Former Boise State coach Bryan Harsin to stay at Auburn after official investigation
The Bryan Harsin saga finally came to an end Friday.
The situation looked dire for the former quarterback and coach at Boise State. But Auburn announced Friday afternoon that Harsin will remain the Tigers head coach and assured the public that the university has his back.
“To be clear, this process, which was never individual- or outcome-specific, did not yield information that should change the status of our coaching staff or football program,” Auburn President Jay Gogue said in a statement. “Our university, the administration and the entire Board of Trustees stand behind Coach Harsin and are ready to help him succeed as the leader of our football program.”
Auburn went 6-7 last season and finished Harsin’s first year at the helm on a five-game losing streak. University officials then opened an investigation into the program after 20 players and five assistant coaches left since the beginning of last season.
Harsin, who was out of the country on a family vacation until Wednesday, also released a statement Friday.
“This has been one of the hardest weeks of my career, and it had nothing to do with my coaching ability,” Harsin said. “The personal attacks on me and my family went too far and were without justification.”
“I know who I am as a father, husband and football coach, and fully cooperated throughout this process,” he continued. “I believe that every challenge in life is an opportunity to grow and learn. This is no different.”
Harsin, 45, went on to say the only way Auburn is going to succeed in the future is if the university, its donors and the coach can get on the same page.
“Every day we’re not moving forward together is a step in the wrong direction,” Harsin said. “In order to take the Auburn program where we all want it to go, we must, at all levels, commit to each other and this great university that we all love.”
If Auburn had fired Harsin without cause, it would have cost the university $18.3 million to buy him out of the remaining five years of his contract.
Harsin took over at Auburn after seven years as the head coach at Boise State (2014-2020), which included three Mountain West championships and a win over Arizona in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl — Boise State’s only appearance in a New Year’s Six game in the past decade.
His first season on The Plains was marred by a mass exodus of players — including star quarterback Bo Nix, who transferred to Oregon — and constant turnover on the coaching staff.
Harsin fired offensive coordinator Mike Bobo after last season ended, and Bobo’s successor, former Seattle Seahawks assistant coach Austin Davis, resigned for personal reasons after less than two months on the job. Defensive coordinator Derek Mason also took a $400,000 pay cut to assume the same role at Oklahoma State.
This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 2:19 PM.
