Bryan Harsin discusses challenges of coaching in the loaded SEC West
The Auburn Tigers made the decision to hire coach Bryan Harsin away from Boise State to replace Gus Malzahn this offseason.
Now, Harsin will get his first experience coaching in the gauntlet that is the SEC West, featuring the last 2 national champions in LSU and Alabama (as well as a Texas A&M team that had a case to be included in the College Football Playoff this past season).
What drew Harsin to the SEC West? He explained why he took the Auburn job during an interview on “The Jim Rome Show” on Tuesday:
“As a competitor, this is the type of opportunity that you look for,” he said. “You want to compete against the best. You want to be a part of the opportunity to be the best yourself. For the players here, the coaches that we’ve hired, that’s been the mentality. If you come to Auburn, these are the things we want to achieve and you have that chance to do that in this league. The competition, the coaching, there’s no shortage of greatness when it comes to the teams you’re going to play, but that’s exactly what you want to be a part of. As a competitor, that’s what drives you, that’s what motivates you. That was part of the decision to come to Auburn, to be a part of that and have a chance to develop a program that can go compete with those teams and win those games and be a championship-caliber team consistently.”
How will Harsin fare in 2021? He’ll have his work cut out for him to get the Tigers back in the mix for an SEC West title.
He’s probably got 4 sec losses next year. LSU, Bama, TAM, UGA. He should focus on Bama. That will be his measuring stick. Gus did alright against them. So he will be expected to as good or better unless he can win west.
Gus did incredible against them. He’s got the most wins against Saban I think. Beating Bama is no walk in the park. We’ll have a very good chance to beat Georgia and A&M. Our defensive backs next year will be faster than in years past, which is a pretty scary thing. We have the home field advantage vs UGA and Bama. LSU should be a close win if our offense gets developed. If Auburn can get it’s offense right, and its defense up to speed, we win most of those games.
Auburn hasn’t beaten LSU in BR in over two decades. I like our chances to continue that streak.
I’d like your chances too. But we came close to winning last time we went to BR and y’all had the best offense in the country. True, yes we had the best defense in the country but I guess this game will be close and IF our offense is good, we probably win. If not, we don’t.
Aubie, how soon you forget. Coach Tuberville beat Coach Saban 4 times. Of course, 3 of those were when Saban was at LSU, but they were Auburn wins by an Auburn coach, nonetheless.
He’ll be judged by how his team competes and his record against the entire schedule. Everyone will expect a transition year with an entirely new coaching staff. Progress is what everyone wants to see. Be better in November than September. After that, it’s just a matter of not laying down for 4 games a year and being OK with it.
Auburn has lacked real strong leadership for too long. Harsin brings that. We need to show that we have matured, both as a team and individual players. Smart play calling, assignment football, really the basics that we have obviously not had for a while with Gus. Because Gus could beat bama. Better than anyone else. Who cares? If we can come out and really play each game at the level we are capable of playing with the talent we have, that is success. In year 1 that probably doesn’t mean winning the west or beating every team in your list. But being competitive in every one of those games will be huge. Very likely if this is the case, we win one or more of those games “we aren’t supposed to win.” Auburn needs to make sure this staff selection will vibe, for the Harsin era recruiting to really kick in, etc. before we start talking about anything more than that
I’ve got Auburn losing 5 games next year (LSU,Bama,TAM,UGA,and Ole Miss.) I wonder why they got rid of Mahlzan?
When I first heard Auburn was hiring Harsin, I wasn’t very impressed. After researching his career, I come to realize this is just what Auburn needed. He is a no nonsense guy with very good discipline and respect from his players. Auburn has not had this by watching them play. All the hotdogging you seen with Malzahn players, you will not see with Harsins! He has high integrity high expections and all business. I think if he can have a full spring to install his schemes on both sides of the ball and get a couple key transfers, he will surprise some folks in 2021
Agree 100%. Probably going to be a tough recruiting cycle and a not so great year.
May even lose a few during winter/ spring phase of this. I am ok with this.
I think he is taking a good, tough, no nonsense approach to this. My understanding is T Will wasn’t retained because he was too easy going. I hate it but things were very lax under Gus and it showed.
Time will tell if this works. Just hope Boosters Inc will stay out of it long enough to let it happen.
He seems like a good guy and he is a good coach. Is he good enough for the SEC meat grinder? We all just have to wait and see.