JD PicKell addresses 'elephant in the room' surrounding Bryan Harsin, Auburn boosters

Auburn’s Bryan Harsin is in some piping hot water heading into his second season on The Plains. CBS Sports recently ranked his seat as the third hottest in all of college football. After eight seasons at Arkansas State and Boise State, he led the Tigers to just a 6-7 record. From there, the wheels fell off to start the offseason. He got back on the road but On3’s JD PicKell says the situation is too big to ignore.

PicKell broke down Auburn’s upcoming season on a recent episode of ‘The Hard Count‘. He discussed the ‘elephant in the room’ when it comes to Harsin and the Auburn boosters.

“We have to talk about it. (It’s) the elephant in the room. Bryan Harsin was, in a lot of ways, tried to be pushed out by the boosters. The boosters right now in Auburn, Alabama have probably too much pull. They have way too much say in what goes on,” said PicKell. “From my understanding after talking to people closer to that program, Bryan Harsin has a lot of conviction. It’s a very good thing but when boosters want to have a say in a program and your coach doesn’t want to budge, it’s like oil and water. They don’t mix.”

Harsin took over for Guz Malzahn after his departure for UCF. It sounds like Harsin’s attempt to put his stamp on his program rubbed some the wrong way. After multiple players and personnel left the school after his inaugural season, some went for an all out coup d’état against Harsin. It was unsuccessful for now, though, as Harsin remains the head coach at Auburn.

Had the Tigers stayed on their 6-2 pace, this may not have been a story at all. Losing the final five games of the year to give Auburn their first losing season since 2012 started the snowball effect, though. PicKell believes that stretch was what the Tiger boosters needed to make their case.

“The boosters didn’t want Bryan Harsin to say no to them and Bryan Harsin, from my understanding, wouldn’t bend the knee. So they tried to get him out of there, unaffectively,” PicKell said. “On top of all that, it doesn’t help your case if you’re Bryan Harsin to lose the last five games of the season. Besides that, Auburn was looking pretty solid at one point in the year. They lost the last five and then that gave the boosters all the ammunition they needed to try and get him out.”

While everyone must try and put it behind them, the fact of the matter is that this will be at the back of everyone’s mind as Harsin plays out his second season. If Auburn struggles, especially early, it’ll reach the forefront very quickly. Besides winning football games, his No. 1 job is to restore some faith. The usual SEC West slogfest and a rematch with Penn State stand between that and will determine both Harsin’s future as well as Auburn football’s.