SDS says “Power Playbook” to blame for Auburn football dysfunction

How did the Auburn football program get to this point? Why is the Board of Trustees trying to force out a coach that barely even got a full year’s chance to turn around the football program? How did head coach Bryan Harsin get a target painted on his back in the first place?

I’m sure you’ve asked yourself at least one of these questions in the past five days, but these trends have existed on the Plains for much longer–roughly four decades according to Matt Hayes of Saturday Down South.

Hayes writes that this messy situation is not about football, but in reality, is about those in power wanting to retain as much power as possible, and the playbook is as follows: “attack professionally, attack personally, attack character and integrity.”

Every single one of these things has occurred in the past week when it comes to Bryan Harsin, but Hayes points out that he will not be the first coach to be forced out of the Auburn football program:

"Terry Bowden, Tommy Tuberville, Gene Chizik, Gus Malzahn. All had winning records as coaches at Auburn, all either won a national title, played for a national title or coached an unbeaten season.All were forced out."

Despite the fact that former, current, and incoming players have all voiced their support for the first-year head coach, Hayes provides a quote from a source within the Athletic Department that claims this situation has been brewing since Harsin’s very first day.

Those in power wanted Kevin Steele to replace Gus Malzahn as Auburn football’s next head coach, but Athletic Director Allen Greene ventured outside of their sphere of influence and hired a non-SEC coach who wouldn’t be afraid to stand tall against the boosters and the power-hungry members of the BoT.

Until the “Power Playbook” is done away with, things will continue to operate this way in the Auburn football program, and as time passes, it seems like Harsin never stood a chance to begin with.