10/26/22 Auburn Articles

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Auburn football: Bryan Harsin coaching change buzz has 'cooled considerably,' per report

Robbie Weinstein

3-4 minutes

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Auburn coach Bryan Harsin continues to hang on to his job despite the consistent reports of a potential standing going back to last winter, and the Tigers are moving forward with him coming out of their bye week. The university continues to search for a new athletic director, and Matt Fortuna of The Athletic indicated Tuesday that Harsin might be safe for now, reporting that "Auburn's rush to immediately fire him has cooled considerably."

That information squares with what Pete Thamel reported recently when he cited "less urgency" within Auburn regarding the potential to make a midseason coaching change. Auburn sits at 3-4 overall and 1-3 in SEC play heading into a home game against Arkansas this weekend.

"The latest I've heard on Bryan Harsin has been a little bit of change of tenor at Auburn," Thamel said recently on SEC Network. "They’re, obviously, amid an AD search — they talked to AD candidates this week. The thought now is that the new AD will come in place and then make a decision on Bryan Harsin and his future. There is less urgency right now to make a move on Harsin than there maybe was a few weeks ago at Auburn. There's some optics that they're concerned about at Auburn and they don't want to look like Auburn being Auburn."

If Auburn fires Harsin without cause, the school owes 70% of his remaining salary through the contract term. That totals $15.3 million, with 50% of that total due within 60 days. Auburn fired Gus Malzahn in December 2020, and paid more than $21 million in buyout funds. Auburn paid out half of that to Malzahn within a month.

Harsin has been mentioned as a candidate for multiple open jobs, most notably Arizona State and Colorado in the Pac-12. Auburn still has five games remaining on its schedule and will remain alive for a bowl berth regardless of the outcome of Saturday's game against Arkansas.

Matchups against Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Conference USA power Western Kentucky and Alabama make for a difficult remaining schedule. The Tigers have lost three straight games after starting 3-1.

One name that has generated buzz as Harsin's potential replacement if Auburn were to make a move? Jackson State coach and NFL legend Deion Sanders, who said recently on CBS News' "60 Minutes" that he would give at least some consideration if major powers came calling.

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"I’m going to have to entertain it," Sanders told CBS News when asked about Power Five interest. "Yes, I’m going to have to entertain it, straight up. I’d be a fool not to."

Brad Crawford contributed to this report.

">247Sports

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SOURCE: Bryan Harsin is telling players that want to redshirt that they must enter the transfer portal or quit the team

Lindsay Crosby

3 minutes

With Zykevious Walker and Landen King both announcing their intention to transfer from Auburn, a source tells Auburn Daily that Auburn football Head Coach Bryan Harsin is telling players that have asked for redshirts that their only options are to quit the football program or enter the transfer portal.

The NCAA Board of Governors has adopted rule changes that prohibit players from entering the transfer portal outside of defined "windows" - a 45-day period that begins the day after "championship selections" are made is the first window, with a 2nd window coming May 1st through May 15th. There is also a provision that allows a 30-day portal entry period for student-athletes who "experience head coach changes or have athletics aid reduced, canceled or not renewed", seemingly taking away momentum to fire a head coach during the season.

Converted TE Landen King only has one catch for 24 yards on the season - he was reportedly asked to lose weight to transition to wide receiver in the offseason, but has received only limited snaps so far on the season and requested a redshirt to preserve eligibility.

Attempts to verify King's stats on Auburn's roster were met with a "404" message, indicating his online profile had already been wiped from the roster as of Tuesday night, just hours after the social media message was posted by King.

Of Auburn's 18 signees in the 2021 recruiting class, nine have already left the program, including five of the top ten. Some transferred in the 2021 offseason, with Dematrius Davis (Alabama State), Hal Presley (Baylor), Lee Hunter (UCF), Ian Matthews (Missouri), Ro Torrence (Arizona State), and Kamal Hadden (Tennessee) all finding new homes for the 2022 season. Defensive lineman Marquis Robinson entered the transfer portal in January of 2022, only to withdraw in April and remain with the Tigers. Cornerback AD Diamond, a freshman from Mobile, has not officially made an announcement but is not currently listed on Auburn's online roster as of Tuesday night. 

According to the source close to the Auburn football program, Harsin was refusing to allow players to request a redshirt without a medical reason for not playing. It was being referred to as "you play or you go", forcing players to prematurely give up on their 2022 season in order to not lose a season of eligibility.

