SECMD21: Harsin has plenty to say as new Auburn head football coach
First-year coach Bryan Harsin speaks to the media at SEC Media Days for the first time on Thursday. (Courtesy Southeastern Conference)
By TIM GAYLE
HOOVER -- When Bryan Harsin stepped to the podium of the Southeastern Conference Media Days Kickoff on Thursday afternoon, no one was sure what to expect from Auburn’s new football coach.
Any event of this magnitude, whether political, religious or entertainment, pins a lot of expectations on the initial impression of the person and the media was ready to judge Harsin for his personality, the content and delivery of his message and his ability to tackle hard-hitting issues.
Whether or not Harsin will win games at Auburn remains to be seen. But after his Thursday appearance at Media Days, you can say Harsin had the last word. And the first. And just about every word in between.
In one of the stranger debuts at SEC Media Days, Harsin ate up more than half his 30-minute allotted time with his introductory statement, then chewed through the remainder with the answers to three questions without ever specifically mentioning any players. The closest he came to that was to praise the offseason leadership of the two players he brought with him, quarterback Bo Nix and linebacker Owen Pappoe, and the entire team as they continued offseason conditioning and workouts.
If you were an Auburn fan, he said all the right things. Harsin stepped to the podium with a prepared State of the Auburn address and hit all the high notes that would have made the local chamber of commerce proud.
“One of the things I’ve learned over the last seven months is just how awesome Auburn -- the community, the university -- really is,” he said. “The Auburn community, I can’t thank them enough. My family loves it. My daughters, my son, they love living in Auburn.”
Later, he would observe that he wanted “to be able to be a part of a program that, when you win, your fans go crazy and go downtown and we toilet paper trees. I mean, how awesome is that?”
He knew from the questions asked of other coaches earlier in the week that the big issues were COVID vaccinations and NIL issues, so Harsin factored both into his opening statement.
“We’ve been through the COVID protocols for the last five months,” he said. “We’ve had no positives. Our guys are taking it seriously. I know there’s been a lot of conversations about the vaccinations, where teams are at. I think we’re in that 60 percent range. We’re educating our players. We’re making sure that they understand from our medical staff the pros and cons.
“There is a lot to learn on name, image and likeness. Not many coaches can answer, ‘What does that mean?’ You can go through the obvious. What does it mean when the star player is making more than the guys that are actually doing the work in front of them? What’s that going to look like? I think it comes back to your team.
Auburn was mired in the bottom half of the conference statistically last season, ranking ninth in scoring offense, seventh in rushing offense, 10th in passing offense, ninth in total offense, eighth in rushing defense and sixth in total defense. The Tigers were adequate in scoring defense (fourth) and passing defense (third) but fans -- and media -- want to know how improved the Tigers will be this season.
Auburn has eight returning starters on both sides of the ball -- losing its receiving corps, a pair of secondary players and a defensive end -- but will the returners be better in 2021?
“I’ve learned a lot about being under center,” said Nix, referring to the pro style Harsin and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo mixed in this spring. “So continue to do that and obviously the different checks (in pre-snap situations) that they’re asking me to do. I’m excited about it because I feel like I can get us in the right play and that’s only for our advantage.”
Pappoe watched the defense struggle against the run after the loss of K.J. Britt and said there were “a lot of similarities” between a Kevin Steele defense and the new Derek Mason defense. He praised his backup, Wesley Steiner, as well as sophomores Cam Riley and Desmond Tisdol who struggled last season as freahmen.
But most of the questions directed at the players were more about their development since last season and little about the expectations of the season. Players always have high expectations and, besides, most of that is covered in the coach’s opening statement.
When Harsin finally wrapped up his 16-minute speech, he was asked about the pressure of coaching at Auburn and responded with an endorsement of athletic director Allen Greene.
He was asked about whether it was difficult leaving his alma mater, Boise State, and answered that “being at Boise State is special but this was different. There have been other opportunities (to leave Boise State) but not like this.”
He was just warming up when his third question asked about the culture at Auburn and whether he would be changing it and Harsin delivered the only real insight into the program since his arrival.
“I wanted to witness what this team was about,” he said. “I wanted to see why guys show up late. I wanted to see why guys didn’t finish. I wanted to see those things for myself with my own eyes and make my own determinations. Maybe they don’t know or maybe they don’t care. Either way, that was a problem. So we’ve had to change that.”
Just as things were starting to get interesting, Harsin ran out of time. He left the media room as a group of bewildered reporters looked at each other, wondering if they knew any more about the Tigers than they did before he walked in.