Bryan Harsin reacts to Auburn vaccination mandate deadline

Auburn University has issued a mandate that states all employees must have a COVID-19 vaccination by December 8th. Auburn football head coach Bryan Harsin responded to a question about the mandate on Monday, where he declined to talk about his stance.

“I’m aware of the new policy,” Harsin said via ESPN’s Brandon Zimmerman. “I appreciate you have to ask the question. The executive order doesn’t change the fact that I’m not going to discuss anyone’s stance on the vaccine, including my own.”

Auburn is currently 5-2 in Harsin’s first year as the Tigers’ head coach. The Tigers have a tough remaining schedule on the season. Over the next two weeks, Auburn hosts Ole Miss before traveling to take on Texas A&M. Then, Auburn hosts Mississippi State before heading to South Carolina in late November. The Tigers will finish the regular season with a home date with Alabama.

Prior to the season, Harsin tested positive for COVID-19. At that time, Harsin spoke to the media, where he spent nearly 16 minutes talking about the steps Auburn’s program has taken to educate everyone about COVID, vaccines, and other details.

“I am not anti-vaccine,” Harsin said before the season. “Any narrative along those lines is misinformed. I fully support the choice for anyone to vaccinate. I also support getting reliable data into the hands of those who have questions about the vaccine.

“Anyone that’s been inside our facility knows that. Simple.”

Washington State coach Nick Rolovich was fired for vaccine fallout

Washington State head coach Nick Rolovich was fired last week due to a similar mandate. The state of Washington issued a vaccine mandate, and Rolovich declined to get the vaccine. Rolovich also failed to provide an exemption, leading to him being fired by the University. He previously applied for a religious exemption from the vaccine.

Rolovich’s mentor, June Jones, spoke on the now former Washington State coach earlier in the month.

“He and I have had six or seven conversations over the last 60 days, and my advice is for him to take the shot,” Jones said. “There’s too much at stake to risk losing his job, and it’s an unfortunate situation. It may be against what he believes obviously, but there are more people at stake – the university’s credibility, the lives of the assistant coaches and their families.

“There’s a whole bunch more at stake than just him, and that’s exactly what I told him.”