Former Auburn Tigers head football coach and current Cal Golden Bears offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin is still a pariah on the Plains and across the state of Alabama.
Three years removed from his unceremonious firing, Harsin is still being partially blamed for Hugh Freeze's program being behind. AL.com's Kevin Scarbinsky called Harsin an "empty suit" while excusing Freeze's 11-14 record at AU and discussing his tenure in a historical sense in the aftermath of the Tigers' claiming an additional seven titles this year.
"The more the school celebrates its past, the more it reminds everyone that the program has become a shadow of its former self. This week’s parade of champions aside, Auburn has been on a reverse heater, far more prone to distinction of a dubious nature," Scarbinsky wrote.
"Among SEC schools, Auburn owns the longest unranked streak in the AP top 25; the longest stretch of losing seasons; and the longest run without a postseason win.
"That should be unacceptable for a program with Auburn’s history.
"By the school’s updated accounting, six of its last nine head football coaches dating to 1951 own at least one SEC or national championship. Four of the six won both titles. Freeze is one of the three that’s come up empty, in part because he followed an empty suit."
Given the recruiting exodus that's happened in Berkeley, California, since Harsin's arrival, Golden Bear fans, the "Calgorithm," if you will, certainly wouldn't disagree with that label.
As for Freeze, he has just a few more months of riding the Harsin excuse. He will have either turned things around entirely, or he'd join the Boise native on the list of fired, failed head coaches.
The only difference? Freeze's buyout won't set the program back as much because of how it's structured.
At some point, Harsin may be let off the hook. But it'll take a winning coach.
We'll see if Freeze has what it takes to fit that description at Auburn University.