Bobo to call plays fas Harsin focuses on offense's DNA

[aubiefifty 18,231]

Bobo to call plays for Auburn as Harsin focuses on offense's DNA

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

5-6 minutes

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There are seven and a half months before Bryan Harsin coaches his first game for Auburn, but the Tigers’ new head coach has already left little doubt as to who will be charged with calling plays on gamedays this fall.

That responsibility will fall to offensive coordinator Mike Bobo — and only Bobo.

“Mike’s calling the plays,” Harsin said. “My responsibility right now is to help install and be there for the DNA for who we are on the offensive side.”

Harsin’s decision to hand play-calling duties over to Bobo is in line with what the head coach did at Boise State, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Still, it’s a departure from recent seasons on the Plains, where questions always persisted about who was calling plays for the Tigers — whether it was Auburn’s offensive coordinator or then-head coach Gus Malzahn.

In this new era of Auburn football, Harsin made clear what his own role on the offensive side of the ball will be for his program. After all, he is an offensive-minded coach with seven seasons of offensive coordinator experience on his resume prior to spending the last eight seasons as a head coach.

For now, Harsin’s primary role on offense will be figuring out the best way to blend ideas from his offensive staff, which includes Bobo, offensive line coach Will Friend, tight ends coach Brad Bedell, wide receivers coach Cornelius Williams and running backs coach Cadillac Williams. Bedell has previously worked with Harsin and is familiar with what he likes to do offensively, while Bobo and Friend have a detailed history together as well. Cornelius Williams comes to Auburn from Troy, and Cadillac Williams remains as the lone holdover from Malzahn’s Auburn staff.

Harsin’s fingerprints will be all over the offensive scheme, but there are still a wealth of different experiences on staff to draw from as Auburn looks to build its new-look offense this offseason.

“As you start to talk about scheme, really what are come of the best things that we’ve all done?” Harsin said. “And it’s open discussion. That’s the best part about having really good coaches is, yes, we have a foundation and there’s some non-negotiables in there, but there’s a lot of things that we want to work through and try as we install it, be the very best that we can in those areas.”

Harsin and his staff have already begun discussions on the best way to mesh those ideas and develop the offense. It has been fun and enjoyable, for the most part, but there have also been difficult parts of those conversations that have led to healthy arguments — which Harsin has found encouraging during the process.

“These guys have been awesome,” he said. “… We’re able to work through some things. There’s some really good, healthy arguments in there, which you should have. To me, that’s how you develop that conviction for what it is you want to do and the system you want to put in so we can take that into the meeting rooms and share that with our players.”

It will eventually lead to a progressive installation of the offense, piece by piece, through the spring, summer and into fall camp. The great thing, Harsin said, is that Bobo has his own experiences in doing this. He has been a longtime coordinator in the SEC and has his own head coaching experiences to draw from, so he understands the process and how best to work through it.

It’s part of why Harsin tabbed him as offensive coordinator and made him the first official assistant coach hire on his inaugural staff. The relationship between the two goes back a decade, to when Bobo was still offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Georgia and Harsin held those same roles at Texas.

Their teams didn’t face each other then, but the two had a chance to get together in the offseason to discuss ideas and philosophies. Harsin had lone admired what Bobo accomplished at Georgia and how he developed quarterbacks such as Matthew Stafford, David Greene and Aaron Murray. The two coaches maintained a relationship over the years, and they eventually became competitors in the Mountain West, when Harsin’s Boise State annually faced Bobo’s Colorado State from 2015-19.

When Harsin took over at Auburn last month, bringing on Bobo to collaborate on the offensive side checked a lot of boxes for the Tigers’ new coach.

“I think the philosophies that he and I both have at the quarterback position as far as the offensive philosophies, those mesh,” Harsin said. “And then what we’re trying to do now is blend those ideas and bring this offense to Auburn that we want to create.”

While Harsin is focusing on how that offense will be structured this fall, it will be up to Bobo to execute it on Saturdays.

“When it comes down to playcalling and all that, we both agreed I’ll call the touchdowns and he can call the other plays,” Harsin joked. “That’s what we’re going to do, all right. So, if there’s any touchdowns out there, I’ll take credit for that and the rest of it, we’ll just move the ball down the field and try to get there.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[AUnCullman 601]

Would love to be a fly on the wall in those meetings. Would be very interesting I'm sure

[toddc 13,197]

Already a thread on this I think.

[LKEEL75 2,567]

Sounds like there is plenty of passion in that room.  Can't wait to see what they can get on the field!

[woodford 3,732]

17 hours ago, AUnCullman said:

Would love to be a fly on the wall in those meetings. Would be very interesting I'm sure

“Good God this system here sucked lol we need a raise already”

[woodford 3,732]

50 minutes ago, LKEEL75 said:

Sounds like there is plenty of passion in that room.  Can't wait to see what they can get on the field!

No doubt. Mason is going to have these boys on defense ready to go!

[AUGoo 2,703]

On 1/26/2021 at 11:33 AM, woodford said:

No doubt. Mason is going to have these boys on defense ready to go!

Gonna have to throw a flag here!

*No doubt*  is no longer an allowable phrase.

Neither is BOOM! or We had a great week of practice!

 

 

 

 

/sarc