What we learned from Bryan Harsin's Teleconference: Week Seven vs Ole Miss
AUBURN- Just like every Wednesday afternoon, Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin spoke in the weekly SEC Coaches’ Teleconference.
Auburn travels to Oxford, Mississippi, to play No. 8 Ole Miss on Saturday, October 15th at 11 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Here’s what we learned from Harsin
- Opening Statements: “Our guys are looking forward to playing against another undefeated team. These guys are very good… so far, this week has been very good.”- Auburn has four impact players from Mississippi- ” I know this is an opportunity for them to go home and play in front of family.” Harsin talked about a good week of practice and said the team is fired up for Saturday.
- T.J. Finley’s health progression: “He’s getting better, he’s still day-to-day, but he’s improved… We’ll see how the week goes.”
- Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart’s success this season: “Well, I think system. I think guys around him. I think Coach Kiffin does a good job with that position. They’ve had success on the offensive side… They’ve got guys making plays, they’ve got momentum and confidence. I think that starts with the quarterback position, but I think the whole entire team has just got a lot of momentum throughout the season. That’s why they’re undefeated… If your quarterback is playing well and doing things in the system that creates production on the offensive side to score points, which they’ve been able to do, then that creates momentum for the team… He’s certainly got that fire to him from what I’ve seen. He’s a good player.”
- When looking at the amount of fourth down conversion attempts that Ole Miss had against Auburn last year, Bryan Harsin’s thoughts on the skills needed for 4th down stops: “It’s not a skill. If it’s fourth down, it depends on where they’re at. I don’t think they’ve done it this season as much as they did last year. It’s really an extension of your third downs, the situational plays. You’re going to probably be doing some of your third down thinking… Know they’re going to go for it when they cross the 50, you’ve got to be prepared for that.”
- Harsin was asked how he adjusts from never having a losing season before coming to Auburn. He took over five minutes to respond, but here are some of the highlights: “…Control the things you can control and continue to enjoy the fact that you get the chance to play or coach football… That never goes away, there’s a reason why we do what we do. We love what we do… It’s not that complicated for me. I try to focus on the things that I can control… We’re coaching football here and we’re trying to develop a football team. We’re trying to develop people and we’re trying to grow these people while they’re here in our program…”
- In the same answer, Bryan Harsin talked about the lasting effect that coaches can have on players: “…All of the stuff that nobody really talks about and writes about is still the biggest thing in what we do with our players…. What we’re doing and what we have the opportunity to do- I haven’t lost love for that and appreciation for the fact that we get to go out there and bring people together… Help these young men grow in their lives… There’s certainly a job responsibility that we have, but there’s a bigger purpose in everything that we do. That’s what gets me out of bed every single morning.”
