Harsin isn’t delusional

[aubiefifty 16,718]

At least Auburn coach Bryan Harsin isn’t delusional

By Joseph Goodman | jgoodman@al.com

5-6 minutes

---

Auburn can’t really lose when Shirtless Bruce Pearl is hugging Cam Newton in the student section of Jordan-Hare Stadium, so let’s keep this all in perspective.

Perspective, admittedly, is always tough for Auburn, but, then again, that’s why Auburn, in all of its messy charm, is like nowhere else in the country. Not saying Shirtless Bruce and Cam topped The Bo Nix Experience, but it was a good curtain call.

The curtain dropped on Auburn football in its 34-10 loss to rival Georgia on Saturday, but they had fun in the stands.

Proud and beautiful Auburn was proud and beautiful Auburn once again inside heavenly Jordan-Hare Stadium after a season of autumn joy forfeited to the COVID-19 pandemic. It rocked and swayed. It roared and sang. Considering all that was lost in 2020, coming up short against an all-time Georgia team in the first season of a new coach on The Plains isn’t the end of the world.

If anything, it all felt more like the true beginning of the new coach’s life in Auburn.

“I’m encouraged because I love football,” Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said after the game. Amen, brother, because you’re just now making the turn.

Harsin then added this one-liner for the T-shirts: “There’s a season for a reason.”

Preach it.

And the reason, don’t ever forget it, is to somehow figure out a way to beat Georgia and Alabama.

Is this a rebuilding job, I asked Auburn’s coach? He said a lot of words, and none of them were “no.”

“There is a vision where we want Auburn football to be,” said Harsin, who noted that he admires Georgia’s consistency.

And also Georgia’s players.

RELATED: Bo Nix upset with officials after loss to Georgia

Welcome to the hardest job in America, Coach. Georgia is great, sure, but really the Dawgs are like a less confident version of Alabama. Beating both teams isn’t an impossible gig. Harsin just needs to somehow discover the alchemy that melds the energy of Shirtless Bruce Pearl hugging the best college football player since Bo Jackson, and he’s golden.

Harsin called the Bulldogs “the type of team we want to be.” That perspective might not sit well with Auburn’s fanbase, but let’s be real for a second. In saying those tricky words, at least we know Harsin isn’t delusional. Now, how to actually get there … who the heck knows? Maybe recruit better players because Georgia has outscored Auburn 61-16 over the last two years.

“Everyone in this program has a lot to prove every day,” said Harsin, who was ready to get back to work by breaking down film of the game.

Not a film expert, but maybe have the receivers work on catching passes sometime between now and boarding the plane to Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Friday. Everyone except the math majors lost count of all the drops.

A bright spot? Maybe it’s worth it to give Auburn running back Tank Bigsby a trophy to mark his special occasion. His score against Georgia felt like a moral victory for all of college football. Finally, someone managed a meaningful touchdown against Georgia’s defense this season.

There won’t be many more, so why not celebrate it? What the heck, print some T-shirts for the bookstore or something. Concept art: “Georgia 34, Auburn 10 — No One Tanked Like Us.”

Bigsby’s six-yard rushing score with 4:01 left in the third quarter was the first red-zone touchdown allowed by Georgia’s defense this season. I was waiting for the refs to stop the game and give Auburn’s running back the game ball. Bigsby finished the game with 28 yards on the ground, but that’s pretty good considering Clemson’s entire team only had two.

Not sure how, but UAB had 127 yards on the ground against the Bulldogs earlier this season. Auburn rushed for 46 yards on 29 carries against Georgia, and every inch came with pain.

Auburn, which fired Gus Malzahn for saying six wins was good enough for a season during a pandemic, doesn’t want to hear about participation trophies, but it’s time to take a hard look at reality in this the sixth season of Kirby Smart’s time at Georgia.

There are two teams in college football with a chance to win a national championship, and they’re both Auburn’s chief rivals, and Auburn isn’t anywhere close. Meanwhile, Auburn was only one play away from knocking off No.4 Penn State in Happy Valley. Not bad. Not nearly good enough.

Welcome to paradise, Bryan Harsin. That’s the job. Either figure out a way to beat Georgia and Alabama, or collect a nice parting gift on your way back to Idaho.

“The goal is to be that type of program,” Harsin said of Georgia.

Some of us can remember when the job was actually to be better.

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr. His first book, “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team’”, will be released on Nov.9.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our

[autiger88 3,777]

But Goodman that's what he was saying was he wants us to be better ? I'm so confused by that last line in that article but it is AL.com so I digress on that. 🤦🤷

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

Harsin called the Bulldogs “the type of team we want to be.” That perspective might not sit well with Auburn’s fanbase,

Pretty sure those are the exact words uttered by our fanbase. We want the same type elite players and the same program consistency. 

