Questions and Answers

[Auhud08 596]

Going into this season many of us loved what Harsin was preaching about toughness, attention to detail, winning mentality. There were obviously questions about whether Harsin could deliver on those things as a coach and more importantly whether those things would garner tangible results. 
 

I wanted to post this for perspective on our team and coaches. Where we started and what we know now. 
 

1) Can Harsin develop players- most importantly QBs and OL?

The answer here is yes. Auburns OL improved throughout the season and in fact Harsin was able to build the future their with a rotation. Bo Nix also improved- his mechanics, mentality, every aspect of his game seemingly improved. Were there regressions at both of these positions at times yes thats completely fair but overall both groups improved as the season went on. 
 

2) Can Harsin handle an SEC schedule, a full year of big games against the best talent and some of the best coaches? 
 

Yes and No. Tonight Harsin and co went toe to toe with Saban with a severely undertalented team. Even with Bo, Anders, and Pappoe this is one of the largest talent gaps auburn has had against alabama in a long time. And Harsin held them scoreless for 3 quarters and 10 through four. Can Harsin sustain this success- is he ready for SEC- not with this roster. We need more players to consistently compete. ANY coach- Gus, Freeze, Kiffin, Cristobal wouldve run into some of the same issue that faced Harsin in that regard. Talent has to step up. 
 

3) Can Harsin recruit at an elite level?

 

this is TBD, but my prediction is yes. Harsin will continue to build relationships and this roster and continue to improve upon his record and building  this program the right way. 
 

War Eagle!

[Farmer Brown 2,391]

Very good analysis, in my opinion. Finally someone says something without being an emotional wreck. 

[NoALtiger 3,849]

Recruiting is gonna make or break him, simple as that. 

[tigerman1186 537]

One thing I believe he didn't understand when he got the job..."It does mean more in the SEC/Auburn" ....even with a win today, there are things we need to get better in and hearing the remark concerning recruiting "we are behind because we haven't establish relationships" that might have worked with the last year's class, but not the current signing class...

[lala 327]

He needs to learn  (1.) Play for points (2.) No need to take unnecessary risks.  
 

Unless outflanked no need for aggressive 4th down plays (S Carolina) or a run up the middle for a field goal instead of pass for 1st down may be the best decision ( Ala) !!!!!!

[passthebiscuits 6,844]

1 minute ago, NoALtiger said:

Recruiting is gonna make or break him, simple as that. 

This is THE only take. To this point, he ain’t got it. 
 

I feel like this game is wash, rinse, repeat. We are seriously undermanned. I said so at the beginning of the season and predicted 7-5 (thought for sure we’d beat SC). I know that Harsin can get physicality from the players. I believe that he can get them to “buy in.” But if he can’t get us in the top 15 in recruiting, we are gonna be in trouble. Simple as that. 
 

Gus had to go, but tonight’s game had more to do with players playing their tails off with a great home crowd ready for a miracle than anything else.

It’s also okay for lots of things to be true at once. Here, I’ll take a stab at it:

We probably give up a TD even if Tank stays in bounds. Have we not watched AU football for decades? Let’s stop blaming him. He’s amazing. Last week, we skewered our coaches for not giving him the ball. Our D played well enough to win, but our O didn’t have it…combo of poor run blocking, a QB with one leg, WRs that to me still need some separation, but even if they had it, I’m not sure we could get the ball. We stop blitzing (tired? Game scheme? Adjustments? Who knows? Why didn’t we blitz MSU? Why didn’t we blitz SC? Who knows? How much of this is lack of talent and how much is coaching. Does Gus win this game? Kinda feels like one that he may have pulled out of his posterior, but that doesn’t mean he was good for us. Lastly, should we have gone for it 4th and 2? Should we have tried the 2pt conversion after the 1st score. All hindsight. All dumb questions we won’t ever know…like what happens if Chris Davis trips going out of bounds or that game goes into OT instead of ending with a miracle. Football is weird. That’s why we love it and hate it. 
 

bottom line…if Harsin doesn’t make changes and doesn’t recruit, this all falls into moral victories…and I’m sorry…there are none. 
 

