Bryan Harsin details changes in evaluating quarterback in year two

The quarterback battle at Auburn between Robby Ashford, Zach Calzada and TJ Finley is still underway as we approach the season, and head coach Bryan Harsin was asked about how his evaluation and process of naming a starter is different than last season. Harsin acknowledged that last year’s competition was different with Bo Nix being somewhat solidified as the starter and that this season they will be evaluating everything, including the intangibles.

“It’s really everything right, it’s every meeting. That’s one of the things, too, at the quarterback position, every meeting: Are guys early? They got their notebooks out? Are they ready to go? It’s just this whole pro approach is what it is. And you can tell who your quarterback is when you walk into a room. That guy’s sitting there. He’s got his notebook out. He’s locked in. He’s dialed. He sits in the meeting room and he pays attention. He knows the answers. He’s flowing with the coach. He’s one of the first guys out there on the field. He’s getting warmed up. He’s got command of what’s going on, so just every single thing,” Harsin said.

Auburn’s coaching staff, specifically in their quarterback room, also has plenty of experience at the position, and Harsin discussed the impact that has on the evaluation process.

CLICK HERE to subscribe to the On3 YouTube channel today for all of the latest news on college football, recruiting, NIL, more! 

“Because you think about it in that room there’s myself I played quarterback, coach Kiesau played quarterback, Mike Hartline played quarterback in there; so you’ve got three guys in that room that have been around the quarterback position for a while. Then our players you’re trying to help these guys not just what they’re doing physically, but how to play the position and what it takes. So every single thing, every single day evaluated, and it kind of starts back over again. Alright now, here’s where you are [and] what are you going to do today, and we just keep resetting goals,” Harsin said.

Harsin also talked about the importance of practice being difficult on his QBs, and how their ability to compact adversity is also being evaluated.

“Because when we get out there it’s not going to be easy for them, we hope practice is really hard every single day, hope it’s harder than the game, but when they get on the field there, things are going to happen. It happened in the scrimmage,” Harsin said. You think one thing’s going to go a certain way and all of a sudden bang, in two drives, it’s not going that way. Well, how do you respond? What are you going to do?”

Harsin also gave praise to freshman Holden Geriner, who may not be as involved in the competition or see as many reps as the other quarterbacks, but has shown promise, improvement, and a lot of arm talent, and even had a recent practice where Harsin believed he threw the ball better than all of the quarterbacks in the room.

It’s clear that Harsin wants his starter to have all the important intangibles and qualities of a professional, which is important as he tries to re-establish a winning culture at Auburn this upcoming season.

“Those guys every day when they walk in the building they’re being evaluated. All eyes are on them and that’s just how we do it. That might not be how everybody does it. That’s just how we do it and what we feel like is important for us because that’s how our quarterbacks are going to be trained. They’re going to be trained like pros and you want them to act like that so there’s a lot of responsibility that way,” Harsin said.