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For Auburn, retention of top recruiting talent is ongoing struggle

Nathan King

6-7 minutes

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Zykeivous Walker’s decision was the latest in what’s been a harrowing trend for Auburn’s retention — or lack thereof — of top recruiting talent.

After dealing with two different injuries since last season, and being away from the team for a couple weeks due to what Bryan Harsin called “some family things,” Walker left the team two weeks ago and announced Monday he’ll be entering the transfer portal.

Sophomore receiver Landen King announced Tuesday evening he’ll transfer, too, but we’ll get to that later.

“He's a great guy,” edge rusher Derick Hall said of Walker. “I feel like he'll find a good home wherever he goes.”

Walker now joins a growing list of top-end recruits to depart the program in the past couple years. The No. 79 overall recruit in the 2020 class, Walker was Auburn’s fourth highest-rated prospect on its roster entering the season, behind only Owen Pappoe, Tank Bigsby and Wesley Steiner.

And although he never settled into a consistent role along the defensive line in two-plus seasons, his imminent transfer still adds to a troubling percentage of former top prospects Harsin has been unable to keep on his team.

The issue of talent retention extends beyond Harsin’s tenure, but it has been a massive issue for the second-year head coach. Of the top 50 recruits Auburn has signed over the current four-year recruiting cycle (2019-22), 22 have transferred.

That includes six of Auburn’s top 10 signees — some of the best prospects in America during that span — and eight of the top 20.

Here’s that list of players. Those who left the program are bolded.

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2019: LB Owen Pappoe (.9879, 5-star)

2019: QB Bo Nix (.9857, 5-star)

2020: RB Tank Bigsby (.9814, 4-star)

2019: DL Charles Moore (.9681, 4-star)

2021: EDGE Dylan Brooks (.9659, 4-star)

2020: DL Zykeivous Walker (.9649, 4-star)

2021: DT Lee Hunter (.9633, 4-star)

2019: RB Mark-Antony Richards (.9589, 4-star)

2019: EDGE Jaren Handy (.9560, 4-star)

2020: LB Wesley Steiner (.9558, 4-star)

2020: DT Jay Hardy (.9549, 4-star)

2020: WR Kobe Hudson (.9509, 4-star)

2022: LB Robert Woodyard (.9425, 4-star)

2019: DB Zion Puckett (.9420, 4-star)

2020: WR Ze’Vian Capers (.9389, 4-star)

2019: OG Keiondre Jones (.9385, 4-star)

2019: EDGE Derick Hall (.9378, 4-star)

2022: CB J.D. Rhym (.9286, 4-star)

2020: WR J.J. Evans (.9285, 4-star)

2020: DB Ladarius Tennison (.9284, 4-star)

2022: CB Austin Ausberry (.9275, 4-star)

2020: CB Eric Reed Jr. (.9232, 4-star)

2020: DB Chris Thompson Jr. (.9215, 4-star)

2020: WR Malcolm Johnson Jr. (.9189, 4-star)

2021: DB Ahmari Harvey (.9174, 4-star)

2020: DT J.J. Pegues (.9162, 4-star)

2021: QB Dematrius Davis (.9148, 4-star)

2019: DB Cam’Ron Kelly (.9145, 4-star)

2020: LB Desmond Tisdol (.9104, 4-star)

2019: DB Jashawn Sheffield (.9086, 4-star)

2022: QB Holden Geriner (.9060, 4-star)

2022: DT Jeffrey M’ba (.9056, 4-star)

2020: DT Dre Butler (.9045, 4-star)

2022: OG E.J. Harris (.9008, 4-star)

2022: DB Keionte Scott (.9000, 4-star)

2022: RB Damari Alston (.8995, 4-star)

2022: WR Omari Kelly (.8967, 4-star)

2020: LB Cam Riley (.8976, 4-star)

2019: RB D.J. Williams (.8975, 4-star)

2019: CB Jaylin Simpson (.8958, 4-star)

2021: DT Marquis Robinson (.8958, 4-star)

2019: DT Colby Wooden (.8937, 4-star)

2020: TE Brandon Frazier (.8934, 4-star)

2020: CB Marco Domio (.8925, 4-star)

2022: TE Micah-Riley Ducker (.8922, 4-star)

2021: WR Tar’Varish Dawson (.8918, 4-star)

2019: WR Ja’Varrius Johnson (.8918, 4-star)

2022: WR Camden Brown (.8889, 4-star)

2020: EDGE Romello Height (.8884, 3-star)

2021: WR Hal Presley (.8884, 3-star)

The only members of this group that transferred before Harsin’s tenure began are Richards, Sheffield, Moore and Cam’Ron Kelly.

