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Bryan Harsin doesn’t care what you think, and he doesn’t care about perception, and Auburn’s soccer coach no longer tries to play that classic Southern game of pretending to be nice.
I have to say I like it.
Do I agree with Bryan Harsin, the person in a position of enormous public influence who has refused to promote the COVID-19 vaccination? Absolutely not, but I’m starting to like the maverick mentality of Harsin the football coach.
Say this to the guy if nothing else: no one is ever going to accuse him of “staying home” like they’re known to do in Auburn. There’s a lot not to like about Auburn’s football when his new SEC coach makes his debut at LSU on Saturday, but executive decisions Harsin made recently at least show he’s not afraid of do what he knows to be right.
Auburn University wanted to hire an energetic leader to lead their football program. Four games in the season, it looks like they’ve found the guy.
By placing the historic quarterback against Georgia State, Harsin has proven he’s not afraid to make the tough decision necessary to win a game. By firing a popular assistant coach, Harsin has shown he is not afraid to upset a few locals who might think they know Auburn’s football team better than his own coach.
Harsin fired receiver coach Cornelius Williams on Sunday and replaced him with veteran coach Eric Kiesau. Williams is originally from Hoover and rose through the ranks in Troy. Kiesau trained with Harsin at Boise State before taking a lesser position as an analyst at Auburn.
Why hire Williams to start if Harsin was just going to turn around and fire him? Harsin declined to answer that question this week, but made it clear that he was not happy with Williams’ role in preparing Auburn’s receivers for the games.
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“We have to improve on a lot of things when it comes to just playing this position,” Harsin said. I think the fundamentals of playing this position: position, lineups, things that we can control that we can do a better job in our attack.
“We need to detail this more and be more consistent with that. Our replacements too. I think that’s where we can take another step, just our communication process.
There was a lot of blame to be made after the spiritual loss of the state of Georgia, so from the outside singling out Williams seems like questionable leadership. It’s fair to wonder why Harsin hired Williams in the first place, but always remember SEC Rule # 1. It’s all about recruiting.
Anyone who understands this league knows that Williams’ ability as a scout would far outweigh any shortcomings in practice or in the movie theater. Harsin may be a first-year SEC coach, but he knows the Golden Rule like everyone else. And if he doesn’t, then he won’t be in this league for very long.
Whatever decisions he makes, Harsin will be judged by his wins and losses, just like everyone else.
Some red flags have been raised around the Auburn football team over the past week, but it would be premature to interpret these signs as major issues. It’s never good when the established starting quarterback can’t win a game against Georgia State, just as it isn’t ideal to fire a receivers coach the week of the first conference game on the calendar, but it’s better. handle issues now only half way up the league roster. .
“Decisions are made when they need to be made, period,” Harsin said when I asked him about the curious and unusual timing of his staff changes. “So ‘out of the ordinary’ there is no book on when decisions need to be made for your program.
“You have to do them, and you have to do it when you feel it’s the right thing to do.”
Who knows if Auburn can even win six games this season, but at least they have a manager who isn’t afraid to admit his team stinks, right?
GOOD MAN: At least we know Bryan Harsin has guts
Listen, don’t get me wrong. Auburn may still be a good football team this season, but the Tigers weren’t a good football team last week, and there is reason to be concerned about Auburn’s chances against a brutal SEC schedule. Is it Harsin’s fault Auburn was horrible against Georgia State? Yes, absolutely, but at least the person in charge is taking drastic measures to remedy it.
Harsin benched Auburn’s prophesied savior from a quarterback one day, then fired a coach the next. Another big decision will come on Saturday, and it should be obvious by now how the maverick Auburn coach prefers to operate.
Whether Harsin is a good enough football coach to win in the SEC remains to be seen, but he’s made it clear this week that he’s done with patience. He’s got a quarterback that’s really good to play so you don’t lose, but in SEC West you need a player behind center who can come out and steal a road win at LSU.
More difficult choices await Harsin this season, but TJ Finley’s departure to Nix is not one of them.
Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr. His first book, “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team’”, will be released on November 9.
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