aubiefifty 18,231 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 al.com For Auburn, Citrus is an audition for new coach Brian Harsin By Charles Hollis 4-5 minutes Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald guided his team to a Big Ten runner-up finish this season. On Friday, his 14th-ranked Wildcats take on 6-4 Auburn in the Citrus Bowl. AP Unless new Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin is keeping defensive coordinator Kevin Steele on his staff, Friday’s Citrus Bowl is the last time we see the $2.5 million man. With Gus Malzahn’s firing, Steele has taken on the interim head coach title and will lead the 6-4 Tigers into Friday’s noon Citrus Bowl kickoff against Associated Press No. 14 Northwestern (6-2). Steele and Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian are the highest paid assistants in college football, each making $2.5M. If Steele isn’t retained the Tigers, based on the contract extension he signed last year, will owe him about $5 million. That’s on top of the $21.4 million owed Gus Malzahn. Steele’s son Gordon is an analyst on Nick Saban’s staff and, because dad doesn’t need the money, maybe he ends up in Tuscaloosa as an analyst. Harsin will have a tough time finding someone of Steele’s caliber. Let’s start a good conspiracy. Saban and the 62-year-old Steele have close ties and Saban is losing a couple of analysts, Butch Jones and A.J. Milwee, to Arkansas State. Losing Steele, who isn’t known for his recruiting talents, is one thing. Losing defensive line coach Rodney Garner, one of the best recruiters in the nation, the recruiter for all things Georgia, that’s a whole other story. Harsin won last week’s press conference and says he’s going to spend some time recruiting the West Coast, which makes sense since he’s a West Coast guy. Auburn fans, however, would appreciate him spending most of his time recruiting Georgia, Florida and Alabama rather than spinning his wheels in Idaho or California. He’ll need to win the Deep South trifecta to keep up with the Sabans, Smarts, Mullens and Orgerons to have Auburn competing for titles. Keeping Garner on the staff should be of the highest importance. Any coaches Harsin brings to Auburn are going to love their new income bracket. Let’s use his defensive coordinator at Boise, Jeff Schmedding, as an example. He was Harsin’s top paid assistant, making $350,000 in 2020. Maybe he joins the 42-year-old Harsin, or maybe not. Boise’s base salary pool for its 10 assistant coaches ($2.325M) doesn’t even get us to Steele money. Our Jan. 1-2 bowl picks, minus the playoffs. New Year’s Day Citrus Bowl Auburn vs. Northwestern Harsin is taking a hands-off approach to the bowl game. He says he’s met his team, either through Zoom face time or in person and he’ll watch the game. Just maybe not in person. But he’ll watch closely how his players perform. Let’s call it an audition going into spring ball. You can’t help but feel for Steele and many on the staff that likely won’t be around going into February’s signing day. A tough year just got tougher and the opponent, 14th-ranked Northwestern (6-2), comes in with a Big Ten runner-up finish and a pretty fair defensive unit that would love to send the Wildcats’ longtime coordinator, 73-year-old Mike Hankwitz, out with a resounding performance. Hankwitz is retiring after 13 seasons at Northwestern. We know 3 1/2-point underdog Auburn has several players that have opted out, such as wideout Anthony Schwartz and defensive back Christian Tutt. There may be others so we shouldn’t expect a lot of fireworks from quarterback Bo Nix and Co. The Tigers will hang their upset hopes on running back Tank Bigsby and a running game that could give Northwestern trouble. Ohio State’s Trey Sermon ran for over 330 yards. Expect Steele’s defense, whether it’s his last time on the Plains or not, to play well. Northwestern 27, Auburn 24 Chick-fil-A Bowl Georgia 30, Cincinnati 23 Saturday, Jan. 2 Taxslayer Gator Bowl North Carolina State 31, Kentucky 27 Outback Bowl Ole Miss 26, Indiana 24 Playstation Fiesta Bowl Iowa State 26, Oregon 21 Capital One Cotton Bowl Texas A&M 36, North Carolina 31 Charles Hollis has covered college football since 1983. Reach him at budcoin@msn,com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald guided his team to a Big Ten runner-up finish this season. On Friday, his 14th-ranked Wildcats take on 6-4 Auburn in the Citrus Bowl. AP
I_M4_AU 8,935 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Typical al.com with the misleading headline. The article says Harsin will be auditioning the players, so to speak, it’s not his audition. The first article talks more about Alabama than Auburn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigers23 681 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Charles Hollis is probably the biggest buffoon employed by al.com. And that's saying a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddc 13,197 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 I quit posting al. Com stuff a while back and I think most regular posters have as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexava 6,974 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 I don’t have a problem with al.cum as a whole. This is a useless article though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddc 13,197 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 1 minute ago, alexava said: I don’t have a problem with al.cum as a whole. This is a useless article though. I still read it but don’t put it on my top list for the best take on Auburn sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnowItAll 28 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 They didn't even get Harsin's age correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexava 6,974 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 42 minutes ago, KnowItAll said: They didn't even get Harsin's age correct. I was hoping they got it correct and everything else was wrong.lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oracle79 3,569 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 2 hours ago, tigers23 said: Charles Hollis is probably the biggest buffoon employed by al.com. And that's saying a lot How old is he? Like 102 or so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steeleagle 2,945 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 3 hours ago, I_M4_AU said: Typical al.com with the misleading headline. The article says Harsin will be auditioning the players, so to speak, it’s not his audition. The first article talks more about Alabama than Auburn. And Hollis is not even our beat writer for them. Han is, and she has not enamored the fan base much, with all her inciting regarding Covid, students, and misleading references in her articles that aren't true.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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