Barrett Sallee isn’t defending Auburn football head coach Bryan Harsin anymore, something many Tigers reporters and fans (including this one) have adapted as losses pile up during a disastrous 2022 season.
Following the loss to Arkansas on October 29, Harsin moves to 9-12 as head coach on the Plains. Keep in mind, four of those wins came against SEC opponents, while the other five came against Group of Five and FCS opponents. Digging even deeper, two of those G5 wins (San Jose State, Georgia State) were decided in the fourth quarter after Auburn football entered them as three to four touchdown spread favorites.
Harsin had a great October 2021, knocking off LSU, Arkansas, and Ole Miss, but since then, he has wildly underperformed while also letting a quarterback battle bleed into the season this past September. Harsin has struggled to hang in the SEC, and with Mississippi State AD John Cohen potentially assuming the same role at AU, his time seems imminently set to conclude in college football’s top conference.
CBS Sports Barrett Sallee doesn’t believe Harsin was ever an SEC coach, saying as much in a Twitter burn while calling Liberty head coach High Freeze one:
Arkansas and Liberty will play on Saturday. It'll be interesting to see how Arkansas does against an SEC coach since it didn't play against one yesterday.
— Barrett Sallee 🇺🇸 (@BarrettSallee) October 30, 2022
What Auburn football could do next once an AD is hired
After being tore up by Arkansas’ offense, there’s a very high probability that the Tigers will be feasted upon in Starkville against Mississippi State this coming Saturday. Auburn football hasn’t won in over a month, and by the time that game kicks off, they will have not kept a game within single digits in over a month as well.
Once has to think that could be the end of the road for Bryan Harsin, whose program will have the chance to solidify their deal with heavily rumored AD hire John Cohen being on his current home turf.
Once Cohen is hired, the head coach search could begin immediately since no one currently on the staff may be up for the task according to reporters. While Mike Leach isn’t likely to make the jump with Cohen after willing MSU to a second straight bowl eligible season, finding someone else’s coordinator or someone currently on the sidelines to fill in the role immediately could be the next hiring method for Auburn football in their coaching search.