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Barrett Sallee: ‘Year 1 was a disaster for Bryan Harsin at Auburn’

By Andrew Hughes

Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports said that Bryan Harsin's first year coaching Auburn football was a disaster in his SEC coach rankings (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports said that Bryan Harsin's first year coaching Auburn football was a disaster in his SEC coach rankings (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
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No one in their right mind would try to spin the first season of Auburn under Bryan Harsin as anything but a disappointment, but CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee took that sentiment several steps further. According to Sallee, Year 1 was a disaster for Bryan Harsin at Auburn.

Of course, as is often painfully remembered around these parts, the Tigers finished the 2021 season with a losing record following a 6-2 start and a collapse down the stretch that saw the starting signal-caller (Bo Nix) get injured before the bowl game was lost to a Group of Five school. The disaster label might be exaggerated, but it isn’t completely unfair.

No matter what improvements the team undergoes–and it has reportedly gone through a transformation that has been noted by reporters around the group frequently–there is undoubtedly a stench surrounding the program that last season’s performance and this past offseason’s inquiry into the program caused.

Sallee took note of that, while also shouting out the few highpoints of the 2021 Auburn football season, in his 2022 SEC coach rankings:

"“Year 1 was a disaster for Harsin at Auburn. The Tigers finished 6-7 (their first sub-.500 season since 2012), which was so unacceptable on The Plains that a group of influential boosters attempted a coup in attempt tpo fire him the week of National Signing Day in February. He has had a hard time retaining assistants and isn’t recruiting anywhere close to a level that he needs to in order to win the SEC. With that said, he did manage to beat an Ole Miss team that went to the Sugar Bowl and a very solid Arkansas team in 2021.”"

Barrett Sallee believes Bryan Harsin needs a miraculous coaching effort to say head coach of Auburn

Sallee’s lack of confidence in the Tigers’ second-year head coach isn’t shocking considering he has said before that ‘if Harsin stays employed, it’ll be one of the most miraculous coaching jobs in recent memory.’

Citing a tough schedule, Sallee sees the road games against reigning National Champion Georgia and reigning SEC Champion Alabama, plus Penn State as a non-conference matchup, and a potential trap game against Ole Miss sandwiched between their trip to Athens and the bye week as AU’s potential undoing this coming season.

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