@McLoofusand I already talked about how encouraging it was to hear Harsin admit it. 

“The goal is to be that type of program,” Harsin said of Georgia.

[aubiefifty 16,718]

1 minute ago, ValleyTiger said:

Pretty sure those are the exact words uttered by our fanbase. We want the same type elite players and the same program consistency. 

@McLoofusand I already talked about how encouraging it was to hear Harsin admit it. 

“The goal is to be that type of program,” Harsin said of Georgia.

we should be better next year and then better than that the year after. i think harsin gets us there. but we have to give him time.

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

5 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

we should be better next year and then better than that the year after. i think harsin gets us there. but we have to give him time.

We've got to start stacking up maulers and beasts on the OL and DL before we can be compete with the big boys again. 

Harsin got to see that up close and personal yesterday. We'll see how much he truly hates to lose now going forward, but you're right we'll need to be patient bc it's not going to happen overnight.

[aubiefifty 16,718]

2 minutes ago, ValleyTiger said:

We've got to start stacking up maulers and beasts on the OL and DL before we can be compete with the big boys again. 

Harsin got to see that up close and personal yesterday. We'll see how much he truly hates to lose now going forward, but you're right we'll need to be patient bc it's not going to happen overnight.

i saw some film on guys we are after and the looked good. one kid pushed his guy almost ten yards off the line. but he has to get them here. it is the same way with the d line. i am not convinced our secondary is as bad as they seem. with no d pressure they are having to hang with receivers way too long. we are just not in great shape talent wise right now. we need some help/

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

2 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

i saw some film on guys we are after and the looked good. one kid pushed his guy almost ten yards off the line. but he has to get them here. it is the same way with the d line. i am not convinced our secondary is as bad as they seem. with no d pressure they are having to hang with receivers way too long. we are just not in great shape talent wise right now. we need some help/

There's definitely a big talent gap between us and some of the other teams in the SEC. I thought the gameplan yesterday was pretty good at masking most of our weaknesses and giving us a chance, but unfortunately when uga countered with changes we didn’t have much of an answer.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

1 hour ago, ValleyTiger said:

There's definitely a big talent gap between us and some of the other teams in the SEC. I thought the gameplan yesterday was pretty good at masking most of our weaknesses and giving us a chance, but unfortunately when uga countered with changes we didn’t have much of an answer.

That's true....the gameplan was much better and Auburn seemed to be ready to go. That was a big step forward.

[jptiger 481]

Sports columnists ain’t what they used to be. 

[AUreo 753]

Harsin is a good coach and developer but I am not convinced he and his staff can recruit this area. The Auburn brand will still get you some regional 4-star kids but it won't be enough.  He will have to counter-balance and sign additional 4-stars and a few 5-stars from other regions (Northwest, Texas, etc) and then win some important FB games. This could buy him some time until elite regional prospects will want to play for him. Timing is everything, we really need to win a big game soon (Iron Bowl?, Penn State home game?) + our bowl game & then aggressively promote the new FB Performance Center. Generally, I think we are still on track (mostly because of the LSU win and the new Performance Center). If you compare our new FB facility to UGA's brand new facility, our facility is more spectacular. Yes, UGA's is very nice and state-of-the-art but Auburn's facility is definitely larger: Auburn - 233,000 sq feet vs UGA - 165,500 sq feet! That's basically the size of UGA's facility + an additional elite G5 football facility on top (Boise St, etc). They definitely do lack campus space in Athens (for comparison: BYU is now building a new 200,000 sq feet facility), this could be a strategic disadvantage for UGA from an 'arms race' perspective, long-term (and building vertically can be very expensive).

Edited October 10, 2021 by AUreo

[TexasTiger 12,813]

5 hours ago, ValleyTiger said:

Pretty sure those are the exact words uttered by our fanbase. We want the same type elite players and the same program consistency. 

@McLoofusand I already talked about how encouraging it was to hear Harsin admit it. 

“The goal is to be that type of program,” Harsin said of Georgia.

I’ll start with being as good as Kentucky. That’s our current reality.

[steeleagle 2,945]

7 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

At least Auburn coach Bryan Harsin isn’t delusional

By Joseph Goodman | jgoodman@al.com

5-6 minutes

---

Auburn can’t really lose when Shirtless Bruce Pearl is hugging Cam Newton in the student section of Jordan-Hare Stadium, so let’s keep this all in perspective.

