Rednilla

He did win in Red Stick, something Auburn had not done in more than two decades. But don't let anyone take the air out of your bluster. By the way, the reason people see you as a Gus fanboy is that you invariably came to Malzahn's defense for YEARS when he didn't deserve it, and now you're not giving Harsin the least amount of slack. It's not difficult to notice.

You really think a top NFL coordinator is going to come to Auburn and build up the program? I mean, even if we convinced Bienemy to leave KC, how long will it take for him to have a head coach job in the NFL if he does well here? And who is to say he'd be amenable to coaching in college in the first place?

Indeed it is. At least, it is so long as we keep getting one or two here and there, of course. We don't have to get to Kentucky levels of signing three one and done prospects a year or anything, but I've enjoyed bringing in top recruits fairly regularly.

Todd Bowles, as in the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? You must think Auburn has a lot of pull...

Meh, I'm not sure he wouldn't have gone to Miami from anywhere if they offered. I mean, it IS his alma mater.

That's a really big deal, IF... ...doesn't turn out to be too much of a hindrance. If that's how it works out, I suspect he's going to burst on the scene very quickly, because it will mean he's getting good separation, and I'm counting on us finding a reliable QB to take advantage of those kinds of things.

I think if we'd had Westry last year, we wouldn't have gone down so quickly in the Dance. He fits the piece we were missing: the big guard who can make things happen offensively. I agree with your reasoning about why we lost down the stretch: the scouting report was written on us, and we weren't balanced enough to counter it. I think we might be this year. We need *someone* to step up at the 3, whether it's Flanigan, Westry, or a transfer. And call me crazy, but I think the G-League workout Flan had might have been just the ticket to getting his head right, so we may be fine there, regardless.

So then you think he should still have a job if we win 6 games and finish in the low 20s in recruiting, then? Because I'm not looking for what will definitely get him fired, I'm looking for the minimum that you would be okay with us doing and him not getting fired. Do you understand the difference?

He's saying that with only 7 wins, we'd best be top 10 recruiting. More wins equals more leeway on how recruiting is going. Right?

Addressing our needs goes without saying.

I am, too, just trying to get a feel for where the board is at.

Are you saying we have to have 8 wins with only a top 15-20 recruiting class?

But should it? That's the discussion.

I mean expectations on Harsin, not what you think is going to happen.

I had that same feeling with Sammie. I was a little discouraged that he was only a 3 star, but I looked at the height paired with the speed and saw paydirt. I don't want to put quite those kinds of expectations on Camden, because Sammie legit turned into one of our best receivers of all time (maybe even third behind Beasley and Frank Sanders), but he has the same qualities that made me like Coates.

What is the bare minimum Bryan Harsin has to accomplish in the regular season to warrant a third year at Auburn? Thoughts?

When you put it that way, feels like the odds are stacked pretty heavily against Harsin.

That argument is certainly there to be made, and it was almost assuredly at least part of it.

That's fair. And I guarantee you that the staff knows it's already getting around to put up or shut up time, even in year 2. If we have at least a decent year this year (8 wins regular season, minimum), we're liable to see a rather pronounced uptick in recruiting.

Well, some people like to bring up stuff like how well the first year coach did compared to the previous staff, so maybe that's got it on my mind a little more than it should be.

The guy he reminds me of is Sammie Coates. Hopefully he'll be a little more consistent than Sammie was, but I'd take a Coates-level impact from Brown, I'd say, considering he played in the League for at least a few years.

Pretty sure this will be his last season of eligibility. He's already played 4 seasons, so he'll be a super-senior for us this year.

I get the feeling recruiting quarterbacks isn't going to be as difficult for him as other positions might be. I mean, he was a college QB, and he coached the position on the way up the coaching ranks, so I would think if there's one position he can recruit it would be quarterback. Besides, didn't I hear that our main target at QB got invited to an Elite 11 camp? If he gets a fourth star and comes on board, maybe it'll kill the noise a little bit. That said, I *don't* think Harsin is an elite recruiter, at least not yet. I guess we'll find out if he's a good enough coach to make up for it over the next year or two.

Well, we have at least one who is capable of it, because he's done it. The other two I'm trusting my source about their talent level. I don't think either Geriner or Ashford will be ready to start game one, but that has to do with the grasp of the offense, not their talent level. Either way, there is a legitimate QB competition going on at Auburn for the first time in a long time.

The former regime had more time in service at a P5 school...and had as many QBs drafted as defensive back as at quarterback. You're dealing with a different level of athlete in the SEC compared with the Mountain West. But that wasn't the point. How many times did Malzahn even have two QBs capable of stepping up as SEC-level competitors on the roster at the same time?