Auburn football analyst shouts out Gus Malzahn, Hugh Freeze, snubs Bryan Harsin

On3’s Justin Hokanson shouted out the past two Auburn football head coaches in a quote tweet of Hugh Freeze’s picture of himself alongside former Tigers head coach from 2013-2020, Gus Malzahn.

Wait a second…

No, the highly knowledgeable Hokanson didn’t forget about the 21 games Bryan Harsin was head coach of Auburn football for — even if a good portion of the fanbase may have done so already or would like to. The 9-12 head coach while on the Plains — with only four of those wins coming against SEC competition — not only burned out Tiger fans with the constant heartbreaking results on the field, but also torched his relationships with the media in the dying days of his tenure. With that said, from personal experience, Harsin was someone who showed class to fans he encountered while out and about in Downtown Auburn.

Bryan Harsin is now infamously part of the Auburn football story

While Harsin’s time in Auburn will always be scrutinized, since many felt he wasn’t respect the job seriously enough with his lax recruiting efforts given his salary and expectations, it will also always be remembered.

Harsin came to the Plains during an uncertain period of college football. The transfer portal did make it easier to rebuild teams quicker, but the lead-up to the 2021 COVID-19 season was anything but typical. That fact may not be remembered because of the endless storylines Harsin was part of, including but not limited to HatGate, the infamous February 2022 inquiry into the program, and the constant chatter pertaining to his COVID-19 vaccination status from the media.

The Harsin era was the epitome of the relevancy Auburn football has regardless of the record. The national media had eyes on the AU coaching job all season, and lusted for longshots like Deion Sanders while the Boise native was still coaching.

While Harsin may not be someone the Auburn family wants to remember, he’ll always be someone that’ll be hard to forget.