Perspective, admittedly, is always tough for Auburn, but, then again, that’s why Auburn, in all of its messy charm, is like nowhere else in the country. Not saying Shirtless Bruce and Cam topped The Bo Nix Experience, but it was a good curtain call.

The curtain dropped on Auburn football in its 34-10 loss to rival Georgia on Saturday, but they had fun in the stands.

Proud and beautiful Auburn was proud and beautiful Auburn once again inside heavenly Jordan-Hare Stadium after a season of autumn joy forfeited to the COVID-19 pandemic. It rocked and swayed. It roared and sang. Considering all that was lost in 2020, coming up short against an all-time Georgia team in the first season of a new coach on The Plains isn’t the end of the world.

If anything, it all felt more like the true beginning of the new coach’s life in Auburn.

“I’m encouraged because I love football,” Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said after the game. Amen, brother, because you’re just now making the turn.

Harsin then added this one-liner for the T-shirts: “There’s a season for a reason.”

Preach it.

And the reason, don’t ever forget it, is to somehow figure out a way to beat Georgia and Alabama.

Is this a rebuilding job, I asked Auburn’s coach? He said a lot of words, and none of them were “no.”

“There is a vision where we want Auburn football to be,” said Harsin, who noted that he admires Georgia’s consistency.

And also Georgia’s players.

RELATED: Bo Nix upset with officials after loss to Georgia

Welcome to the hardest job in America, Coach. Georgia is great, sure, but really the Dawgs are like a less confident version of Alabama. Beating both teams isn’t an impossible gig. Harsin just needs to somehow discover the alchemy that melds the energy of Shirtless Bruce Pearl hugging the best college football player since Bo Jackson, and he’s golden.

Harsin called the Bulldogs “the type of team we want to be.” That perspective might not sit well with Auburn’s fanbase, but let’s be real for a second. In saying those tricky words, at least we know Harsin isn’t delusional. Now, how to actually get there … who the heck knows? Maybe recruit better players because Georgia has outscored Auburn 61-16 over the last two years.

“Everyone in this program has a lot to prove every day,” said Harsin, who was ready to get back to work by breaking down film of the game.

Not a film expert, but maybe have the receivers work on catching passes sometime between now and boarding the plane to Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Friday. Everyone except the math majors lost count of all the drops.

A bright spot? Maybe it’s worth it to give Auburn running back Tank Bigsby a trophy to mark his special occasion. His score against Georgia felt like a moral victory for all of college football. Finally, someone managed a meaningful touchdown against Georgia’s defense this season.

There won’t be many more, so why not celebrate it? What the heck, print some T-shirts for the bookstore or something. Concept art: “Georgia 34, Auburn 10 — No One Tanked Like Us.”

Bigsby’s six-yard rushing score with 4:01 left in the third quarter was the first red-zone touchdown allowed by Georgia’s defense this season. I was waiting for the refs to stop the game and give Auburn’s running back the game ball. Bigsby finished the game with 28 yards on the ground, but that’s pretty good considering Clemson’s entire team only had two.

Not sure how, but UAB had 127 yards on the ground against the Bulldogs earlier this season. Auburn rushed for 46 yards on 29 carries against Georgia, and every inch came with pain.

Auburn, which fired Gus Malzahn for saying six wins was good enough for a season during a pandemic, doesn’t want to hear about participation trophies, but it’s time to take a hard look at reality in this the sixth season of Kirby Smart’s time at Georgia.

There are two teams in college football with a chance to win a national championship, and they’re both Auburn’s chief rivals, and Auburn isn’t anywhere close. Meanwhile, Auburn was only one play away from knocking off No.4 Penn State in Happy Valley. Not bad. Not nearly good enough.

Welcome to paradise, Bryan Harsin. That’s the job. Either figure out a way to beat Georgia and Alabama, or collect a nice parting gift on your way back to Idaho.

“The goal is to be that type of program,” Harsin said of Georgia.

Some of us can remember when the job was actually to be better.

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr. His first book, “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team’”, will be released on Nov.9.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our

I'm sorry, regardless of what Goodman is trying to convey overall, I really don't like his angles in his writing.

To say "What the heck, print some T-shirts for the bookstore or something. Concept art: “Georgia 34, Auburn 10 — No One Tanked Like Us.”" This is so condescending and I am sure it was cute to use Tank in the message, to say our program tanked gives me the wrong image. He's cutting us down, like he always does.

 

[Hank2020 3,195]

6 hours ago, ValleyTiger said:

We've got to start stacking up maulers and beasts on the OL and DL before we can be compete with the big boys again. 

