Auburn Tigers football coach Bryan Harsin addresses the "gorilla in the room" from this offseason

It's been a dramatic offseason for Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin. Where do things stand now.

It was an offseason to forget for Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin, who nearly lost his job after what looked like a coup attempt by boosters inside the program.

Auburn went 6-7 in Harsin's first year. Both the team's coordinators departed, as did a wave of players via the transfer portal.

Former players made public statements against the coach's methods and a report followed that Auburn was looking for a way to fire Harsin for cause.

Speaking at his second SEC Media Days, Harsin addressed the "gorilla in the room."

Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin on where things stand now

“Going back to what happened back in February, and what I’m going to do now is address it, and moving forward that’ll be the last time I talk about this subject,” Harsin said. 

“There was an inquiry. It was uncomfortable. It was unfounded. It presented an opportunity for people to personally attack me, my family and also our program. And it didn’t work. So right now, our focus is on moving forward.

“What came out of that inquiry were a lot of positives. There was a silver lining in all of this, because what I saw from our players and our coaches was leadership opportunities for them to step up, which is exactly what they did. 

“You got a chance to see guys provide leadership. You got a chance to see coaches provide leadership. And what it did was it united our football team. It united our players, it united our staff, it united our football team. 

“So, I’m really proud of our guys, and I’m proud of what something like that — that can be very challenging and difficult for a lot of people — how our guys stepped up and handled it.”

Auburn, Bryan Harsin timeline

Regular season

Sept. 4-11: Auburn starts 2-0 by defeating Akron and Alabama State by a combined 122-10.

Sept. 18: AU, ranked No. 22, loses on the road to No. 10 Penn State, 28-20.

Sept. 26: Harsin fires wide receivers coach Cornelius Williams four games into the season. The coach said AU's receiver play didn't justify Williams' position.

Oct. 2: Auburn defeats LSU on the road for the first time since 1999. Neither of the school's two previous coaches -- Gus Malzahn and Gene Chizik ─ beat the SEC West rival in Death Valley.

Oct. 9: Loses at home to No. 2 Georgia, 34-10.

Oct. 16-30: Auburn wins two straight against ranked SEC West teams ─ No. 17 Arkansas and No. 10 Ole Miss. AU starts 6-2 on the year.

Nov. 2: Auburn opens as No. 13 in first College Football Playoff rankings.

Nov. 13: Blows a 25 point lead to Mississippi State, the largest in Tigers program history. Starting quarterback Bo Nix suffers a season-ending ankle injury. The second of five straight losses.

Nov. 27: Auburn leads rival Alabama for most of regulation in the Iron Bowl. Bama then scores a TD in the last minute of regulation and wins in overtime. The loss is Auburn's third straight after it had a double-digit lead.

Postseason

Nov. 29: Harsin fires first-year offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.

Dec. 12: Bo Nix transfers away from the Auburn program.

Dec. 18: Auburn hires Austin Davis as OC away from Seattle Seahawks.

Dec. 28: AU loses to No. 20 Houston in Birmingham Bowl for first losing season since 2012.

After the season

Jan. 3: Kobe Hudson, AU's top receiver, says Harsin kicked him off the team. "He from the north I'm from the south he don't understand me," Hudson said on Instagram.

Jan. 7: Defensive line coach Nick Eason leaves Auburn for Clemson. Seven defensive linemen transfer away from the program during the month.

Jan. 26: DC Derek Mason leaves for the same position at Oklahoma State. Mason takes a $400,000 per year pay cut to move schools.

Jan. 31: Davis leaves Auburn after 43 days, citing personal reasons.

Feb. 2: Auburn fails to sign any of its top four prospects on National Signing Day.

Feb. 3: Reports emerge that Auburn is looking into new "volatility" in the football program. Some former players allege that Harsin verbally abused them.

Feb. 4: Harsin, on vacation in Mexico, defends allegations against his character as "bullshit." Reports contend Auburn is interviewing former personnel to look into the state of the program.

Feb. 4: Auburn AD Allen Green talks to players about Harsin and his management of the program.

Feb. 6: Senior center Nick Brahms says he wants to speak with the Auburn board of trustees.

Feb. 10: Harsin attends SEC Coaches Meetings representing Auburn. And then with Auburn officials who were inquiring into the volatility of the football program. That meeting was "benign," according to an ESPN report, and involved "no clarity of next steps" regarding Harsin's position at the school.

Feb. 11: Auburn announced it will keep Bryan Harsin as head football coach for the 2022 season.

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