Doubt continues to be a defining characteristic of what outsiders feel about the upcoming 2021 season for Auburn football.
The Tigers have undergone more changes than any SEC team that finished in the conference’s top half last season. Bryan Harsin is the new head honcho after Gus Malzahn was shown the door, and every coach but Cadillac Williams was replaced on the staff.
It’s understandable to not project an overwhelming improvement over the 6-4 SEC-only regular-season slate that ended in a blowout loss in the Citrus Bowl to a far superior opponent from the Big Ten in Northwestern. What’s less difficult to justify is the trendy prediction that Auburn football will finish with a worse record than last year.
But here is yet another publication–albeit one with Crimson Tide connections–prognosticating a .500 record in 2021:
"Presuming ESPN is serious about the accuracy of the FPI, some of the amended rankings are questionable. The Auburn Tigers at No. 15 appears inflated, for a team going through a rocky transition, and that could easily lose five or six games."
In discussing the follies in ESPN’s FPI projections, BamaHammer’s Ronald Evans took aim at the Tigers, calling their regime change a “rocky transition” and saying they could “easily” lose up to half of the games on the schedule.
The rocky transition narrative probably would have been more suitable before the Tigers landed the #1 kicker in the country and the former #1 WR in the country.
Now, though, it’s an outdated take. Harsin and co. have been one of the hottest programs in the country on the recruiting trail this month. July could see even more recruiting victories with more recruits deciding their future this month.
With the Plains fully operational again following the suspension of restricted COVID-19 regulations, the tide is turning in East Central Alabama. Recruiting advantages unique to Auburn have returned, and home-field advantage is whole again.
All of this should lead to a potential 8-4 record, and a brighter future for the program than what many talking heads are willing to admit.