Bryan Harsin addresses 'gorilla in the room' following tumultuous offseason

Bryan Harsin addressed the “gorilla in the room” that was the tumultuous offseason he endured where his future at Auburn was in serious doubt.

At SEC Media Days, the Tigers leader made sure to get out in front of the questions. During his opening statement to the media, Harsin made some emphatic remarks on the drama that dominated headlines throughout the college football world.

“Going back to what happened back in February, and what I’m going to do now is address it, and moving forward that’ll be the last time I talk about this subject,” stated Harsin. “There was an inquiry. It was uncomfortable. It was unfounded. It presented an opportunity for people to personally attack me, my family and also our program. And it didn’t work. So right now, our focus is on moving forward.

“What came out of that inquiry were a lot of positives. There was a silver lining in all of this. Because what I saw from our players and our coaches was leadership opportunities for them to step up, which is exactly what they did. You got a chance to see guys provide leadership. You got a chance to see coaches provide leadership. And what it did was it united our football team. It united our players, it united our staff, it united our football team. So, I’m really proud of our guys, and I’m proud of what something like that — that can be very challenging and difficult for a lot of people — how our guys stepped up and handled it.”

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Continuing, Harsin added that he appreciated the loyalty of the coaches and athletes who remained at Auburn through the difficult time.

“We had coaches and players that could’ve went on and went to different places. Avoided all the adversity and the challenges and all that came with it. They didn’t do that. They’re here, they’re working extremely hard and they’re doing a fantastic job in my opinion to get themselves ready to go for this season,” stated Harsin. “So, that’ll be the last I talk about that.

“There’s plenty of interviews on it, so if you want any more information on it just go Google it.”

As you can see, Bryan Harsin has moved past the stormy waters — the Tigers leader couldn’t be more excited to begin his second season at the helm of Auburn.