Jason Caldwell's Christmas edition mailbag column

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Jason Caldwell's Christmas edition Auburn mailbag column

ByJason Caldwell

10-12 minutes

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On Christmas Eve, Auburn officially introduced former Boise State coach Bryan Harsin as the next coach for the Tigers after announcing the hire two days earlier. Known for developing quarterbacks and for having physical teams while coaching the Broncos, Harsin has been one of the winningest coaches in the country since taking over at his alma mater. Now he moves to the SEC to replace Gus Malzahn on the Plains. There are questions about Harsin and a whole lot more in this week's Auburn mailbag, sponsored by Baumhower's Victory Grille in Auburn. Now on to the questions.

AUtigeritaville: What do you expect to see in the CBH era that would be a sure sign that it was picked up or learned from working under Chris Petersen?

Something really interesting is that Chris Peterson was looking for people who had drive and a plan to succeed with his assistants and wasn’t as concerned about experience. As for his players, I found a quote that is really interesting from Peterson. “High Integrity, High Productivity, Low Ego.” That sounds like what Auburn was built on, at least to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if we heard that again someday.

Bryan Harsin is now at Auburn. (Photo: Casey Sapio, Scout.com)

Aukvn: 1) I haven't seen where the details of the deal with Harsin have come out yet. Where do you expect his salary and buyout to land? 2) Who from his staff or perhaps his past staffs are guys that we should look as great candidates for coming to Auburn as part of his "coaching tree"? I see Kent Riddle as a long term guy but the rest of his staff is very short term despite many years as a head coach.

Vinbarnes:  As you’ve covered and seen coaching changes here at Auburn and in other schools, how well do new staffs do retaining and integrating some of the current coaching staff?

- When is the next time Steele addresses the media for Citrus Bowl practices and/or game? Any chance those videos will be posted?

- Several football nerds and former players (ie, Cubelic) are stoked about the Harsin hire for a number of reasons. One being his offensive philosophy. What do you know about it and how effective do see it being (if that’s what he uses here) against elite SEC defenses and its ability to put points on the board to compete with offenses like Bama?

I thought I would put all these questions together because they are tied in. I would expect his salary and buyout to be in the middle of the pack somewhere in the Southeastern Conference, but we haven’t seen anything yet. As for his staff, like most coaches I would expect Bryan Harsin to talk with the current staff and observe during bowl practices to get a feel for guys. I would think he has probably got a couple of guys in mind that he would potentially keep, but I would say it is a given that he has several guys in mind he already knows he wants to bring in. As for Kevin Steele, we’ll probably get to talk to him again early next week after the team gets back to practice. We should have some video of that.

Sanderman: Jason, as soon as I saw how old CBH is, my first thought was “I’m older than the AU head football coach”. Did you think about that too?

I try not to think about it too much-hahaha. In this case I think it’s probably a positive for Harsin. An energetic coach who is going to hit the ground running full speed is probably needed at the moment. Not that Gus Malzahn wasn’t a driven guy, but having someone who will light a fire could be great for the program. I think Harsin has that ability.

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seahud: CBP mentioned that Gus was the “Sr.Leader” of the coaches at AU. Do you think Bruce steps into that leadership role within that coaching circle?

I think Bruce Pearl could be that guy, but I could also see Butch Thompson stepping into that role. Thompson is very, very well respected by the other coaches on campus and has that feel of the older brother who always has good advice for you. I think both could be very well equipped for that job because they are also very much invested in seeing the other programs on campus have success.

Bruce Pearl is a respected coach on the Auburn campus. (Photo: Adam Sparks/Inside The Auburn Tigers/AUTigers.com)

wewantsix: What do you expect this timeline of the Football performance center to be ? With the financial challenges in taking on the buyouts how quickly will move on the project

I believe that Auburn will try to move forward as quickly as possible with the football only facility. I don’t know for sure, but my guess would be that it was probably one of the key selling points with the direction of the future for the program. As I have talked about before, no matter who the coach was that building had to continue to be a priority. The infrastructure work is continuing as Mark Murphy has written about and unless plans change the goal is to have the project completed and ready to move into for the 2022 season.

