We sure aren’t feeling as good about the football program as the basketball program right now. Tension has reached a fever pitch under the watch of head coach Bryan Harsin down on the plains. The timing of what some are calling a witch hunt is a little odd.
The Tigers recently wrapped up their 2022 recruiting class on Wednesday, but Auburn didn’t sign any high school prospects on that day. The head coach was in Mobile for the Senior Bowl practices before heading out of the country on vacation. In his absence, the floodgates have opened. More specifically in regards to coordinator hires.
According to this report from ESPN (subscription required), Harsin was trying to get clarity on the pool of money for his next hire. The Auburn head coach is looking to replace his fifth coordinator after Austin Davis stepped down as the offensive coordinator. He lasted just 34 days on the job as Davis stepped away for personal reasons.
The report states that Harsin grew frustrated with the lack of transparency from the leadership at Auburn. When he was unable to get answers on salary parameters, he wanted to speak with the Auburn Board of Trustees but outgoing school president Jay Gogue didn’t think that was in the best interests of the coach.
As it always seems to be the case, it feels like the administration and athletic department are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
“Auburn is always going through transition in leadership,” said an industry source familiar with the school’s inner-workings. “Therefore there’s no way to ever tell who is in control.”
While the leadership at Auburn is trying to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the speculation surrounding Harsin, they have also tied his hands in being able to do his job.
There should be clarity coming soon but for now, it seems like there are far more questions than answers. The big question is who is really making the call here? We will just have to wait and see.