Auburn fires Bryan Harsin during second season

According to Justin Hokanson of On3’s Auburn Live, the Auburn Tigers have fired head coach Bryan Harsin in the midst of his second season in charge of the program. It comes after a 41-27 loss to Arkansas and seeing Auburn’s overall record drop to 3-5 2022. Now for the second time in as many years, there will be a coaching search on the Plains.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

When Auburn hired Harsin, he had spent the majority of his coaching career on the West Coast. Boise State and Arkansas State were the only other head coaching role he had, leaving the Mountain West Conference power and giving it a go in the SEC.

Harsin was hired to replace Gus Malzhan, who was fired by Auburn after the 2020 season. Of course, Harsin did not have quite the success of his predecessor, finishing with a 9-12 overall record.

Season one did not go to plan, even after a solid 6-2 start. Auburn lost its final five games, including a Birmingham Bowl defeat against Houston. The worst of them all may have been against Mississippi State at Jordan-Hare Stadium, blowing a 25-point lead. Even a close Iron Bowl loss vs. Alabama felt like a lost opportunity for Harsin.

Flash forward to the 2022 season and after the Week 3 loss against Penn State, the relationship seemed beyond repair and only got worse as the losses piled up, including four straight in SEC play with Saturday’s 41-27 defeat to Arkansas.

The last 18 months have been tumultuous for Harsin and the football program. In February, the university launched an inquiry into the program and Auburn Live’s Justin Hokanson reported Harsin’s future was “in question” after just one season. But the university opted to keep Harsin in place following the investigation.

Recently, multiple Auburn players announced their intentions to enter the transfer portal. Three players — A.D. Diamond, Tar’Varish Dawson and Landen King — all announced they plan to enter the portal when the window opens in December.

Fox’s Bruce Feldman explained why Auburn would be moving on from Harsin before the Missouri game kicked off on Sept. 24 in Week 4. He said it’s been an “odd dynamic” ever since the hire was made before the 2021 season.

“Even though it’s only year two for Bryan Harsin, this has been such an odd dynamic from the time he arrived in Boise State,” Feldman said. “The Auburn money people, they never wanted Harsin to get hired and the AD (Allen Greene) that hired him, he got forced out last month. Making matters worse, they’re ranked No. 55 in recruiting and that is last in the SEC.

“You have a coach here, really, that has got nobody supporting him. So right now, he’s never had much of a chance to get any traction there.”

Recruiting was another big woe for Auburn while Harsin was in charge. In the Tigers’ 2022 class, they finished ranked seventh in the SEC and fourth in their own division. Not much was getting better during the current 2023 cycle, being No. 10 in the conference and No. 32 overall.

New era beginning for Auburn, Bryan Harsin

Even before Harsin’s firing was reported, candidates to take over were being discussed by college football insiders. Feldman said Ole Miss‘ Lane Kiffin and Liberty‘s Hugh Freeze would be involved. He even mentioned Deion Sanders as a potential candidate and one that makes sense.

As for Harsin himself, he has already been linked with a job back out west, with Arizona State having an opening. He would be going up against some other top names but still has an impressive resume and a Pac-12 program could use some SEC experience. Harsin has also been mentioned at multiple other openings across the country.