AuburnPennState: I’ll throw a non football question in.

With Turbo leaving and Sharife Cooper practicing, can we maybe expect him to play in SEC play next week? I thought I heard some rumors he was very close to playing.

I don’t think the two are connected. Turbo had fallen to third on the depth chart, even without Sharife Cooper on the court. I think he saw the handwriting on the wall and decided he needed to look for a fresh start. As for Cooper, I had several questions about him and there’s just no way of knowing if he will be cleared to play this season. The NCAA does things on its own timeline, unfortunately. Although he has been cleared to resume practicing with the team that doesn't necessarily mean he is more likely to be cleared than he was prior to that happening.

socialcircle: Predict who Harsin will have as his offensive and defensive coordinators for next season.

I don’t know if it would happen, but I would really like to see BYU offensive coordinator and former Auburn offensive line coach Jeff Grimes get a look. He was on the staff at Boise State the year after Harsin was a player for the Broncos, but I would have to believe they are very familiar with each other. Auburn’s offensive line and recruiting up front was never better than under Grimes and he did a great job at BYU this season. That’s just a thought. As for defense, there are a number of possibilities, including some guys currently on the staff. A name outside of the box would be Duane Akina. He’s at Stanford now, but has 40 years of experience. The two worked together at Texas.

War Damn Oz: What coaches stay? And what are the players reaction? Thanks!!!

So far the players have been pretty positive from what I have seen on social media. We haven’t heard from any in an official manner. As for the current coaches, I’m not sure how it’s going to work or who will return, if any. I believe we will see at least a couple of current assistants stay on the staff. Harsin will have the chance to sit down with them in a few days and then watch them work as the Tigers get ready for the Citrus Bowl. That’s pretty beneficial for a coach looking to hire some assistants.

ware12: Can you provide timelines and updates for Harsin meeting our team, current commitments and recruits?

He has already met with the team on a Zoom call so that has been done. My guess is he’ll begin to get in touch with commitments and recruits over the course of the next few days just to get to know them and introduce himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t already started some of that, but normally he would want to get to meet his current team first before jumping right into recruiting. He talked about investing in current players during his introductory press conference. I like that.

m5guy: This hire is growing on me almost by the hour! How much of a learning curve (if any) will Coach Harsin have moving to the SEC? What will be the biggest hurdle for him in your opinion?

In my opinion, if you can coach you can coach. Urban Meyer did pretty well after moving from Utah to Florida. Bowling Green was probably the closest he had been to the SEC in terms of distance before he got the Gainesville and he didn’t have any issues. Hiring the right staff is always important no matter who the coach is, but I believe Harsin is someone who could adjust pretty quickly to the Southeastern Conference. He is a driven guy that believes in developing players. That usually works no matter where you are.

vinbarnes: Do you feel like Bo Nix can captain an offense built on Harsin’s philosophy? (Zone stretch run or whatever it’s called.)

Absolutely. I think this offense is going to be a very good fit for Bo. First of all he’s a competitor and that’s the number one thing a quarterback needs to be successful. Second, he is talented and athletic so he should be a great fit for this scheme. One thing I really like is the development in the passing game and letting the quarterback scan the field. Bo has done a pretty good job of that in the two-minute scheme the last two years, but in the normal offense that’s wasn’t an option much of the time. I believe we will see Bo Nix really take off as a junior.

Bo Nix runs for a first down against LSU. (Photo: Jason Caldwell/Inside The Auburn Tigers, 247Sports)

Augray: Do you think that Harsin will talk some of the players that entered the transfers portal to stay.

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I think it’s a possibility, but I don’t know that he will go in search of them. Now if someone like Mark-Antony Richards wanted to talk to him and get a feel for his offense, his plans, etc. then I believe that would probably be welcome. I know that if I were a coach taking over a new job I would focus on the current players and recruits. If a player who decided to transfer was having second thoughts I would absolutely want to listen to them, but I probably wouldn’t initiate that contact.

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