So, of Auburn’s top 50 signees over the past four cycles, 18 of them (36%) have left the program in the 22 months since Harsin became head coach.

Coaching changes always breed attrition, though, and of the 18 outgoing transfers from the top 50, only four have been from Harsin’s 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes (Presley, Davis, Harvey and Hunter).

But Harsin has also been unable to keep many of his own recruits. After King’s decision, Auburn’s 2021 class is almost halfway gone.

Eight of those 18 signees have left — and if cornerback A.D. Diamond, who has been removed from Auburn’s official roster, is also out the door, half of Harsin’s first recruiting class at Auburn will have transferred out, less than a year after they signed. 

The issue hasn’t just been with overall number of transfers; Auburn isn’t overly abnormal in terms of transfer volume. It’s about losing the top talent. With King’s departure Tuesday, at least five of Auburn’s top 10 signees from 2019-21 have transferred (the current class of true freshman has, unsurprisingly, not had any departures).

2019: 6 of top 10 signees left program

2020: 7 of top 10

2021: 5 of top 10

2022: 0 of top 10

Auburn was still among the nation’s best in this offseason’s Blue-Chip Ratio, meaning it has recruited more four- and five-star talent than not over a four-year cycle. But that metric doesn’t account for roster turnover, where the Tigers have been bleeding talent for the better part of two years.

Blended with Auburn's current recruiting standing under Harsin — No. 49 in the 2023 247Sports Composite rankings — and the sheer number of possible NFL draft entrants and graduating seniors after this season, the program's talent outlook for the near future is murky, to say the very least.

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Bye-week boost: Tigers 'refreshed and ready to go'

Nathan King

4-5 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama — It’s cliched, and there’s usually not a time when a bye week would be a negative for a program.

But Auburn sorely needed its week off — because a lot of its players are just that: sore.

It isn’t just that the Tigers’ bye week came after the Tigers’ third straight loss that dropped them to 3-4 on the year. Several players exited the Ole Miss game two Saturdays ago with injuries — though none are expected to be severe.

“I thought guys took advantage of the bye week, got healthy — and that showed up on Sunday (at practice),” Harsin said Monday.

Auburn’s team captains all echoed Monday that time away from the grind of practice, workouts and SEC competition was most beneficial for their bodies after seven straight games to open the season, including five against Power Five opponents.

“Recovery was huge,” edge rusher Derick Hall said. “We think Coach Harsin did a great job making sure this team recovers and gets back healthy, and that's going to be beneficial for us.”

Offensive lineman Kameron Stutts, defensive tackles Colby Wooden and Marcus Harris, Hall, nickelback Keionte Scott, safety Zion Puckett and cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett all exited the Ole Miss loss. Some returned, while others were injured late in the second half and remained on the sideline for the rest of the game.

The Tigers were already without starting right tackle Austin Troxell, Alec Jackson, who had started the previous two games at right guard before being injured against Georgia, edge rusher Eku Leota and center Tate Johnson. Defensive tackle Jeffrey M'ba also did not play.

“It really impacts practice,” Bryan Harsin said. “If the guy has to take the 2 reps, he doesn't have anybody to back him up and he's getting double reps and pretty soon he fatigues and that's going to cause injury down the road. So getting these guys back and really utilizing that bye week. I think it came at a really good time for us, because we had some guys that were banged up. So to get these guys back and get them in the mix this week, that'll help us.”

Theoretically, the Arkansas game represents a strong opportunity for the Tigers to get back in the win column — at least relative to the other games left on their schedule. Auburn’s longest current SEC winning streak is over the Razorbacks — at six games, dating back to 2016 — and Harsin is 9-1 as a head coach following bye weeks. Since 2013, Auburn is also 9-1 after bye weeks.

But Arkansas is still a road favorite (-3.5, per VegasInsider.com), and Auburn will need to play a more consistent style of football on both sides of the ball; limiting turnovers and stopping the run would be good starts.

The Tigers had been reeling in those two categories before the off period — but they're confident the brief time away will positively influence their preparation this week, and for the rest of the season.

