Cole Cubelic describes Auburn’s path to sustained success
Auburn football won just six games each of the last two seasons. That’s simply not the standard the Tigers program expects. So after the first six-win season, head coach Gus Malzahn was fired. When Bryan Harsin stepped in and also won six games, going under .500 for the year at 6-7, fans were nearly ready to run him out of town after just a single season.
Regardless, Harsin is back for another year at least, but there’s a lot of pressure on him for 2022. However, SEC Network’s Cole Cubelic believes everybody should cool the pressure on Harsin and give him more than one year to figure out the job.
He recently joined JD PicKell on the On3 YouTube channel to discuss just that. You can watch what Cubelic had to say around the 3:45 mark regarding Harsin and Auburn. Or you can read his comments in full below.
Cole Cubelic advocates for patience with Bryan Harsin
“Well I think the next right move is to hopefully find some sustainability and some success with Bryan Harsin. He made some staff adjustments. And whether that was — he didn’t get along with them, they didn’t like him — it just didn’t fit. Whatever that was, you hope that it’s been corrected. And now, he has a little bit more confidence with the guys around him that they’re going to be able to build and they’re going to be able to move forward and put together a quality product on the field.
“I don’t think that there is any right step for anyone hoping that this doesn’t go well. Because you’re hitting the reset button then. Yeah sure, Malzahn came in 2013, they go to the BCS Championship. I mean, that’s literally a winning lottery ticket. It just does not happen very often, where guys come in and have that kind of success year one.
“I think also where the roster is and where recruiting currently is, you’re putting yourself even that much further behind everybody else in the league. And let’s just call it what it is. In the state of Alabama, you’re a little bit behind the eight ball for how you can recruit with how it pertains to NIL.
“So, I think the best foot forward, the best way for things to correct themselves, and the best opportunity for Auburn moving ahead, is for Coach Harsin and his staff to find some success this year. Put together a good season where that’s eight, nine wins. Pretty much just show on the field that things are progressing. That things are going in the right direction.
“Like I don’t think you always have to win a game to show that things are heading in the right direction. I think, show improvement. Show that the team’s behind you. That the kids are playing hard for you. Go out and win a couple games and then you begin to build on that.”