Harsin got to see that up close and personal yesterday. We'll see how much he truly hates to lose now going forward, but you're right we'll need to be patient bc it's not going to happen overnight.

Just blows my mind that some of us still think Harsin has no idea of what he needs to improve this program. IMO we have a great HC. If it’s possible to get the recruits, he will. Still have to convince HS seniors to come.

[Hank2020 3,195]

58 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

I'm sorry, regardless of what Goodman is trying to convey overall, I really don't like his angles in his writing.

To say "What the heck, print some T-shirts for the bookstore or something. Concept art: “Georgia 34, Auburn 10 — No One Tanked Like Us.”" This is so condescending and I am sure it was cute to use Tank in the message, to say our program tanked gives me the wrong image. He's cutting us down, like he always does.

 

Of course he is. Always will.

[AUwent 3,747]

1 hour ago, TexasTiger said:

I’ll start with being as good as Kentucky. That’s our current reality.

They're the second or third best team in the SEC, so I'd take that.

[jptiger 481]

Goodman is trash. No Auburn person should give him the time of  day IMO. 

[SumterAubie 3,031]

2 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

I’ll start with being as good as Kentucky. That’s our current reality.

I'll start with being better than Arkansas, OM, State, A&M, and South Carolina. That will get Auburn a 2nd place finish in the West.

Our season starts in Fayetteville.

[SumterAubie 3,031]

3 hours ago, AUreo said:

Harsin is a good coach and developer but I am not convinced he and his staff can recruit this area. 

This doesn't convince you? These 69 boys didn't show up just to see the pretty Auburn coeds.

5 five-stars

38 four-stars

17 three-stars

9 unranked

----------------

69 total with 11 already committed elsewhere.

[AUwent 3,747]

26 minutes ago, SumterAubie said:

This doesn't convince you? These 69 boys didn't show up just to see the pretty Auburn coeds.

5 five-stars

38 four-stars

17 three-stars

9 unranked

----------------

69 total with 11 already committed elsewhere.

That's great, but I hope we can actually land some of the 43 4*+. Including a few for this class. Bobo didn't move us up at all in the rankings.

Did they attend the Tip Off at Toomer's thing?

Edited October 10, 2021 by AUwent

[TexasTiger 12,813]

2 hours ago, AUwent said:

They're the second or third best team in the SEC, so I'd take that.

They are also out recruiting us at OL right now.

[Hank2020 3,195]

1 hour ago, SumterAubie said:

This doesn't convince you? These 69 boys didn't show up just to see the pretty Auburn coeds.

5 five-stars

38 four-stars

17 three-stars

9 unranked

----------------

69 total with 11 already committed elsewhere.

This is a good start. They definitely will not commit wo coming to visit.

[AU9377 4,914]

5 hours ago, Hank2020 said:

Just blows my mind that some of us still think Harsin has no idea of what he needs to improve this program. IMO we have a great HC. If it’s possible to get the recruits, he will. Still have to convince HS seniors to come.

It is possible to get recruits.  You only have to look to the past decade to see that very thing having been accomplished.  Yes, there were holes at times, but overall, we recruited well,

[AU9377 4,914]

4 hours ago, SumterAubie said:

This doesn't convince you? These 69 boys didn't show up just to see the pretty Auburn coeds.

5 five-stars

38 four-stars

17 three-stars

9 unranked

----------------

69 total with 11 already committed elsewhere.

Getting them on campus is great.  Getting them on campus for an official visit would be even greater.

[AUght2win 6,818]

6 hours ago, steeleagle said:

I'm sorry, regardless of what Goodman is trying to convey overall, I really don't like his angles in his writing.

To say "What the heck, print some T-shirts for the bookstore or something. Concept art: “Georgia 34, Auburn 10 — No One Tanked Like Us.”" This is so condescending and I am sure it was cute to use Tank in the message, to say our program tanked gives me the wrong image. He's cutting us down, like he always does.

 

He's the worst I've ever read. 

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

On 10/10/2021 at 8:25 AM, aubiefifty said:

At least Auburn coach Bryan Harsin isn’t delusional

By Joseph Goodman | jgoodman@al.com

5-6 minutes

---

Auburn can’t really lose when Shirtless Bruce Pearl is hugging Cam Newton in the student section of Jordan-Hare Stadium, so let’s keep this all in perspective.

Perspective, admittedly, is always tough for Auburn, but, then again, that’s why Auburn, in all of its messy charm, is like nowhere else in the country. Not saying Shirtless Bruce and Cam topped The Bo Nix Experience, but it was a good curtain call.

