ESPN writer Bill Connelly made an unfair comment about Auburn football HC Bryan Harsin’s first season on the Plains, one that featured a five-game slide leading to a 6-7 finish — unfair at least in the eyes of Fly War Eagle.
Connelly, in his 2022 SEC West football preview, said that ‘you know your first year on the job hasn’t been great when the best thing that happens is an announcement that you aren’t getting fired.’
Of course, that’s an unfair statement considering the Tigers took care of business last Halloween eve against Ole Miss. Auburn football was one of just two teams in the SEC West to knock off the Rebels in their most successful season in the College Football Playoff era by far. Ole Miss lost its New Year’s Six Bowl (Sugar Bowl) to Big 12 champion Baylor to close out a 10-3 2021 season.
Leveling massive criticism against Harsin’s hiring process for his coaching staff, essentially painting the Boise native as naïve, Connelly said that ‘Harsin’s first staff, full of “I need SEC guys!” hires instead of assistants he was familiar with,’ fell apart at the seams.
Auburn football will rely heavily on the run game in 2022
In explaining how Auburn football will sustain itself in a typically suffocating SEC West + Georgia schedule, Connelly said that the Tigers will most likely rely on the run game:
"“…expect a heavy dose of running backs Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter. Bigsby did next to nothing against good defenses last year — 3.3 yards per carry against Penn State, Georgia, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Alabama, 6.5 against everyone else — and Hunter trailed off dramatically after a fast start."
Connelly wasn’t high on the duo in his description, but gave them some due in proclaiming they still provided a ‘majority of the rare bright moments last season’ optimistically stating that they’ll have a ‘senior-heavy line in front of them.’
Whether or not the lack of praise for the pair is warranted will be decided throughout the fall.