As we’ve come to learn throughout head coach Bryan Harsin’s tenure on the Plains, nothing runs quite like the Auburn football rumor mill. Yesterday, fans were alerted to the news that sophomore tight end turned wide receiver Landen King will be leaving the team to enter his name into the transfer portal.
With King’s announcement, Harsin has lost over half of his first recruiting class with the program. It’s not a great look for the Tigers, and soon more troublesome allegations emerged. Allegedly, a source “close to the program” told Auburn Daily that Harsin was denying redshirts to players unless it was due to injury:
"According to the source close to the Auburn football program, Harsin was refusing to allow players to request a redshirt without a medical reason for not playing. It was being referred to as “you play or you go”, forcing players to prematurely give up on their 2022 season in order to not lose a season of eligibility."
Soon after the rumors began, Justin Hokanson of Auburn Live reported that a different source close to the football program said that the situation came down to Harsin and the other coaches asking Landen King if would play if the team needed him. King said he would not play, so Harsin told him he had to either announce an intent to transfer or quit the team.
Auburn University did not comment on the allegations, but Harsin was asked about the situation by a reporter during the media availability on Wednesday, and here’s what he had to say, per Auburn Live:
"“Like I said, we obviously know who has them and we monitor that and we do every single week. It all goes back to what is needed and whose out there putting themselves in a position to play… If they’re not going to be able to go out there and play for us and there’s guys ahead of them, they’re young players that have a redshirt year, that’s usually when they’re able to use it… At the end of the day, guys are here to play and we want to make sure that we allow our guys to do that.”"
Ahead of the Arkansas game, Harsin remains on the hot seat with Auburn football. With players leaving the program, recruitment struggling, and only three wins on the season, things are not boding well for the second-year head coach.