The curtain dropped on Auburn football in its 34-10 loss to rival Georgia on Saturday, but they had fun in the stands.

Proud and beautiful Auburn was proud and beautiful Auburn once again inside heavenly Jordan-Hare Stadium after a season of autumn joy forfeited to the COVID-19 pandemic. It rocked and swayed. It roared and sang. Considering all that was lost in 2020, coming up short against an all-time Georgia team in the first season of a new coach on The Plains isn’t the end of the world.

If anything, it all felt more like the true beginning of the new coach’s life in Auburn.

“I’m encouraged because I love football,” Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said after the game. Amen, brother, because you’re just now making the turn.

Harsin then added this one-liner for the T-shirts: “There’s a season for a reason.”

Preach it.

And the reason, don’t ever forget it, is to somehow figure out a way to beat Georgia and Alabama.

Is this a rebuilding job, I asked Auburn’s coach? He said a lot of words, and none of them were “no.”

“There is a vision where we want Auburn football to be,” said Harsin, who noted that he admires Georgia’s consistency.

And also Georgia’s players.

RELATED: Bo Nix upset with officials after loss to Georgia

Welcome to the hardest job in America, Coach. Georgia is great, sure, but really the Dawgs are like a less confident version of Alabama. Beating both teams isn’t an impossible gig. Harsin just needs to somehow discover the alchemy that melds the energy of Shirtless Bruce Pearl hugging the best college football player since Bo Jackson, and he’s golden.

Harsin called the Bulldogs “the type of team we want to be.” That perspective might not sit well with Auburn’s fanbase, but let’s be real for a second. In saying those tricky words, at least we know Harsin isn’t delusional. Now, how to actually get there … who the heck knows? Maybe recruit better players because Georgia has outscored Auburn 61-16 over the last two years.

“Everyone in this program has a lot to prove every day,” said Harsin, who was ready to get back to work by breaking down film of the game.

Not a film expert, but maybe have the receivers work on catching passes sometime between now and boarding the plane to Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Friday. Everyone except the math majors lost count of all the drops.

A bright spot? Maybe it’s worth it to give Auburn running back Tank Bigsby a trophy to mark his special occasion. His score against Georgia felt like a moral victory for all of college football. Finally, someone managed a meaningful touchdown against Georgia’s defense this season.

There won’t be many more, so why not celebrate it? What the heck, print some T-shirts for the bookstore or something. Concept art: “Georgia 34, Auburn 10 — No One Tanked Like Us.”

Bigsby’s six-yard rushing score with 4:01 left in the third quarter was the first red-zone touchdown allowed by Georgia’s defense this season. I was waiting for the refs to stop the game and give Auburn’s running back the game ball. Bigsby finished the game with 28 yards on the ground, but that’s pretty good considering Clemson’s entire team only had two.

Not sure how, but UAB had 127 yards on the ground against the Bulldogs earlier this season. Auburn rushed for 46 yards on 29 carries against Georgia, and every inch came with pain.

Auburn, which fired Gus Malzahn for saying six wins was good enough for a season during a pandemic, doesn’t want to hear about participation trophies, but it’s time to take a hard look at reality in this the sixth season of Kirby Smart’s time at Georgia.

There are two teams in college football with a chance to win a national championship, and they’re both Auburn’s chief rivals, and Auburn isn’t anywhere close. Meanwhile, Auburn was only one play away from knocking off No.4 Penn State in Happy Valley. Not bad. Not nearly good enough.

Welcome to paradise, Bryan Harsin. That’s the job. Either figure out a way to beat Georgia and Alabama, or collect a nice parting gift on your way back to Idaho.

“The goal is to be that type of program,” Harsin said of Georgia.

Some of us can remember when the job was actually to be better.

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr. His first book, “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team’”, will be released on Nov.9.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our

Good write up and so true. We always talk about the talent at UGA and uat but fail to see the mindset of the players. They aren’t just having a good time they are doing business. Saben preaches it to his team constantly. If you want to make it to the next level you have to work harder/play harder than the other guys. He is not their buddy, he is their coach. Our players right now are way behind in the mental game. You have to live, breath and eat football at this level. You have no time for other things. If your not interested in winning at the top level then sure, just kick back and enjoy your college time. Kirby, Saben and Jimbo start this process when they are recruiting. That’s why they get top talent. They find player that want to play pro and sell them on making that happen. If we want to beat UGAs we have to be willing to go that route. 

Edited October 11, 2021 by Eagle Eye 7