Auburn football: One of Bryan Harsin’s coaching stints attractive to Colorado

Bryan Harsin was not long for Auburn football, even if some fans felt he overstayed his welcome by the eight games he got to coach during the 2022 season. Truthfully, once AU pushed forward with an inquiry into his program aimed to fire him with cause, thus avoiding the $15 million buyout he just received, the hourglass was flipped and his tenure only had so much time left.

Now that he’s gone, the university is moving forward with former Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen and aiming to find a head coaching candidate in the offseason while placing the interim head coach tag on Auburn football running backs coach Carnell “Cadillac” Williams.

On the flipside, Harsin is likely looking to get back into the coaching game, even if he doesn’t technically have to given the massive buyout payments coming his way — nearly half of which he is expected to have received or will receive in the seven days following his firing.

Due to his stint at Texas as a co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach under Mack Brown, Colorado reportedly has interest in the Boise native according to Buffaloes Wire managing editor Jack Carlough (h/t Auburn Wire’s Taylor Jones):

"“Colorado’s interim (Mike Sanford) is also Boise State guy who might stay on the staff, the Buffs have an underrated fan base that packs the stadium for a losing team, it seems like the consensus is that CU wants an experienced head coach like Harsin, Harsin’s time at Texas is attractive because that’s a big state that CU recruits.”"

Bryan Harsin was linked to Colorado and Arizona State when he was still Auburn football head coach

This isn’t the first time Bryan Harsin has been linked to the Pac-12’s Colorado. Pete Thamel linked both the Buffs and Arizona State Sun Devils back in October after the dismissals of Karl Dorrell and Herm Edwards, respectively.

Colorado has not had a winning season longer than six games — Dorrell’s first season came during the 2020 pandemic-stricken season and the Buffs went 4-2 in a cancellation-heavy camaign — since 2016, and before that, 2005.

That is what makes Harsin such a great fit for Boulder, whose expectations are low anyway. If anything, Harsin brings welcomed notoriety from playing in (though not exactly winning) some of the biggest games in college football the past two seasons.