Auburn to Hire Bryan Harsin as Head Coach
In a coaching search that gave Tennessee’s coaching venture from a few years ago a run for its money, the Auburn Tigers have apparently found a head coach: Bryan Harsin.
On December 13, Auburn parted ways with head coach Gus Malzahn after eight years. Malzahn finished his career at Auburn with a 68-35 record, but only 39-27 in the SEC. His accomplishments included two Western Division titles and runner-up in a BCS National Championship that was lost after blowing an 18-point lead.
Ever since Auburn’s announcement, several names surfaced including Oregon’s Mario Cristobal, Liberty’s Hugh Freeze, Clemson’s Brent Venables, Louisiana Lafayette’s Billy Napier and even Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley (crazy, right?). Even more bizarre, Venables claims he was never contacted by Auburn and Napier turned down the job to remain with the Ragin’ Cajuns. Yes, things may be that bad at Auburn.
It does now appear the wild search has come to end, with Auburn set to hire Boise State’s Harsin. Harsin had a 69-19 record with the Broncos and will now take on the gauntlet of an SEC schedule and a below average recruiting class due to Malzahn’s untimely firing.
Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports was the first to report the hiring.
A nine-day coaching search for one of the premier programs in college football seems to be a bit out of the ordinary. However, it shows how powerful, and perhaps troublesome, SEC boosters can be. A constant barrage of candidate suggestions and candidate denials finally led to the addition of Harsin.
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