“Everybody here is refreshed and ready to go now," linebacker Owen Pappoe said. “... Just a good time for us to get healthy and do a lot of self-reflection. Just looking in the mirror, viewing things that we did wrong from the beginning of the season and knowing what we need to attack last week in practice. I feel like we had a really good week, those few practices that we had, and we’re going full speed into this week.”

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Auburn has ‘a lot of potential to get better,’ but time is running out

Published: Oct. 26, 2022, 7:30 a.m.

5-6 minutes

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To say this season has not gone to plan for Auburn would be putting it gently.

The Tigers have been mired in a downward spiral—a seeming continuation of last season’s plummet—that has been difficult to overcome. They’re 3-4 on the year, 1-3 in SEC play and on a three-game losing streak as they come out of the bye week and prepare to take on the final stretch of the regular season.

For second-year coach Bryan Harsin, at least, there is a silver lining—a kernel of hope that his program can rebound over these final five regular-season games, beginning Saturday at 11 a.m. against Arkansas at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

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“We have a lot of potential to get better, and that’s the great thing,” Harsin said. “That’s the motivating thing.”

Auburn’s issues this season have not been singular; there are areas to address in each phase of the game.

The run defense has been abysmal, particularly against Power 5 competition. The offense has struggled with turnovers, endured inconsistent play at quarterback and — until the last game against Ole Miss — a stonewalled rushing attack, factors that have contributed to Auburn’s poor third-down conversion rate as the team has often found itself behind the chains offensively. On special teams, kickoff coverage has been an issue of late, while Anders Carlson experienced some struggles on longer field goal attempts earlier in the season.

“Early in the year we were making the same mistakes over and over again, and that was really just why we weren’t having success,” tight end and team captain John Samuel Shenker said. “…We’re repeat offenders on certain mistakes that cost us football games, especially in the SEC. You’ve got to play good, clean football and that’s what Coach Harsin’s been preaching. You’re hard to beat when you’re playing clean football.”

That has been difficult to attain for Auburn this season. The Tigers have been besieged by untimely penalties and the nation’s worst turnover margin (minus-11 on the year). Those mistakes aren’t easy to overcome, but Harsin has been encouraged by the effort and fight he has seen from his team despite those struggles. Case in point, the trip to Ole Miss prior to the bye week. Auburn fell behind 21-0 early in the second quarter but battled back to within four in the third quarter before ultimately losing 48-34.

“When you don’t have great effort and when guys quit or give up, that’s a problem,” Harsin said. “Because that’s bigger than a scheme. That’s bigger than a coaching point. That’s bigger than a drill you can do and all that. You don’t see that. You see guys digging in.”

Auburn has been far from perfect this season, but Harsin views many of the team’s issues as correctible. It’s just a matter of doing it and actualizing the potential he sees in his program. As he halfheartedly joked Monday when asked about his team’s prospective to improve down the stretch: “I think we’d better.”

The first opportunity comes Saturday against the Razorbacks (4-3, 1-3 SEC), a team the Tigers have won six consecutive games against — including last season in Fayetteville, Ark., when Arkansas was ranked 17th in the country. While both teams are coming off an open date, it’s worth noting that historically, Harsin’s teams have performed well after bye weeks, holding a 9-1 record during his head coaching career.

That includes last season, when Auburn defeated a top-10 Ole Miss team, 31-20, at Jordan-Hare Stadium. That win made the Tigers bowl eligible in Harsin’s first season, but it also marked the final victory of Year 1 for the head coach, as his team ended the season on a five-game losing streak.

Auburn still has lots of work to get to bowl eligibility this season, needing three wins in its final five games against Arkansas, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Western Kentucky and Alabama. In essence, time is running out for Auburn to turn things around.

The team needs more than just resiliency; it needs to show improvement from top to bottom and produce results — and coming off an extra week of recovery and preparation, against an opponent that Auburn has dominated for much of the last decade, is the most opportune time.

“We have a long way to go,” Harsin said, “and we have a lot of potential to get there.”

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

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Does Auburn have the answer at quarterback?

Updated: Oct. 25, 2022, 2:54 p.m.|Published: Oct. 25, 2022, 1:55 p.m.

4-5 minutes

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Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford (9) celebrates his first half touchdown run against Mississippi during their NCAA college football game in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)AP

By

• Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com

Robby Ashford showed poise and promise at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium during Auburn’s 48-34 loss on October 15 against then No.9 Ole Miss.

