Harsin learning and improving

[McLoofus 35,182]

Illuminating and encouraging read:

Quote

 

And so it’s no secret in the athletics complex now that Harsin is trying to get better this spring at relating to his team at Auburn, and is trying to build a better connection with his players from all backgrounds.

“I think that’s just for the better of the program,” Auburn corner Nehemiah Pritchett said Wednesday, as the Tigers got set for another day of practice. “Players want to play for coaches who care about them. Coach Harsin, he’s shown that he cares lately.”

 

Edit: Didba was kind enough to post full text below and here's the link to the original article. Credit to Justin Lee of the OA News. He's been doing a great job with football and basketball as well, in case anyone wasn't aware.

 

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by McLoofus

[Didba 5,303]

Bryan Harsin is trying to get better.

But that’s always been the case for him. The study of self-improvement is one of his favorite topics to talk about. He said as much this spring, after the turmoil of the offseason settled and the Auburn football team opened spring camp and swapped social media chaos for the familiar rhythm of practice and drills.

And so it’s no secret in the athletics complex now that Harsin is trying to get better this spring at relating to his team at Auburn, and is trying to build a better connection with his players from all backgrounds.

“I think that’s just for the better of the program,” Auburn corner Nehemiah Pritchett said Wednesday, as the Tigers got set for another day of practice. “Players want to play for coaches who care about them. Coach Harsin, he’s shown that he cares lately.”

 

Players said Wednesday that when Harsin got back in early February, he opened up in a team meeting about being a better communicator with the young people on his team while telling them his office door is always open.

Harsin, for his part, has also pointed to how COVID-19 numbers were still high when he first got to Auburn. The recent team activities Auburn’s enjoyed outside the complex this offseason — like going on a paintball trip — are things the team would’ve done when he first got to Auburn if it weren’t for the pandemic, he said.

Either way, departures from the program led into a wellness check from the university president’s office this past January, and players say Harsin is working harder this spring to ensure everyone in the program feels comfortable and heard.

 

“I could tell when I first came, it was just, like, football,” defensive lineman Marcus Harris said of the focus under Harsin. “I’m used to that football mindset, but you never know how other people might take that. They probably took it the wrong way, like he didn’t care about them. But in actuality, he was just trying to win and getting the program up, because he’s a new coach.

 

“He’s got to put his foot down and let everybody know that he’s not a run-over coach. He’s a serious coach. But I saw it when he first came here.”

 

It was in late January and early February that the university president’s office opened its investigation. One former player Lee Hunter said on social media that players were treated “like dogs” under Harsin and another, Smoke Monday, said that Harsin can’t relate to players “from the hood.”

 

Complicating the wellness check was a previously scheduled vacation for Harsin. Ultimately, school president Jay Gogue announced Auburn found nothing in its investigation that should change Harsin’s status as head football coach — while bemoaning the rumors that ran rampant on social media, many of them completely unrelated to what was going on.

When Harsin got back from vacation in early February, and Gogue affirmed that he’d still be Auburn’s football coach, Kilian Zierer said Harsin opened up in a team meeting.

“The first meeting we had, he told everybody his room’s always open,” Zierer said. “If you have any issues, just walk right in. He acknowledged that he didn’t do the best job, I guess, last year, and he said he wants to improve it. And the first meeting we had, he pretty much said, whenever there’s an issue [to bring it to him] — and he’s going to try to be better with everybody, if that makes sense.

 

“He wants to relate more to everybody. I think he’s done a much better job of that already.”

Ultimately, like Pritchett, Harris thinks the program is better for what happened.

And the Tigers and the head coach are moving forward together.

“Not before the situation that happened in February, but I guess people were scared to talk to him one-on-one. But he’s not a scary person to talk to,” Harris said. “He told us, he didn’t know that’s what he was missing, what we needed. As a team, as a unit, as a collective group, we were like, ‘Yeah, that’s what some people need,’ because you’ve got people coming in from all different parts of the country and you never know what they’re going through at home, because they can’t see their family.

