Bryan Harsin responds to report he denies redshirts with the exception of medial reasons

Bryan Harsin has responded to reports that he denied redshirts for Auburn players, explaining the Tigers’ redshirting policy during Wednesday’s SEC Coaches Teleconference.

The question stemmed from a report via Auburn Daily that Harsin and Auburn denied redshirts for multiple players, instead telling them to either “quit the football program or enter the transfer portal.”

“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,” wrote Lindsay Crosby of Auburn Daily. “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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Afterwards, Justin Hokanson of On3’s Auburn Live provided some insight into how the situation went down between Harsin and two Auburn players who recently revealed their intentions to transfer, Landen King and Zykevious Walker.

“After talking to a source within the football program that’s very aware of daily happenings, here’s the deal: Landen King, as previously reported, decided to shut it down this season. King planned to take a redshirt. Bryan Harsin, along with other coaches, went to King recently and asked if he would play, asking if he was needed, would he play? King responded no. He didn’t want to play,” reported Hokanson. “So, Harsin told him and his father that a decision needed to be made: play, quit the team, or announce your transfer. Harsin told King he’s on scholarship and simply deciding not to play without a medical reason wasn’t an option. King didn’t show up to practice on Tuesday and announced his transfer.

“I don’t believe the Zykevious Walker situation is related or similar to the King situation. Walker believed he was healthy and ready to play, but the coaching staff didn’t think he was as healthy as Walker thought he was. So, when he only played 11 total snaps against Georgia, that was the last straw for Walker. He decided after that game he would transfer.”

Alas, Crosby added that Auburn did not return their request for a comment on their report, and Harsin denied even knowing about the accusations, stating, “I don’t know what report you’re talking about” on Wednesday.

“We have, obviously, who has redshirt availability as a staff, and we talk about that as a staff. We know the amount of games,” added Harsin, explaining that his staff monitors redshirt eligibility for their players, as they always have. “So we really monitor that as a staff. We’ve done that ever year, and certainly with the new four game rule. We’ve always paid attention to that.”

Still, the Tigers coach believes that every athlete that comes to Auburn is coming to play at the end of the day, regardless of their status.

“Overall, I mean every guy that comes in here, they’re coming in here to play,” the Tigers coach explained. “That’s what we go through every single week, what is that plan and how do we utilize players to help us and their teammates to be successful and go win ball games.

“Then the coaches monitor how many games those guys have played, and how much we need to use them and at the end of the day, I mean, guys are here to play.”

Nevertheless, it’s evident Bryan Harsin and multiple Auburn players aren’t on the same page, and a messy season is continuing down a tough path. Time will tell if Harsin sticks around long enough to mend fences with certain players.