Harsin appreciated how Ashford led the Tigers down the field after trailing 21-0 and sitting out a series. Ashford finished the game with two rushing touchdowns and 140 yards passing on 8-17 throwing attempts. His effort was a catalyst toward the Tigers being a few plays away from beating a ranked opponent for the first time since last season’s win on Halloween weekend against the Rebels.

Auburn downed Arkansas 38-23 in Fayetteville the week before beating the Rebels at Jordan-Hare. Now, the game against the Razorbacks comes with Harsin’s record sitting at 9-11 as the Tigers coach. His squad is on a three-game losing streak, and at 3-4, 1-3, SEC is an underdog against the 4-3 Razorbacks at home.

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Harsin recognizes the chance to salvage a winning season, and going to a bowl game requires elevated play from the most critical position on the field.

“I think improving, still not where we need to be,” Harsin said when asked about the quarterback situation. “The expectations in that room are really, really high. I think those guys are working at it. I think they’re taking the coaching as far as what they need to do to improve. I think they’re taking it upon themselves to be better students of the game and really understand how to prepare yourself week in and week out to be ready to go out there and play against whatever opponent we’re playing.”

Ashford’s 47.9% completion rate and five interceptions to four-touchdowns ratio leave lots to be desired from the quarterback position. He’s an excellent runner and can extend plays with his legs. His completion rate also factors in several throwaways because of pass protection breakdowns and no open receivers. However, there have also been times in which Ashford has over-thrown open pass-catchers.

“I think we’re executing, for the most part, their assignments and what they need to do at that position: checking, all those things, operating the offense, making plays. Robby’s able to do that, and that’s one thing Robby can do—he can extend plays; he can make plays. He’s doing a better job keeping his eyes down the field. He’s also a threat in the run game, so he’s that dual-threat guy that can do a lot of different things, and I think that room understands what we have to do at that position to be successful.”

Ashford’s completion percentage is low, but when he does connect they’re usually big plays. He has two 60-yard touchdown passes to running back Jarquez Hunter. His 15.13 yards per completed pass ranks second in the conference and fourth in the nation.

Auburn’s season and perhaps Harsin’s employment status will revolve around consistent quarterback play. Ashford showed potential, but can he put it together for four quarters?

“You want to see growth and you want to see things that we may not see it right away, as fast as we all want to see it, but we’re seeing growth in that room, and we’re seeing guys getting better because practices improved,” Harsin said. “The effort, the attitude—all the things that you need at that position to be better are showing up out at practice. Ultimately, that need to show up at the game and show up consistently for four quarters for us to do what we need to do.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group.

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Auburn football: Former second-round NFL pick alum calls program a s***show

Andrew Hughes

2-3 minutes

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Auburn football alum and 2018 NFL second-round pick Kerryon Johnson condemned the current state of the Tigers under head coach Bryan Harsin (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

 

Auburn football is in yet another state of panic in 2022 following the transfers of tight end/receiver Landen King and defensive lineman Zykeivous Walker on consecutive days October 24 and 25.

The loss of King is made worse by the fact that a replacement head coach for Bryan Harsin would be able to bring him back. One isolated transfer reflects on a player, but multiple indicates something is up behind the scenes.

To be fair to Harsin, there are caveats. King’s case reportedly had to do with a refusal to play, an insistence on a redshirt because of it, and an unwillingness to play if the team needed him to per On3’s Justin Hokanson. It also is worth mentioning that neither player was recruited by Harsin, but instead predecessor Gus Malzahn.

Still, since this is now another wave of transfers means something isn’t clicking in the locker-room, likely directly effecting the results on the field this season and last. 2018 NFL Draft pick and Malzahn’s top running back recruit Kerryon Johnson chimed in on the situation, and wouldn’t you know it, his opinion was negative:

Former Auburn football stars don’t care for Bryan Harsin

Many transfers from the 2021 Auburn football team had harsh words for Bryan Harsin — with Kobe Hudson’s declaration that he’d be back on the Plains if Harsin was on a one-way plane to Boise and Gus Malzahn was reinstalled as head coach — but other former players that didn’t play for the program are chiming in. In addition to Kerryon Johnson, Anthony Schwartz asked for grace for Malzahn and Bo Nix during the Ole Miss loss.

It can’t be good news for Harsin that former players are receiving these sort of negative reviews from current players and people within the program. Then again, almost no news is good news when it comes to Auburn football these days — only the landing of recruits, but even they may be scared away by this dysfunction should it continue.

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