“You’ve got to ask them how their family’s doing and how their mom’s doing and family and grandparents and stuff like that. So I feel like he’s doing better with that part. I feel like that’s going to help us even better this season.”

[Didba 5,303]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Illuminating and encouraging read:

 

And so it’s no secret in the athletics complex now that Harsin is trying to get better this spring at relating to his team at Auburn, and is trying to build a better connection with his players from all backgrounds.

“I think that’s just for the better of the program,” Auburn corner Nehemiah Pritchett said Wednesday, as the Tigers got set for another day of practice. “Players want to play for coaches who care about them. Coach Harsin, he’s shown that he cares lately.”

 

 

If anyone wants to copy and paste the full text, go for it. Or I can do it in the morning.

https://oanow.com/sports/college/auburn/he-s-shown-that-he-cares-bryan-harsin-auburn-players-move-forward-together/article_9a355fac-aaef-11ec-8ae8-77e6c1fffcf8.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter_oanow

I got you

[maryland tiger 616]

So basically, he needs to "act" like he interested in them as people. Got it! 

[Didba 5,303]

10 minutes ago, maryland tiger said:

So basically, he needs to "act" like he interested in them as people. Got it! 

You've never been unaware of something you were doing that bothered people and then once confronted with it, made changes to grow as a person while trying to do better?

[McLoofus 35,182]

8 hours ago, Didba said:

I got you

Plain text and formatted, even- buy this man a beer! 

[80Tiger 904]

Not to hijack this thread, but it seems there has been very little real information come out this spring, whether from insiders or even the beat reporters. Does it feel that way to others or is just me? We are getting the typical "sunshine pumping" articles, (that is not a knock on Harsin, we have always had those type articles with all coaches), but not much else.

 

[woodford 3,688]

8 hours ago, Didba said:

You've never been unaware of something you were doing that bothered people and then once confronted with it, made changes to grow as a person while trying to do better?

I think we’ve all been there, but none of us have been in a position like CFB HC. Being able to read the room should be a prerequisite. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

9 hours ago, Didba said:

You've never been unaware of something you were doing that bothered people and then once confronted with it, made changes to grow as a person while trying to do better?

This is happening at my office. A certain person in leadership has been quite fearsome for most of my time here, but in the last 8 months this person has softened significantly. Not only that, but we are seeing meaningful changes in policy. There was what I believe to have been a precipitating event, and most of us are still somewhat waiting for the other shoe to drop. But the change in tone and the resultant change in the atmosphere around the office are undeniable. 

TL;DR   It can happen.

[AUDynasty 585]

Bryan Harsin has improved so much under this new second chance of coaching Auburn. He's focused. He's having fun. I wouldn't be surprised if he's a dark horse for the Coach of the Year.

[Maverick.AU 13,282]

@McLoofusthis is the type of stuff I was referring to when we had the Harsin discussion weeks ago. We will see if it translates into wins and losses in the long run, but it is def encouraging that he is trying to adapt and change some things that didn't work well last year.

Edited March 24, 2022 by Maverick.AU

[woodford 3,688]

Just hope he’s improving on the recruiting trail as much as he’s improving within the program. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

21 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

@McLoofusthis is the type of stuff I was referring to when we had the Harsin discussion weeks ago. We will see if it translates into wins and losses in the long run, but it is def encouraging that he is trying to adapt and change some things that didn't work well last year.

Absolutely. At a minimum, he acknowledged and addressed it. 1-0.

[W.E.D 11,070]

48 minutes ago, AUDynasty said:

Bryan Harsin has improved so much under this new second chance of coaching Auburn. He's focused. He's having fun. I wouldn't be surprised if he's a dark horse for the Coach of the Year.

This is good posting

[Gowebb11 9,543]

35 minutes ago, woodford said:

Just hope he’s improving on the recruiting trail as much as he’s improving within the program. 

