Harsin: Firing Williams couldn't wait

[WFE12 9,191]

Harsin: Firing receivers coach Cornelius Williams couldn't wait

• by Nathan King

 

 

AUBURN, Alabama — Bryan Harsin already had plenty on his plate offensively this week leading up to Auburn’s SEC opener at LSU, after he replaced third-year starting quarterback Bo Nix with T.J. Finley against Georgia State. Now he’s breaking in a new assistant coach, too.

Harsin on Monday confirmed both pieces of news from the weekend: Cornelius Williamsis out as Auburn’s wide receivers coach, and former Boise State offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau, who was hired by Harsin as an offensive analyst in the offseason, is taking over the position group. Kiesau ran practice with the receivers Sunday evening.

“He’s a good man and did a very good job for us,” Harsin said of Williams at his weekly press conference Monday. “Showed up every day and worked, very professional. And I felt like for us now moving forward in things — not just at the wide-receiver position, but for our staff and some of the things we feel we need to do and I feel we need to do — needed changed.

“So I appreciated everything he did for us while he was here, and I appreciate his family. He’s a good young coach and certainly looking forward to the things that will happen for him in the future.”

Williams, who spent the previous six seasons coaching receivers at Troy, was hired by Harsin in January, taking over a group that lost its top three players to the NFL and returned only 23 receptions from the 2020 season.

According to a copy of the contract shared with Auburn Undercover in March via a records request, Auburn owes Williams a buyout of the remainder of his deal ($600,000 over two years, signed in January), though that figure will be mitigated by the salary of Williams’ next coaching job.

Auburn’s wide receivers have struggled with drops and lack of execution, as Harsin has said all season. The Tigers scored just one offensive touchdown against Georgia State over the weekend.

Harsin said there was no isolated incident or “tipping” point that led to the decision. He said he’s never fired a coach that early in a season before, but it was something he felt he couldn’t wait on any longer. 

“I felt like in order for us to continue to progress like I feel like we need to, a change needed to be made — and it needed to be made now,” Harsin said.

Harsin, who made sure to note that firing a coach and a coworker is never easy, sternly denied that firing Williams had anything to do with sending a message to his program about his seriousness and commitment to success.

“It’s about things that I felt like we needed to do,” Harsin said. “It’s really about the whole idea that this program is built off of is that we continue to get better. That’s really what it was about. You (don’t) make decisions like that as a head football coach so you can just go out there and just send a message. You make calculated decisions that you feel like are best for the team.”

Kiesau was first Harsin’s receivers coach for three years at Boise State before being promoted to OC in 2020. He coached a different All-Mountain West receiver in each season. Overall, Kiesau has 14 years of experience coaching the position, and also has six years of experience as an offensive coordinator at Colorado, Washington, Fresno State and Boise State.

“He’s been around for a while and understands offense — understands developing and understands that position in particular,” Harsin said. “... He brings that experience and a level of teaching that I feel like can improve our room and help those guys understand what it is they’re trying to accomplish every play.”

[W.E.D 11,070]

At least he hopefully put the dumbass narrative to bed that he had to make a statement and fire someone

[gr82be 14,425]

37 minutes ago, WFE12 said:

Harsin, who made sure to note that firing a coach and a coworker is never easy, sternly denied that firing Williams had anything to do with sending a message to his program about his seriousness and commitment to success.

Pretty sure others got the message whether intended or not. 

[cole256 17,077]

Yeah now those other guys are going to coach!

[AUght2win 6,838]

13 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Yeah now those other guys are going to coach!

Only other position group I feel has played bad enough to warrant firing the position coach is DL. They've all been inconsistent. But WR and DL have been abysmal. 

[gravejd 3,270]

I don’t know that this tells us a whole lot more about why he picked Williams as the one to fire. Obviously he was not getting the job done and it was too the point that Harsin didn’t think it was going to improve. There must have been a lot more problems going on with the receivers than we could pick up by watching on tv cause very few position groups have been tearing it up. 
 

 

[Sizzle 3,913]

2 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

Only other position group I feel has played bad enough to warrant firing the position coach is DL. They've all been inconsistent. But WR and DL have been abysmal. 

Every position group has damn near been abysmal except for RB’s and LB’s and if it wasn’t for Zakoby coming in and saving the day I’d put them in the abysmal category too

Edited September 27, 2021 by Sizzle

[AUght2win 6,838]

Just now, Sizzle said:

Every position group has damn near been abysmal except for RB’s and LB’s

Secondary has shown some positives. The O line has too. The DL even had some positives in the first 2 cupcakes games. But receivers haven't shown anything good IMO except for the emergence of Kobe these past 2 games.

[JuscAUse! 1,410]

7 minutes ago, gravejd said:

I don’t know that this tells us a whole lot more about why he picked Williams as the one to fire. Obviously he was not getting the job done and it was too the point that Harsin didn’t think it was going to improve. There must have been a lot more problems going on with the receivers than we could pick up by watching on tv cause very few position groups have been tearing it up. 
 

 

Greg McElroy blasted our receiver play on JOX this morning. He said something to the effect that it was past bad and everything from the spacing to alignment to crappy routes and lack of effort were very noticeable to him this year. Not direct quotes, but I think I'm close. Anyway, it's on the JOX app if anybody wants to check. I heard it once, and I think he's pretty spot on as a knowledgeable observer. 

