Bryan Harsin praises Tank Bigsby's offseason evolution: 'He has been phenomenal'

It’s known that Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin is hands on, known for participating in team workouts. At SEC media day, he was asked about holding his own in team workouts and how many stadiums the team had to run the next day, and used it as an opportunity to speak about his star running back Tank Bigsby.

“Well a lot more than I’m going to run. I think I hit my limit at about 11 on the decks. But I appreciate him saying that,” Harsin said. “So let me say something about Tank (Bigsby). So he’s, from last year to this year, what a change just physically, mentally, all those things. He has been phenomenal. This is the best I’ve seen him and all of our team right now, just physically and mentally are just in a different position than they’ve been before.”

Bigbsy, a Doak Walker and Maxwell Award watchlist candidate, is coming off of the opposite of a sophomore slump, as he rushed for 1,933 and 15 touchdowns last season. Bigsby’s been a consistent offensive weapon for the Tigers, and if he can elevate his game even more and get the team to rally around his leadership, Auburn will surely show improvement from last season.

Harrison went on to elaborate on his coaching approach, explaining how being a former player drives him to be around his team as much as possible.

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“But I do enjoy getting out there with the guys. And this is why I get into coaching. One thing, when I got done playing, I knew that in order for me to be successful in life, I need to be a part of a team. And I didn’t want to leave that aspect of it. I just wanted to be a part of a team. I wanted to be in that locker room. I wanted to be a part of that,” Harsin said. “And that was something that drove me to want to be in coaching, so every chance I get to be around those guys in the weight room, on the field, really when you’re putting in the work, not just standing there and telling everybody what to do, but trying — and I’m glad he was so nice about it — but trying to get in there and just be a part of what they’re doing, because really that’s where your team is built.”

Harsin believes that offseason work leads in season success, and hopefully Harsin and his team put enough in the work this offseason to set them up for success going into the 2022 season.

“It’s built in the weight room, it’s built in the offseason, it’s built out there running, it’s those conversations when somebody’s laying on the ground there and they’re tired, all right, they’re feeling like they might be done and you have maybe a three- to four-minute conversation after a workout, that’s more meaningful than having an office conversation, setting up a time at 12:15, an appointment. And you can have those in those moments. I think our team really enjoys what we’re doing physically and I think they’re doing a great job of just attacking it right now,” Harsin said.