War Eagle always. 

 

[au302 2,669]

Thank you for the fair, level-headed analysis. My hope is that more of us do this as we reflect once the emotion and ups and downs of the season. To me, the game planning and development seem to be very obvious strengths. The recruiting and the game management need improvement.

I think with some portal additions on defense, we will continue to improve as the players get used to this system. Offense is simply a major overhaul.

As bad as it sucks, I really believe we have less OL talent and depth than anyone in the SEC west right now. We will struggle until we fix that unit. I think Harsin needs to look at the portal for every position outside of Rb and TE on O. I'm thinking at least 3 portal linemen. Need a lot more depth. Overall, I'm upset like everyone how we closed out. But I'm also optimistic if we can get the right players in, as this staff can develop and scheme. Need to game manage better

[oracle79 3,569]

No QB. No O-line. Very sporadic receivers. Pappoe out. Undersized D-line. Undersized slower LB'ers. An inability of offensive staff to understand clock management, when to snap the ball running play clock down, throwing when you should be running clock, etc. And still should have beaten the #3 team in the nation. Recruit, develop, and ingrain your culture. It's gonna be painful and longer than you think due to our inflated previous recruiting rankings, bad roster management/retention, and lack of development/football knowledge. But, it will happen.

Now back to your previously scheduled b!@$+ and moan session.

[e808 3,025]

It’s really hard to assess where the team is. Every team Auburn has lost to (except Georgia ) has turn around and lost the next week. Gonna throw Bama in there as well because after todays performance no way in hell they beat Georgia.

USCE blanked against Clemson, TAMU sputtering and losing at LSU with a lame duck coach, MSU basically Deed up against an Ole Miss team that isn’t known for defense.

So is it lack of talent, depth, poor execution or bad coaching. Moral to the story is Auburn closer to where they are any to be or further away. I guess year two will answer some of those questions.

[SRBautigerfan 1,040]

9 hours ago, NoALtiger said:

Recruiting is gonna make or break him, simple as that. 

Agree.  The future offense/OC will be the next factor.  Talent along the front and QB will cure a lot if ills but this offense has been sub-optimal for most the year.

[aucom96 1,618]

Development was decent. It had hiccups, but I think escaping Malzahn’s schemes helped tremendously.

Harsin has proven that he and his staff can pre-plan well, but their ability to adjust in game is not SEC level. He got abused by some veteran coaches. Talent was a major issue,yes, but outside of bama and UGA, all of the SEC is struggling with the portal and keeping up in recruiting.

And as others have said, that’s the key to what we’ve got with Harsin. Recruiting should be better than it is right now. Hopefully it improves dramatically, because if we have a successful head coach with Harsin, it’s going to take a few years for him to grow into an SEC level coach. If he’s still turning in six or seven win seasons in year four - scrappy teams or not - those doing the hiring will likely run out of patience.

 

 

 

[1auburn1 1,110]

Finally a sane thread.  Thank you. 

[Auhud08 596]

On recruiting- im not sure what yalls expectations were. Everyone knew going into 2022 that we werent gonna have a top 10 class. Yes relationships matter, who would you trust more: someone youve watched and spoken to for 2+ years or someone you just met 10 months ago. Also, by all accounts Harsin and crew have done a great job putting ourselves in position to win some recruiting battles in ‘22. Our class could potentially end up with:

Woodyard (LB), Ausberry (DB), Rhym (DB), Williams (RB), Williams (WR), Farmer (OL). Longest shot it antonio williams at WR

[bigbird 60,479]

9 hours ago, au302 said:

I really believe we have less OL talent and depth than anyone in the SEC west right now

Anyone in the SEC.

Irvin 

Brahms 

Johnson 

Coffey 

Manning 

Jernigan 

Jones 

Hamm 

Stutts 

Jackson 

Troxell 

Smith 

Driscoll 

Langlo 

Zierer 

Total = 15 

Seniors = 7 

Juniors = 3 

Soph =  2

Fresh = 3 

 

Scary.

[weagl1 1,782]

They need to hit the portal hard.  It’s not just the HS recruits.  

