Ad Disclosure
Kevin Steele discusses ‘minimal’ contact with Bryan Harsin, staff changes post-Citrus Bowl
By Keith Farner
Published:
It’s been several weeks of compartmentalizing for Auburn coaches in the wake of the firing of coach Gus Malzahn. Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele became interim coach, and is now acting coach as the program named Bryan Harsin as new coach, as the Tigers are getting ready for the Citrus Bowl against Northwestern.
Harsin has been around the program, but is not directly involved in the preparations for the bowl game, which is set for Friday at 1 p.m. ET. Steele discussed the changing dynamics on Wednesday during a Zoom press conference with reporters.
“There’s the personal side of it that involves your family and the other families on the staff,” Steele said. “Then there’s our players and this has got to be all about the players and helping them be successful on game day. We’ll cross that other, that bridge, when it’s time to get to it. We’re not to that. We’ve got to get through this game and represent Auburn well and give everything we have to Auburn and the players here. And don’t allow anything else to be a distraction. We owe that to each other as a team, as a staff together. It’s really not as hard as people might think it would be.”
Steele said there has been “minimal” contact with the new head coach.
“Obviously he has a lot on his plate, so he’s doing what he does, and we’re doing something totally separate and they’re not joined at this point in time,” Steele said. “But I’ve seen him around the building and he had a Zoom conference call with all of us and he’s been around some of the players. I think it’s good that they’re getting to see him and get a feel for him, but we haven’t, other than that, it really hasn’t been in terms of he’s here, so he’s kind of involved in the bowl. So he’s allowed us to keep that totally separate from him.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
