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Tony Franklin eviscerates Auburn, Bryan Harsin: ‘You hired a weak man with no backbone’
Updated: 5:56 p.m. | Published: 5:56 p.m.
Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin watches as Auburn trails Georgia State during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)AP
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By Mark Heim | mheim@al.com
The beginning of the end for Bryan Harsin has already begun.
That’s quite a statement, considering the man has coached a grand total of four games at Auburn.
However, the signs have already reared their ugly heads, if you subscribe to Tony Franklin’s line of reasoning.
Yes, that Franklin. The former Auburn coach offensive coordinator fired mid-season by Tommy Tuberville in 2008 held nothing back when talking about the Tigers on “The Coach Tony Franklin” podcast.
“You hired a weak man with no backbone who is gonna get run over by all these boosters,” he said.
It’s already happened, he explained.
The wheels were set in motion on Saturday, Sept. 18 in Happy Valley. Facing fourth-and-2 inside the 5, the Tigers called a questionable and unsuccessful pass play. The result: Penn State 28, Auburn 20.
“You called a press fade for the inside slot receiver for your go-to play to beat Penn State?” he asked. “That’s your go to? That’s what you got? That’s what you go to?”
As a result, the boo birds were out, questioning the play, from Internet trolls to big-money men, Franklin contends. So, Harsin had to give the masses something to quiet the negativity. He gave them a scapegoat, according to the former coach.
On Sunday, Harsin parted ways with first-year wide receivers coach Cornelius Williams less than 24 hours after Auburn completed a come-from-behind 34-24 win against Georgia State in the team’s nonconference finale.
“Four games in and you crack, and you fire your receivers coach?” he asked. “The best coached group on the field for offense was your receivers. You’re basically firing your receivers coach because your offensive line sucks. Your offensive line is bad.”
The proof, he explains, was in the game against Georgia State when TJ Finley hit Shedrick Jackson for the game-winning touchdown with just under a minute to play.
“The ‘great’ Georgia State team that came in and deserved to beat you,” he started. “... You had an offensive lineman who missed a block. He whiffs. Your quarterback makes a play. Then, the play of the day, your receiver, who was coached on what to do on a scramble play, makes the catch for the touchdown.
“Did you fire the offensive line coach? He’s an Alabama guy (Will Friend). That would make all the Auburn people happy. Fire the Alabama offensive line coach. He started four years at Alabama, and you hired him as your offensive line coach?”
Friend, for the record, had coaching stints at Tennessee, Colorado State and Georgia before landing the job at Auburn.
Now, Franklin knows what you are thinking. He is bitter toward Auburn because he was fired in the middle of the 2008 season. In addition, he coached Williams at Troy, so he has a personal allegiance to the former Hoover High star.
You’re right. He loves Williams, but he also loves Auburn, he said. He went on to say he “deserved” to be fired in 2008 and “is good with it.”
“You showed the powers that be they run the show,” Franklin said of Harsin. “They make the calls.
“If you want to blame somebody for sucking right now, the way your football team sucks, I got a great idea. Instead of firing Cornelius, or whoever the next guy is you’re going to fire, just quit. Just resign.”
Franklin continued to hammer away at the Tigers, who he said are nothing more than a reflection of their coach.
“The characteristics of this football team are the same as the coach: soft, soft, soft,” he said.
“They aren’t a physical team. I’ve seen physical Auburn football many times in my life as a fan, as a coach.”
Franklin’s zingers continued throughout his 22-minute podcast.
Here are some of the more sensational comments below.
On the OL
“The offensive line is worse than bad. They don’t look like they know what they are doing. ... They can’t pass pro(tect). The quarterback already has the yips. I don’t think the quarterbacks are well coached either. The running backs don’t make plays in space against a good team.”
On playing hard
“The offense and defense are soft. They don’t play hard, and they’re not very good or talented. If they played the hardest they could play, you could be a middle-of-the-pack SEC West team. If you don’t get it fixed, I don’t know if you can win a game in the SEC.”
On Georgia State
“You almost lost to Georgia State? You should have lost to Georgia State. Georgia State has a better team than you do.”
“The problem, no offense to everybody that was there before you, you don’t have many good players.”
On Harsin being the next Tuberville
“We turn into Tommy Tuberville No. 2. The thing about Tommy Tuberville is he’s gonna get some good players. Whatever it took to get him, he’s gonna get them. Now, in the end, he didn’t have good enough players. He knew (Alabama coach) Nick Saban was gonna beat his brains out, so he quit. They paid him $5 million to quit.”
On competing with Alabama
“You’re not in the same hemisphere with Alabama talent wise, but you are also really poorly coached. That’s a reflection of you, sir, Bryan Harsin.”
