Auburn football: Bryan Harsin sees spring practices as “most valuable”

Auburn football is hitting the ground running with its new regime. The foundation of the Tigers in the fall will be established this spring. This, of course, is a spring of new beginnings on the Plains as the country continues to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Head coach Bryan Harsin joined Andy Burcham on the Talking Tigers podcast this morning and gave some insight on what it’s been like to run the program for the last few months, and when asked about recruiting, Harsin stressed that the main focus is the families of the prospects and making sure that they have a smooth process and transition to the collegiate level.

He’d later share with Andy Burcham that he and the coaches are trying to maintain consistency despite the challenges brought on by COVID-19, and do things in a way that will allow them to continue to do those things every day.

Coach Harsin said that one of the main differences between this Auburn job and his last two at Boise State and Arkansas State is that there is a heavy focus on building relationships–getting to know the players, getting out in the community, and establishing a clear vision for the new era of Auburn football.

His three major keys in putting together the program are culture, recruiting, and development, and they played a big role in the hiring of his staff. For Coach Harsin, culture consists of making sure you have the right people in your program that understand the vision. In recruiting, he spoke on extending Auburn’s horizons and picking up the slack in areas that may be overlooked.

And when it comes to development, Harsin said that’s the name of the game, and he wanted coaches on his staff that understand that football is a developmental game.

“I think the fifteen practices in spring are maybe the most valuable practices you get,” Coach Harsin replied when asked about the importance of spring practices. The Tigers didn’t get to see the spring practice field in 2020, but Harsin plans to use this year’s practices as a way to set the vision and foundation for the summer and fall.

The first spring practice will fall on March 15, and the players will practice Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. The first scrimmage will be on March 27, and A-Day is slated for April 17.