Auburn football: 3 biggest offseason questions facing Bryan Harsin’s Tigers in 2021
By John Buhler
Bryan Harsin left an incredible situation at his alma mater Boise State to becoming the next head coach of the Auburn football team.
Despite a 6-4 regular-season finish from a year ago, the Auburn football program decided to go in a different direction. Auburn University parted ways with former head coach Gus Malzahn after eight good, but not great seasons. Out of left field, the Tigers were able to pry former Boise State Broncos head coach Bryan Harsin away from his alma mater.
Though Harsin’s hire caught people off-guard, it is one that has been met with mostly praise in the early part of his tenure down on The Plains. He has assembled a great staff with a pair of former head coaches acting as his coordinators in Mike Bobo on offense and Derek Mason on defense. However, Auburn did get its teeth kicked in during recruitment, finishing 10th overall in the SEC.
While Auburn did play for a national championship in Malzahn’s first season, that is not happening in the first year of the Harsin era. Then again, Auburn has the on-field talent and the resources to be a dark horse contender in the SEC West in year one under his guidance. Before any of that can even happen, Harsin and his program must answer these three critical offseason questions.
3 biggest offseason questions for Auburn Tigers
3. Who can salvage Auburn’s worst recruiting class in a long time?
This is the undisputed black eye of Auburn’s 2021 offseason. The Tigers finished 27th in the team class rankings for 2021, according to the 247Sports Composite. Auburn regularly finishes in the top 15 nationally. While the Tigers were expected to take a hit with these coaching changes, you cannot be thrilled with a 10th-place finish in the SEC. Harsin has to find a way to salvage this.
Though Auburn’s 2021 recruiting class is small (17 plus one transfer), the Tigers did get six players to enroll early, including three four-stars. Defensive tackle Lee Hunter was Auburn’s only top-100 recruit. Enrolling early gives him a decent chance to earn some early playing time, particularly on a new defense being coached by Mason. Auburn needs Hunter to make an impact.
Ahmari Harvey will bring his four-star commitment to the defensive backfield at the safety position. While the front-seven could be in the midst of a slight philosophical shift, the secondary could be an area of strength for Mason’s defense in year one. Auburn has also signed a four-star dual-threat quarterback in Dematrius Davis, who could keep things interesting for Bobo.
Overall, Harvey and Hunter stand the best chance of being early contributors. Davis could be the heir apparent to Bo Nix under center, but it will be awfully tough for him to take the starting job away from this Auburn legacy signal-caller. While the talent may not be robust in this recruiting class, they will have an opportunity to compete for jobs on this new staff.