New Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin said all the right things at his introductory press conference but his real work begins now.
There have been very few coaches in the history of college football that have lost an introductory press conference. Bryan Harsin said all the right things, injecting some energy into the room at times and, in quite an opening statement, spent 30-plus minutes outlining why he came to Auburn, his plans for the program and other notes that he felt important to point out.
The pictures of him holding an Auburn jersey with Allen Greene were taken along with I’m sure pictures of him and his family grasping the same navy blue photo prop. Everyone smiled and his entrance gained applause from everyone in the room.
Yet now the hard part of the job begins and a bunch of difficult questions will be answered in both the short term and in the years to come.
First off, the matter of who will be on his coaching staff will certainly be followed extremely closely. Maybe even more closely than normal. There are some beloved Auburn men on the current coaching staff that have paved their way as excellent recruiters and ambassadors for the university. However, a new coach might want a clean slate for many reasons, foremost the fact that there would be no ill feelings toward himself for taking the job from their previous boss.
It’s imperative that Harsin learns the SEC and the Southeast quickly. While he stated in the press conference that he understands Auburn and that he understands the Iron Bowl, there’s a matter of thinking you know it and then actually living it. It might be a wake-up call for Harsin when he starts going to the supermarket or to dinner with his family and he is continually bombarded with questions about the future of the program and how the Tigers can overtake Georgia and Alabama, You know, typical questions that a coach at a major program can’t escape.
Harsin talked about patience in the presser, something that the Auburn fan base and especially trustees/boosters haven’t been known to have in the past. For all the good things that came out of 2013 for Gus Malzahn, the only negative might have been that expectations rose to a silly level immediately due to the magical season. Building a roster fit for his offensive schemes and the ideals of whoever he hires as defensive coordinator might take more time than people want, but from the success he has had at every stop along the way, he deserves the chance to prove what he’s worth.
While Harsin said that Auburn will be recruiting throughout the nation, there will be the case of also developing relationships within the key states of Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. This will prove extra difficult if he brings an entire staff full of coaches not familiar with the territory, something opposing coaches will pounce on in a mini-second.
So while the honeymoon isn’t quite over yet and Harsin will have his opportunity to win over the fan base, alumni and everyone else involved with Auburn with his “War Damn Eagle” and “no days off,” the hard work already is about to settle in.
