First-year head coach Bryan Harsin is heading into his second year with Auburn football but finds himself in the same position regarding quarterbacks as when he started. Much like last summer, the Tigers now have only three quarterbacks on scholarship with the news that Bo Nix will be transferring out of the program.
Will Bryan Harsin repeat himself and add another transfer to the QB room? Last year Harsin looked to the portal and added TJ Finley as the Tigers’ fourth quarterback, and it’s very possible he does the same thing this year, especially when Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach Austin Davis takes over as the new offensive coordinator.
On3 Sports’ Cole Pinkston reported that USC Trojans QB transfer Kedon Slovis, who will have two years of eligibility remaining, is a high priority for Harsin and Davis. However, per Tom Green, Harsin plans to use bowl practice to assess the younger guys on the team before making any portal decisions:
"“The portal itself — it’s still got to be the right fit, at the end of the day,” Harsin said. “So, you still have to go through a process. It happens faster; you don’t have the same year and a half, two years, maybe to build a relationship unless you knew somebody prior to that that you recruited. But a lot of the times, that’s not the case. It’s just a matter of still finding the right fit. Bowl practices give you an awesome opportunity to really see some of your young players that didn’t play during the season, to go out there and compete. I think that’s something that helps you determine where you need to go.”"
It’s likely that Auburn football would wait to go after Slovis until Austin Davis is officially on the staff, which could take a little while due to the ongoing NFL season. However, nothing is final, and the staff could decide that TJ Finley, Dee Davis, or Holden Geriner would be the best QB1 for the 2022 Tigers.