Bryan Harsin, Auburn situation just became more complicated

There are plenty of coaches coming into the 2022 season on the hot seat. The reality is that in major college football, expectations are incredibly high. There are fewer programs with higher expectations than Auburn, where head coach Bryan Harsin enters 2022 in trouble. Many big-money people at Auburn simply never wanted him and when 2021 proved to be disappointing, they tried and failed to fire him for cause.

Now, Bryan Harsin returns to Auburn in 2022, a season few people expect him to survive. Now, as ESPN’s Pete Thamel explained, the situation has gotten that much more complicated.

“In the grand universe of self-induced Auburn afflictions, running an inquiry to attempt to fire the football coach based off a completely false internet rumor almost seems like an attempt to satirize the school’s dysfunctional reputation,” Pete Thamel writes.

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The problem for any coach at Auburn is that they’re naturally going to be compared to Nick Saban at Alabama. That’s not a comparison coaches want to be made. It’s also one that leads to pressure being put on coaches like Bryan Harsin and Gus Malzahn before him.

So, while suffering from direct comparisons to Nick Saban and an off-season push to lose his job, Bryan Harsin just lost an ally. Athletic director Allen Greene, who hired Harsin, is no longer working for the university.

“With the athletic director who hired Harsin already out, it underscores the frailty of Harsin’s future. Harsin didn’t take the Auburn job without significant contractual protection, as he’d be owed more than $15 million if fired after the season.”

Any hope that Bryan Harsin has for the future comes down to Auburn’s on-field performance. In the SEC West, that’s no small feat.

ADs defended Allen Greene

Athletic directors rarely comment on what’s happening at other schools. That’s why it’s so surprising that Kevin White, formerly the athletic director at Duke and Notre Dame among other schools, blasted Auburn over how they handled Allen Greene’s situation.

“For what it’s worth, the announcement via Auburn University today is terribly disturbing to say the very least, perhaps closer to utterly shameful,” Kevin White said in a statement. “The apparent political dysfunction within Auburn is truly legendary. More specifically, this particular leadership transition, unequivocally, ascends Auburn to the ‘cat bird’ seat, in terms of being ‘tone deaf,’ nationally. Of course, Allen and Christy Greene, and their beautiful family, will undoubtedly take the high road, for Allen is among the classiest and most talented individuals, in terms of emotional, intellectual, and decency competence, who drips with integrity, while standing on a non-negotiable, moral and ethical (everyday) platform.”

Kevin White’s son, Danny White, is the current athletic director at Tennessee. He also spoke out about the Allen Greene situation.

“Congratulations @AGreeneIV for getting the heck out of a crazy situation for greener pastures! I admire how you managed that chaos with class & integrity. Look forward to seeing your next chapter,” Danny White said in a tweet.