In his SEC strength of schedule rankings, CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee said that Auburn HC Bryan Harsin would need a ‘miraculous coaching job’ in 2022 to stay employed on the Plains. And Mr. Sallee is 100% correct in that assessment ahead of the 2022 season.
In the SEC West, finishing with a winning record in and of itself is miraculous. That is what it will take for Harsin to stay in charge of the Tigers, barring a ridiculous recruiting effort this summer and fall that’d make him indispensable to retain their incoming recruits.
With Auburn routinely projected to finish at the bottom of the standings due to an ungodly gauntlet that starts in Week 3 and only lets up in the penultimate game of the season against Western Kentucky, Bryan Harsin’s back is undoubtedly against the wall. But with a culture that is improved and a roster filled with upperclassmen leaders and potential impact transfers, the Tigers have every chance to surprise everyone. Auburn and underdog upsets are synonymous in SEC lore. Perhaps expectations were too high last season and needed to be adjusted. I’m just not sure if an offseason inquiry was needed to get to that.
Either way, here’s Sallee’s full No. 1 Auburn strength of schedule blurb:
"“Coach Bryan Harsin is on the hot seat after just one season on The Plains, and the schedule-makers didn’t do him any favors if he intends to keep his job beyond the 2022 season. The Tigers have to play reigning national champion Georgia and national runner-up/SEC champion Alabama on the road, and have a very scary out-of-conference game in Week 3 vs. Penn State. Additionally, the Tigers don’t get a bye week until Week 8 and have a sketchy road game at Ole Miss between the road trip to Georgia and the bye week. Simply put, if Harsin stays employed, it’ll be one of the most miraculous coaching jobs in recent memory.”"
Bryan Harsin’s fate could be decided in October if Auburn isn’t winning
By Halloween, Bryan Harsin will have coached eight games heading into the bye week. The four preceding the bye include first-year SEC head coach Brian Kelly’s LSU Tigers at home, away between the hedges in Athens against the defending National Champions Georgia Bulldogs, on the road in Oxford against Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels, and in Jordan-Hare Stadium against Sam Pittman’s rising Arkansas Razorbacks. That’s a murderer’s row of opponents that follow potentially challenging non-SEC West clashes with Mizzou and Penn State.
If the Tigers are 2-6 by the time the calendar turns to November, it is difficult to imagine a scenario where Bryan Harsin is still coaching at Auburn.