Bryan Harsin spoke with the media Monday and discussed his decision to fire wide receivers coach Cornelius Williams and new receivers coach Eric Kiesau.
Here is everything he said about the moves.
On firing Williams
“We made a change at the wide receiver position and Cornelius Williams, first of all, he’s a good man and did a very good job for us. Showed up every day and worked. Very professional and I felt like for us now moving forward in things, not just at the wide receiver position but for our staff and some of the things we feel we need to do, and I feel we need to do and get changed. So, I appreciated everything he did for us while he was here, and I appreciate his family. He’s a good young coach and certainly looking forward to things that will happen for him in the future.
“I’m excited about Eric Kiesau who’s going to be working with the wide receivers now. He brings a lot of knowledge to that position. He’s coached it for many years. He’s been an offensive coordinator at Boise State, at Colorado, at Washington. He’s been around for a while and understands offense, understands developing and understands that position in particular. A guy that I’ve worked with that’s done a good job over the years. He’s getting a chance to get in there, did yesterday, to work with those wide receivers, to work with the offense now and some of the game-planning and obviously being on the field. It’s going to help those guys continue to grow and develop for this team like every other coach on this staff. We all need to be doing that.”
On if there was a tipping point to firing Williams
“I wouldn’t say a tipping point, but there was obviously a decision made that I felt like it was what we needed. I haven’t done that and it’s not ideal, I understand that. I don’t take that lightly. It impacts a lot of things. I’m aware of that. Like I said, it was what I felt like we needed to do over time that was going to be something I feel like can help us as we move forward in that room and at that position and for the future as we keep building this program. Coach Kiesau has a lot of knowledge and has done a very good job at that position. I’ve gotten the chance to see it. No, there was no incident. There’s nothing like that. Coach Williams, I have a lot of respect for him, and he did a very good job with us while he was here of showing up and working hard and those types of things. I felt like in order for us to continue to progress like I feel like we need to, a change needed to be made and it needed to be made now. So, I made that decision.
“I also understand that for coaches and players you have relationships with guys that are on your staff and on your team. When people are no longer part of your program that’s not easy. What we have to do now is, a decision was made and we have to move forward and we have to give ourselves the best opportunity with the people in place to go out there and play really good football and be a team that can go and compete, and be the type of team that can play for championships. Those are the things we all want to do I felt like that was the right decision for us moving forward.”
On new coach Eric Kiesau
“I think right now we’ve got to go to work. We did some on Sunday, but we’ve got to go to work on Tuesday. I have worked with Coach Kiesau as the offensive coordinator at Boise State and as the wide receiver’s coach. I have known of him for a long time a little bit in that coaching circle. One of the things, he’s a very good teacher. He understands what we want to do. He understands how we want to do it and why we’re doing what we’re doing. He brings that experience and a level of teaching that I feel like can improve our room and help those guys understand what it is they’re trying to accomplish every play. I think he’s a good technician. He’s a very good coach. He’s very detailed. That would be one thing I would describe him as. He’s a very detailed coach. He has a plan. He has a vision. He has things I know we’ll do at the wide receiver position that will help us improve.
“At the same time, I also know that every player on this team, that’s a standard we all have got to live up to. Every single week we’ve got to be better. It doesn’t get easier. That’s one of the beauties of football. As the season goes on it doesn’t get easier, you should get better. That’s how it should be. There’s not less time spent getting yourself better. You’ve got sacrifice a lot and you’ve got to spend a tremendous amount of time in order to have yourself physically ready to play, mentally ready to play every single day. I think Coach Kiesau brings that to the table. He understands that. He’s always done a very good job since I’ve been with him, as far as having his guys and having himself prepared and ready and knowing also just what it is we’re trying to accomplish on the offensive side, I think he’s a competitor. I think he’s very driven and motivated for the job that he does, and so that brings something to our staff as well that can help, not only just our players but our staff moving forward on the offensive side, I feel like, is going to be a positive for us as we continue this season.”
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