[bigbird 60,479]

Just now, weagl1 said:

They need to hit the portal hard.  It’s not just the HS recruits.  

Exactly, the portal has the potential to be an equalizer...if the players are there, which they weren't by the time CBH and co signed on last year.

[Gowebb11 9,314]

Chicken or the egg type thing. CBH needs to recruit at a higher level. We all agree. But with Chiz and Gus, we’ve had 5 or more losses 7 of the last 12 seasons. And most of our classes in that 12 year window were at or near top 10 level. We haven’t had back to back 10 win seasons since the 80s and that’s ridiculous. If we want to recruit at an elite level, this staff has to win consistently, unlike our last two staffs. 

[Auhud08 596]

Just now, weagl1 said:

They need to hit the portal hard.  It’s not just the HS recruits.  

Yep. This is huge and will get overlooked in rankings and therefore by a lot of fans. If we’re able to add some OL  in the portal we will be dangerous. 

[Hank2020 3,199]

29 minutes ago, aucom96 said:

Development was decent. It had hiccups, but I think escaping Malzahn’s schemes helped tremendously.

Harsin has proven that he and his staff can pre-plan well, but their ability to adjust in game is not SEC level. He got abused by some veteran coaches. Talent was a major issue,yes, but outside of bama and UGA, all of the SEC is struggling with the portal and keeping up in recruiting.

And as others have said, that’s the key to what we’ve got with Harsin. Recruiting should be better than it is right now. Hopefully it improves dramatically, because if we have a successful head coach with Harsin, it’s going to take a few years for him to grow into an SEC level coach. If he’s still turning in six or seven win seasons in year four - scrappy teams or not - those doing the hiring will likely run out of patience.

 

 

 

A&M was 8-4 this year after 4 years.

[W.E.D 11,070]

5 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Exactly, the portal has the potential to be an equalizer...if the players are there, which they weren't by the time CBH and co signed on last year.

With the way our HS class is starting to fizzle and we're missing on top guys like Clemens, Agbo. Williams, etc...we don't need to fill those guys with avg HS kids. We need to go the Mich St route and really load up through the portal again. 

Cap our HS class at 20 and we have 11 spots for transfers. Pray Tank stays, then add...

4 OL: at least 2 need to be starters, probably 3. Could use some Fresh/Soph too for more depth and fill out the roster 

1 WR: pair someone with Kobe/Ja. Hope to get something pur of Capers/Canion/Malcom. 

I don't see any other need on offense unless a few QBs leave or Bo doesn't recover. With better play calling and good OL targets, offense should be good.

Defense

1 Edge: fine a pure speed guy. Think the rest of the DL should be fine

2 LBs: this might be more terrifying than OL

2 DBs: loss of smoke and especially Roger is going to hurt. I'm not sure we have a CB ready to step into his shoes and we have to do a better job evaluating DB transfers than last year.

 

That leaves us 1 for BPA. Make the right moves and we could be a lot better next year.

Also fire Bobo

[bigbird 60,479]

18 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

A&M was 8-4 this year after 4 years.

With top recruiting classes

[1auburn1 1,110]

18 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

A&M was 8-4 this year after 4 years.

This. Not to deflect our issues onto others but, wow, this is a woeful underperformance for the money. 

[Hank2020 3,199]

1 minute ago, bigbird said:

With top recruiting classes

And everyone trying to hire him. He has had acouple 9 win seasons. Just seems like expectations are unreasonable for Harsin (IMO).

[aucanucktiger 1,791]

Thanks for this thread. IMO the OLine continues to be a significant issue - probably our biggest - and it is just as hit or miss as last year when it had LESS experience. The micro answer is acquiring an SEC caliber center to build around. Kim and Brahms gave 100% but neither improved after their sophomore seasons. Friend has an impressive resume - when he lands the talent.

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by aucanucktiger

[bigbird 60,479]

2 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

Just seems like expectations are unreasonable for Harsin (IMO).

That and a good portion, admittedly or not, want him to fail in order to make them feel better about their irrational support of our former coach. They want to be right more than they want Auburn to be good. It's weird.