh focused on fundamentals with the Auburn Tigers 

On Sunday, the Auburn staff got together for nearly three hours to break down the tape and figure out where they could get better.

Golesh is focused on fundamentals. He's focused on pad levels, hand placement and coverages.

Any team can be good for one day in the fall. Golesh is trying to bring the Tigers back to the level of the elites, and that means that they can't rest on their laurels.

They have several massive games still coming up, starting with No. 18 LSU in Week 8, so Golesh knows that neither he nor his team can get too high or too low...and perhaps that's the key to consistently being great.

"Somewhere in the middle is probably the truth," Golesh said. "I don't suck, but probably not a genius either, like someone in the middle. I can humble myself. Can we all humble ourselves on that?"