Bruce Pearl extends support to Bryan Harsin

[aubiefifty 18,231]

al.com

 

Bruce Pearl extends support to Bryan Harsin

By Giana Han

4-5 minutes

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Coach Bryan Harsin and Allen Greene shake hands the day Auburn's new college football coach arrives on campus on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020 in Auburn, Ala. Todd Van Emst/AU AthleticsTodd Van Emst/AU Athletics

Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl remembers what it was like to be the new guy at Auburn. So when the title got passed to Bryan Harsin when he was hired as the new football coach, Pearl made sure to reach out.

The night Harsin was officially hired, Pearl gave him a call. Harsin got back to him the next day, and they had a good conversation, Pearl said.

Harsin’s history up until this point is c around Boise, Idaho. He was born in Boise, he played at Boise State, he was a GA and position coach at Boise State and he was the head coach there for six years. That tells Pearl that Harsin is loyal and values family and friendships.

“I told (Harsin) how close Coach Malzahn and I were and still are, but that I was here for him to help him be successful,” Pearl said.

Stepping back and looking at Harsin’s resume from the standpoint of an Auburn coach who wants Auburn athletics to have success, Pearl thinks that Auburn made a good hire. Harsin seems to be “as good a man as he is a football coach,” and he’s a “great competitor” and a “grinder.”

Harsin’s history up until this point is centered around Boise, Idaho. He was born in Boise, he played at Boise State, he was a GA and a position coach at Boise State and he was the head coach there for six years. That tells Pearl that Harsin is loyal and values family and friendships.

“He probably passed up a number of other opportunities to stay loyal to the people who got him to where he is,” Pearl said.

But as a fellow competitor, Pearl said Harsin probably came to a point where he wanted to see what he could do against the very best. And Auburn gave him that opportunity. Even so, Pearl gets the feeling Harsin wouldn’t have come to Auburn unless he truly understood what the “Auburn Family” is all about.

One of the first things Harsin mentioned in his interviews as well as in his first press conference was the importance of his family. He spoke of his wife and his children, as well as his parents and in laws. That love of family stuck out to Allen Greene, Auburn’s athletic director, because it aligns with the program’s values.

Harsin may be an outsider coming in without any experience in the SEC. But Pearl, who still has his Boston accent, was once an outsider, too. He knows firsthand that the people of Auburn welcome you and support you, he said.

“And I told him, I said Auburn is going to give Boise a run for its money, as far as a place where your family could be happy and be comfortable in a church setting and comfortable in a social setting,” Pearl said.

That’s why Pearl encourages coaches, Harsin included, to jump in with both feet.

Auburn football is preparing for the Citrus Bowl, which happens in three days on Jan. 1 at noon. Auburn basketball is busy getting ready for the SEC opener Wednesday at 6 p.m. There’s a lot going on, and both Harsin and Pearl understand that, but Pearl looks forward to the day he can meet the newest Auburn Tiger in person.

[AUBwins 10,267]

Well I trust what Bruce says.  I don't care what sport lol. In Bruce we trust! So if he says we made an incredible hire then Woooo!  Right @GwillMac6?

[rocketman73 31]

VIRGINIA DOUBLE DRIBBLED. I ain't ever gettin' over it! 

[autiger88 3,856]

Whatever Bruce says goes so WDE Bruce and Welcome home Coach Harsin. 

[AUBwins 10,267]

4 hours ago, rocketman73 said:

VIRGINIA DOUBLE DRIBBLED. I ain't ever gettin' over it! 

And today's broadcast continued to reference comparison of Powell with that double dribbling Jerome.  Bad form for an Auburn game.