[TigerTennis80 345]

I keep wondering if the situation with Demetris Robinson is part of the story here. It's just so weird that there's been nothing about why he didn't play Saturday. By contrast we knew why Pappoe, Shivers, Johnson, etc. didn't play when they missed games. But nothing about Robinson, & then the WR coach is fired. Maybe it's just coincidence, but I can't help but wonder.

[AubieinNC2009 79]

There werea few plays where TJF had to motion to the sideline just  to get all the wrs on the field 

[Viper 3,132]

2 hours ago, WFE12 said:

Kiesau was first Harsin’s receivers coach for three years at Boise State before being promoted to OC in 2020. He coached a different All-Mountain West receiver in each season. Overall, Kiesau has 14 years of experience coaching the position, and also has six years of experience as an offensive coordinator at Colorado, Washington, Fresno State and Boise State.

“He’s been around for a while and understands offense — understands developing and understands that position in particular,” Harsin said. “... He brings that experience and a level of teaching that I feel like can improve our room and help those guys understand what it is they’re trying to accomplish every play.”

Why the heck did Harsin not hire Kiesau as WR coach??

[gravejd 3,270]

5 minutes ago, Viper said:

Why the heck did Harsin not hire Kiesau as WR coach??

I think Kiesau stuck around Boise to try and get the HC job there. When he didn't he came to AU as an analyst

[AUDub 11,148]

1 minute ago, gravejd said:

I think Kiesau stuck around Boise to try and get the HC job there. When he didn't he came to AU as an analyst

He was a long shot candidate, yeah. Kind of entered a career holding pattern until something came open since we'd already filled the staff. 

[Viper 3,132]

2 minutes ago, gravejd said:

I think Kiesau stuck around Boise to try and get the HC job there. When he didn't he came to AU as an analyst

Ah so the switch was premeditated since Kiesau came on board. Makes sense.

[AU9377 4,931]

2 hours ago, W.E.D said:

At least he hopefully put the dumbass narrative to bed that he had to make a statement and fire someone

I thought that narrative was ridiculous as well, until I read two different sources report that it did in fact come into play.  Basically, he wanted to promote his longtime assistant from an analyst position to an on field coaching position and in order to do so a spot had to come open.  He and Bobo supposedly decided that a statement should be made and that the poor performance on Saturday provided the opportunity to accomplish two things at once.

[AUDub 11,148]

3 minutes ago, Viper said:

Ah so the switch was premeditated since Kiesau came on board. Makes sense.

Nah but I imagine Corn had an extremely short leash and when he gave them a reason they didn't hesitate. 

[AU9377 4,931]

Just now, AUDub said:

Nah but I imagine Corn had an extremely short leash and when he gave them a reason they didn't hesitate. 

Harsin said that there was no reason to point to/.

“He’s a good man and did a very good job for us,” Harsin said of Williams at his weekly press conference Monday. “Showed up every day and worked, very professional. And I felt like for us now moving forward in things — not just at the wide-receiver position, but for our staff and some of the things we feel we need to do and I feel we need to do — needed changed.

“So I appreciated everything he did for us while he was here, and I appreciate his family. He’s a good young coach and certainly looking forward to the things that will happen for him in the future.”

[AUDub 11,148]

1 minute ago, AU9377 said:

Harsin said that there was no reason to point to/.

Don't read too much into that. Could simply be professional courtesy. Most people aren't going to publicly blast a guy they just left go. 

[Viper 3,132]

2 minutes ago, AUDub said:

Nah but I imagine Corn had an extremely short leash and when he gave them a reason they didn't hesitate. 

C'mon...the guy under you for four consecutive seasons, that you hired two months after Corn, wasn't premeditated?

He'll be the OC next season.

[gr82b4au 5,568]

1 hour ago, Sizzle said:

Every position group has damn near been abysmal except for RB’s and LB’s and if it wasn’t for Zakoby coming in and saving the day I’d put them in the abysmal category too

Bingo. 
 

Maybe he starts firing them one at a time. 

[CR 2,442]

I just have a hard time believing this couldn't have been handled after the season if it had to be done. And Williams was supposed to be a big asset in recruiting in Alabama and the southeast in general. Recruiting hasn't been a strong suit for this staff thus far and this roster is in dire need of a talent upgrade. And when it's time to hire an assistant coach not from Boise are they going to be willing to take the plunge after seeing how Williams was disposed of?

Edited September 28, 2021 by CR

[gr82b4au 5,568]

2 minutes ago, Viper said:

He'll be the OC next season.

Might be a major upgrade. 

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

2 minutes ago, Viper said:

He'll be the OC next season week.

FIFY.

[W.E.D 11,070]

11 minutes ago, AU9377 said:

I thought that narrative was ridiculous as well, until I read two different sources report that it did in fact come into play.  Basically, he wanted to promote his longtime assistant from an analyst position to an on field coaching position and in order to do so a spot had to come open.  He and Bobo supposedly decided that a statement should be made and that the poor performance on Saturday provided the opportunity to accomplish two things at once.

That's a bull**** narrative drummed up by Hoke and other beat writers