College Head Coach vs Auburn Big Money Boosters: The never ending saga...

Fowlmoodin99

Joined Oct 28, 1998
Jan 20, 2022
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Same story, different coach. Harsin was a bad fit at Auburn. That being said, he does not deserve the trashy side of this if he's clean, and hopefully, though doubtful, he can back the Boosters down. Essentially, anybody can claim you are are a mean coach, a womanizer, etc. One player quote, one pretty girl as an employee, few provocative social media posts....etc., and the Boosters are drooling.

Players and coaches move at a moment's notice. His longtime assistant is something, but no proof there yet. I'm pulling for Harsin here, but would put no money on it.

 

GoCocksFight2021

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Jan 18, 2022
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Did he have these problems at Boise St.? He was there 7 years. If not, then it's strange that he'd suddenly become hard to work for at Auburn.

Just more folks that want their candy now and don't wait for a program to build. It's the Amazon generation. They think everything just shows up at their drop step if they pay an extra $100 a year.
 

ToddFlanders

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Jan 20, 2022
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Did he have these problems at Boise St.? He was there 7 years. If not, then it's strange that he'd suddenly become hard to work for at Auburn.

It’s a lot different being at a Mountain West school tucked away in the Northwestern part of the country and being at a flagship school in the premier football conference in the country, in the Southeast where college football is the most popular sport.

Different levels of interest, different levels of fan and booster participation, different levels of scrutiny.

From day 1 at Auburn the word out of Auburn is that he was a different bird and his personality rubbed people the wrong way. Something you can probably get away with as a huge fish in a tiny pond - but not when you’re under a microscope (and when you rely on donors to keep up with the Alabama’s of the world).

Football wise, probably a great fit for the highest levels of the game. However, being an SEC head coach is only about 10% football.
 

Lurker123

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Jan 18, 2022
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Did he have these problems at Boise St.? He was there 7 years. If not, then it's strange that he'd suddenly become hard to work for at Auburn.

Yeah, this sounds more like Auburn being Auburn.

I'm guessing the "new sheriff in town" act is going to be used against him.
 

Fried Chicken

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Jan 30, 2022
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This is a mess. I remember the old thread when somebody suggested Auburn did their search right about a quarter through the season.

Not sure I believe he was banging his assistant. But it’s not a good look. About as bad as not signing a single recruit on National Signing Day.

Auburn is a big part of the problem here, no doubt. But not sure how Harsin overcomes this at Auburn. I don’t know how they can move forward together. Disaster…
 

King Ward

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Jan 20, 2022
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Three major writers sayin' Harsin ain't gonna make it - Chris Low is one of them and he's very solid. This is one of the most monumental messes of all time. Ranks right up there with Mike Price at Bama (questionable to begin with). I believe Harsin is a solid football man; he already proved that. But this is an "I've fallen, but I can't get up" situation. But you add this payout to the Malzhan payout and I'm thinking "how can any school do that?".
 

King Ward

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Jan 20, 2022
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It’s a lot different being at a Mountain West school tucked away in the Northwestern part of the country and being at a flagship school in the premier football conference in the country, in the Southeast where college football is the most popular sport.

Different levels of interest, different levels of fan and booster participation, different levels of scrutiny.


From day 1 at Auburn the word out of Auburn is that he was a different bird and his personality rubbed people the wrong way. Something you can probably get away with as a huge fish in a tiny pond - but not when you’re under a microscope (and when you rely on donors to keep up with the Alabama’s of the world).

Football wise, probably a great fit for the highest levels of the game. However, being an SEC head coach is only about 10% football.
I think this is the crux of the whole thing.
 

ToddFlanders

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Jan 20, 2022
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"He ain't from around here"....people different out west.

The right fit has to be the right fit. In the NFL personalities don't matter as much - you win, you're in (save the lawsuit with Brian Flores, but that's not the issue here). But in the SEC, and really most schools to a lesser degree, you have to navigate the boosters as well as you navigate the recruits. And quite honestly, he lost the boosters from day 1. And then his recruiting classes were ranked 22 and 18 after four straight top 12 classes by the guy Auburn just fired.

Right now Harsin has no leg to stand on.

That said, he's a good coach from all pure coaching standards. The Auburn kids that didn't like him actually didn't like being told they weren't as good as they thought they were (or didn't liked being coached at all). I actually feel for him to a degree, because he's at the wrong place at the wrong time. 20 years ago he could have killed it at Auburn. Now, he's just a weird dude from out west that doesn't get SEC football to any degree.
 
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Thomas_Shelby

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Feb 5, 2022
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Hmm? Maybe Harsin tried to right the ship and clean things up at Auburn (i.e. quit paying players and try to win without cheating)? Now who would that piss off? Rich alums who are paying players and players that are getting paid? Surely not....
 

King Ward

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Hmm? Maybe Harsin tried to right the ship and clean things up at Auburn (i.e. quit paying players and try to win without cheating)? Now who would that piss off? Rich alums who are paying players and players that are getting paid? Surely not....
Too late to quit paying players.
 
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Fried Chicken

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My bad, I must have been projecting back to their last decent hire, by the standards of success on the field.
I know you are probably joking, but Malzahn got them to a National Title Game. If Alabama wasn’t Alabama, it would be interesting to see what he could’ve done there. I think their mistake was firing him during a hectic Covid year. But they couldn’t wait for the opportunity to finally fire him.

could they do better? Maybe. But he wasn’t exactly terrible at Auburn.
 
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King Ward

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I know you are probably joking, but Malzahn got them to a National Title Game. If Alabama wasn’t Alabama, it would be interesting to see what he could’ve done there. I think their mistake was firing him during a hectic Covid year. But they couldn’t wait for the opportunity to finally fire him.

could they do better? Maybe. But he wasn’t exactly terrible at Auburn.
Malzhan is an outstanding offensive coach but no one after Nick Marshall could bring out the best in that system.
 

ToddFlanders

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Jan 20, 2022
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I know you are probably joking, but Malzahn got them to a National Title Game. If Alabama wasn’t Alabama, it would be interesting to see what he could’ve done there. I think their mistake was firing him during a hectic Covid year. But they couldn’t wait for the opportunity to finally fire him.

could they do better? Maybe. But he wasn’t exactly terrible at Auburn.

Mahlzhan was horrific at player development. His whole staff were great recruiters, and not great coaches. He got to the championship game his first year with developed players. Then everything dropped off even though his recruiting classes were really solid. Players came in and left with the same skill level.

Guy is a great play caller, but don’t expect him to make any player better than they were before he got to them.
 

Maccmaine12

Joined Oct 19, 2020
Jan 31, 2022
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Mahlzhan was horrific at player development. His whole staff were great recruiters, and not great coaches. He got to the championship game his first year with developed players. Then everything dropped off even though his recruiting classes were really solid. Players came in and left with the same skill level.

Guy is a great play caller, but don’t expect him to make any player better than they were before he got to them.
Sound like Muschamp staff