Bryan Harsin wanted Boise State to leave the Mountain West Conference. The football coach did it himself on Tuesday, as he was hired to replace Gus Malzahn at Auburn.
Harsin spent the previous seven seasons as head coach at Boise State where he compiled a 69-19 record while winning three Mountain West Conference titles.
Welcome to the Auburn Family, @CoachHarsin!#WarEagle
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) December 23, 2020
I’m incredibly excited and humbled for the opportunity to be at a place like Auburn University,” Harsin said. “I knew it would take a special opportunity to get me out of Boise and Auburn is exactly that, the chance to compete at the highest level for one of the greatest programs in college football. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the coaches and players in the Southeastern Conference but am ready to help build a foundation at Auburn where we can consistently compete for championships. I want our program to make Auburn proud both on and off the field with consistent excellence. … War Eagle!”
Malzahn was fired earlier this month. He had an 8-17 record against rivals Alabama, Georgia and LSU, including an 0-12 mark on the road. Overall, he was 67-33, witha national coach of the year award, two SEC West titles, one SEC championship, a national runner-up finish and two New Year’s Six bowl berths. He had only a 2-5 record in bowl games,
“After evaluating the state of the Auburn football program, we’ve decided that it was time to make a change in leadership,” AD Allen Greene said in a statement. “We appreciate everything that Gus did for the program over the last eight seasons. We will begin a search immediately for a coach that can help the Auburn program consistently compete at the highest level.”
Per AuburnTigers.com:
Harsin is 76-24 overall as a head coach – including one season at Arkansas State – and has directed his programs to bowl games each season. His impressive resume at Boise saw him lead the Broncos to five 10-win seasons, seven consecutive bowl appearances and six MWC West Division Championships. This past season he led the program to a 5-2 mark and a trip to the MWC championship game.
“We started the search with two goals,” Auburn President Jay Gogue said. “We want a coach who will lead our team to consistently compete at the highest levels and to make Auburn proud on and off the field. We found both in Coach Harsin.