Pete Thamel weighs in on 'inevitability' of Bryan Harsin firing, what could be next for him

Pete Thamel sees the writing on the wall for Auburn coach Bryan Harsin. Even before the Tigers suffered a 41-12 blowout loss to Penn State this past weekend, the feeling was that Harsin could be out by the end of this season, and his seat is only getting hotter.

Thamel joined College Football Live on ESPN2 Tuesday, where he declared that even with a massive buyout, it’s no longer a matter of if Auburn will part ways with Harsin, but when.

“Ever since February when the university began an investigation that was completely unfounded into Harsin, there’s been an inevitability to his tenure ending at some point this fall,” the ESPN senior writer said. “It’s a $15 million question hanging over Auburn because he’d be owed $7.5 (million) within the first month and $15 (million) total in buyout. There’s not a lot of optimism anywhere that Bryan Harsin is going to survive.”

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Issues between Harsin and the Auburn administration were well-documented this offseason. The Tigers attempted unsuccessfully to fire the coach for cause after he lost the final five games of his inaugural season to finish with a 6-7 record. Although Harsin ultimately kept his job, the message was clear.

The next domino to fall came when Auburn athletic director Allen Greene resigned in late August, and Saturday’s loss to Penn State only makes it seem more inevitable to Harsin will follow. In fact, Auburn Live’s Justin Hokanson even reported that a coaching change as soon as the bye week on Oct. 22.

“The first step Auburn’s likely to take is to name an AD,” Thamel said. “They named an interim in Rich McGlynn, the compliance officer who was promoted to interim earlier this week. The next step for Auburn comes as of when does Harsin go, not an if.”

Should Harsin ultimately be let go as Thamel believes, the ESPN analyst sees him as a candidate for another head coaching vacancy. Arizona State fired Herm Edwards earlier this week, and Thamel thinks Harsin’s name could come up in the Sun Devils’ discussions. Harsin already has experience out west after spending seven seasons as the coach of Boise State from 2014-20.

“Bryan Harsin is going to be one name that comes up (at Arizona State) if he is let go at Auburn,” Thamel said.

Harsin will do his best to turn things around next week when the Tigers face Missouri at 11 a.m. CT. But as Thamel pointed out, it may already be too late for him.