When Bryan Harsin first became the head coach of the Auburn football program, he was already fighting an uphill battle. There was disagreement among the higher ups about whether or not he should be the coach, and the majority opinion seemed to be that he was not wanted here.
He got off to a hot start on the Plains in 2021, but ultimately led his team to a free fall in the second half of the season, and spurned several staffers and players to move on to different programs. Then came the inquiry and the rumors, and the biggest push to remove him from the program, so far.
While many fans remained supportive of Harsin throughout the offseason mess and praised him for standing up to the boosters to keep his job, he lost what little support he had left after losing the Penn State game, and tied it off with a bow last weekend against Missouri.
But, according to Justin Hokanson of Auburn Live, that win didn’t save Harsin’s job, but merely prolonged the inevitable:
"If Auburn would have lost to Missouri, nobody would have been surprised if a change was made the following day. For the people that make the decisions, there is strong consensus that change needs to happen. It’s about when, not if at this point."
Any back and forth as to whether or not Harsin will be the head coach in 2023 is likely done, and at some point this season Auburn football will probably be operating under an interim head coach. And with the way recruiting works in this day and age, the sooner Auburn can show that the program is heading in a new, better direction, the more serious attention the Tigers will get from highly-ranked recruits.
Auburn football is in danger of falling to the bottom of the barrel in the SEC, and at this point a coaching change may be the only way to save it.