Lots of thoughts after yesterdays game and CH’s first completed season. First thought, we should all believe we belong in playoff contention on a consistent basis, with very few exceptions. I have never understood the side that acts like we are little old Auburn and can only be so good. BULLSHIT ! We ARE Auburn, and belong among the elite. There is only 1 factor required, and that is to have a great Coach. That’s it. There are only 12-15 schools across the country that can achieve this on a CONSISTENT basis, and we are one of them. My whole point of this post (which I will get into below) is to hopefully provide some insight to the most important question Auburn football has had to answer in quite some time…Is Bryan Harsin a good coach? The final answer to that question means everything. I’m trying to take a big picture look, but I have to discuss yesterday first.
4 Things were very obvious to me yesterday 1-We were excruciatingly bad at the most important position on the field yesterday. 2-Auburn should never be as short on talent as this team is. 3-Harsin MUST have a good QB to have a successful team. He’s a throw first guy, and it’s a must for him. 4- I found myself for the first time all year questioning Harsin’s ability to coach. Why else would you throw 40 times with that QB. Some of the decisions to throw versus running the ball were absolutely mind boggling. Those were my immediate reactions. Then I started to look big picture. Let me be clear before I make my next point…I would have done whatever it took to win the bowl game. BUT what if he put next years team before this one with his game plan. What if throwing it as much as he did yesterday was all about the portal QB? Let’s face it, he knows next years team and maybe his future depends on the portal QB. Yesterday proved 2 indisputable facts … TJ is not the guy, and there is zero competition for whoever they target in the portal. Bruce did similar type things in his first year. He played a style that probably wasn’t very conducive to that teams success, but he knew it would help him get his type of big time players down the road. Again, I have no idea if that was behind some of the decisions yesterday or not, but thought is was worth mentioning.
Next year. We have to find in portal QB, 3 OL, and LB. They all better be really good players as well. Each coach gives clues as to whether or not they are worth a piss after each game they coach. 1 year is not enough (especially with Auburns talent depleted roster) to make a definitive decision on a coach, but we were given plenty of clues.
Positives-He develops talent and manages the roster much better than Gus. We are actually getting every bit of talent out of some guys that aren’t overly talented. That is a good indicator of long term program health. Recruiting. He did an outstanding job in this class minus OL. Again, he has to get 3 legit guys out of the portal and sign 4-6 legit high school OL in 23. I have been led to believe that we definitely feel good about the 23 OL class. He has Alabama beat…enough said. If Nix doesn’t get hurt, we could have possibly been going to Atlanta with a chance to beat Georgia for an SEC title. You never know, but our season is much different if Nix never gets hurt. He’s a no nonsense coach that has a vision. Auburn itself will allow him to achieve that vision, if he’s good enough. There are some signs that certainly point to him being good enough. We never had the staff synergy to be great this year IMO, too many ships going in opposite directions. If you don’t have overwhelming talent, then you better have all of the other program aspects taken care of. I believe everyone will be really clear on their roles next year, which should only strengthen on the field success. In closing, I have seen enough positive signs(when looking at all of the variables he faced on and off the field) to give me hope that he can be a championship coach at Auburn
Negatives-We lost 5 straight. Any time you lose 5 straight football games there is reason for concern. - Things completely fell apart with Finely. We did nothing in terms of creativity to coach around inadequate QB play. We signed 1 OL. This has been the trend , and Must Stop. He can certainly help his cause in February and the portal, but we have to get back to signing legitimate High School OL, and a lot of them. - I personally think we missed on a big time in state QB (all I’m going to say about that). - Play calling cost us in a couple of games.
Overall, I really believe the jury is still out. It’s hard to make an accurate judgement after 1 season, let alone 1 game, regardless of how frustrating they were. One of the few things I am sure about when it comes to Harsin, is that he needs to take full advantage of a loaded 23 class. The only way he does that is with major on the field success next year, which will only be possible through the portal. QB, 3 OL, 1 LB. If he does that, then it will be another positive sign that he can and will compete for championships at Auburn. As a matter of fact, next years team has a chance to compete with those additions. I just don’t see a guy like him not having a plan in place to address these matters. War Eagle. Lets go Bruce
4 Things were very obvious to me yesterday 1-We were excruciatingly bad at the most important position on the field yesterday. 2-Auburn should never be as short on talent as this team is. 3-Harsin MUST have a good QB to have a successful team. He’s a throw first guy, and it’s a must for him. 4- I found myself for the first time all year questioning Harsin’s ability to coach. Why else would you throw 40 times with that QB. Some of the decisions to throw versus running the ball were absolutely mind boggling. Those were my immediate reactions. Then I started to look big picture. Let me be clear before I make my next point…I would have done whatever it took to win the bowl game. BUT what if he put next years team before this one with his game plan. What if throwing it as much as he did yesterday was all about the portal QB? Let’s face it, he knows next years team and maybe his future depends on the portal QB. Yesterday proved 2 indisputable facts … TJ is not the guy, and there is zero competition for whoever they target in the portal. Bruce did similar type things in his first year. He played a style that probably wasn’t very conducive to that teams success, but he knew it would help him get his type of big time players down the road. Again, I have no idea if that was behind some of the decisions yesterday or not, but thought is was worth mentioning.
Next year. We have to find in portal QB, 3 OL, and LB. They all better be really good players as well. Each coach gives clues as to whether or not they are worth a piss after each game they coach. 1 year is not enough (especially with Auburns talent depleted roster) to make a definitive decision on a coach, but we were given plenty of clues.
Positives-He develops talent and manages the roster much better than Gus. We are actually getting every bit of talent out of some guys that aren’t overly talented. That is a good indicator of long term program health. Recruiting. He did an outstanding job in this class minus OL. Again, he has to get 3 legit guys out of the portal and sign 4-6 legit high school OL in 23. I have been led to believe that we definitely feel good about the 23 OL class. He has Alabama beat…enough said. If Nix doesn’t get hurt, we could have possibly been going to Atlanta with a chance to beat Georgia for an SEC title. You never know, but our season is much different if Nix never gets hurt. He’s a no nonsense coach that has a vision. Auburn itself will allow him to achieve that vision, if he’s good enough. There are some signs that certainly point to him being good enough. We never had the staff synergy to be great this year IMO, too many ships going in opposite directions. If you don’t have overwhelming talent, then you better have all of the other program aspects taken care of. I believe everyone will be really clear on their roles next year, which should only strengthen on the field success. In closing, I have seen enough positive signs(when looking at all of the variables he faced on and off the field) to give me hope that he can be a championship coach at Auburn
Negatives-We lost 5 straight. Any time you lose 5 straight football games there is reason for concern. - Things completely fell apart with Finely. We did nothing in terms of creativity to coach around inadequate QB play. We signed 1 OL. This has been the trend , and Must Stop. He can certainly help his cause in February and the portal, but we have to get back to signing legitimate High School OL, and a lot of them. - I personally think we missed on a big time in state QB (all I’m going to say about that). - Play calling cost us in a couple of games.
Overall, I really believe the jury is still out. It’s hard to make an accurate judgement after 1 season, let alone 1 game, regardless of how frustrating they were. One of the few things I am sure about when it comes to Harsin, is that he needs to take full advantage of a loaded 23 class. The only way he does that is with major on the field success next year, which will only be possible through the portal. QB, 3 OL, 1 LB. If he does that, then it will be another positive sign that he can and will compete for championships at Auburn. As a matter of fact, next years team has a chance to compete with those additions. I just don’t see a guy like him not having a plan in place to address these matters. War Eagle. Lets go Bruce