Zeek just posted an updated visitor list from last weekend. It was impressive. Multiple 5 stars (one from Michigan), some UGA commits and several from top Alabama high schools. Getting them signed is the most important thing but I sense a change in recruiting momentum for sure. 

[woodford 3,688]

1 hour ago, Gowebb11 said:

Zeek just posted an updated visitor list from last weekend. It was impressive. Multiple 5 stars (one from Michigan), some UGA commits and several from top Alabama high schools. Getting them signed is the most important thing but I sense a change in recruiting momentum for sure. 

Sure hope so. They have to sell the idea of early PT and being top dogs and getting more exposure at Auburn than they will at Bama or UGA. 
 

I just hope Harsin can turn it around. I’m still not sold on him but here’s to them having a great spring/summer. 

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

7 hours ago, 80Tiger said:

Not to hijack this thread, but it seems there has been very little real information come out this spring, whether from insiders or even the beat reporters. Does it feel that way to others or is just me? We are getting the typical "sunshine pumping" articles, (that is not a knock on Harsin, we have always had those type articles with all coaches), but not much else.

 

SO MANY questions, and hardly any of the big ones will get answered until a few weeks before the season starts. I don't think there's much to report with so many changes going on. We're just coming to a point in knowing which players are actually going to stay and have an opportunity to impact this season. And yet that has not ended(which is normal). 

It honestly feels like we're going through another cultural change so to speak with all the mess that went on during the off season. It's a reset for Harsin. 

[AU9377 5,368]

6 hours ago, Maverick.AU said:

@McLoofusthis is the type of stuff I was referring to when we had the Harsin discussion weeks ago. We will see if it translates into wins and losses in the long run, but it is def encouraging that he is trying to adapt and change some things that didn't work well last year.

If it does, and I hope it does, everyone will owe some gratitude to those that got out in front of the issue and had a come to Jesus meeting with him about it all.  Without that, success would not have been a possibility.

[JuscAUse! 1,526]

1 hour ago, AU9377 said:

If it does, and I hope it does, everyone will owe some gratitude to those that got out in front of the issue and had a come to Jesus meeting with him about it all.  Without that, success would not have been a possibility.

If only it had been done "in house" instead of the AU message boards and Paul Fbomb. But we shall see. 

[Sizzle 3,932]

That’s good he’s trying to improve that’s all you can ask for. But what the hell was he doing at Boise State all those years? 

[woodford 3,688]

8 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

That’s good he’s trying to improve that’s all you can ask for. But what the hell was he doing at Boise State all those years? 

Perhaps it’s more illuminated at Auburn? No idea. Just a guess. 

[Tiger Refuge 6,686]

I’m really glad to see the self awareness light clap on for him. That constant self evaluation is critical for successful leaders. He has, however, added loose gravel to the already large hill he had to climb in his first year on the Plains. Can he get there? I hope so.

[woodford 3,688]

33 minutes ago, Tiger Refuge said:

I’m really glad to see the self awareness light clap on for him. That constant self evaluation is critical for successful leaders. He has, however, added loose gravel to the already large hill he had to climb in his first year on the Plains. Can he get there? I hope so.

Winning will fix a lot of things. 
 

The Penn State game is going to be so massive. 

[Gowebb11 9,543]

1 hour ago, Sizzle said:

That’s good he’s trying to improve that’s all you can ask for. But what the hell was he doing at Boise State all those years? 

What he was doing at Boise was watching his way work in a big way. Two things can be true here. He had a recipe that produced great results and few complaints at BSU. That recipe produced a different outcome at AU and in the SEC. Now he’s adapting. The next few months we’re going to find out if he can blend what has worked for him and what he has learned into the AU culture and SEC. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, Tiger Refuge said:

He has, however, added loose gravel to the already large hill he had to climb

Never heard this expression. Holy crap, I love it.