Bryan Harsin has spoken out about his Auburn future as rumors have swirled about his job security having somewhat of a tenuous situation.

“I’m the Auburn coach, and that’s how I’m operating every day,” Harsin told ESPN in a lengthy interview late Thursday night. “I want this thing to work, and I’ve told our players and told everybody else there is no Plan B. I’m not planning on going anywhere. This was and is the job. That’s why I left the one I was in, to come here and make this place a championship program and leave it better than I found it.”

The main issue is the exodus of some 20 players and 5 assistant coaches who have left the program in recent weeks. Harsin, who is on vacation, told ESPN that he hasn’t had any conversations with Auburn leaders that would suggest he won’t be back for the 2022 season.

As he works to finalize the reconstruction of his staff, university officials are examining the factors that led to 20 players and five assistant coaches leaving the school, sources told ESPN.

Auburn administrators are looking into why those people left, and if there are any trends to emerge.

“It all gets back to people and the way they were mistreated,” one source told ESPN. “There’s a reason so many people have left. You just don’t see that many people at one school leave, not in one year. It’s a mess.”

Lee Hunter, who transferred from Auburn to UCF earlier this offseason, posted on Instagram on Friday that Auburn players were treated “like dogs.”

Harsin didn’t appreciate any negative characterization of him.

“Any attack on my character is bulls—,” Harsin said. “None of that is who I am.”

Auburn went 6-7 in Harsin’s first season, but finished the season with a five-game losing streak that included a blowout loss to Texas A&M, a collapse against Mississippi State and a stunning loss to South Carolina.

The cost to buy out Harsin’s contract with Auburn, if he’s fired without cause, is $18.3 million, as 70 percent of the money for the five remaining years of his contract is guaranteed.