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.
2. Who becomes a defensive star under new coordinator Derek Mason?
With Derek Mason coming over from the Vanderbilt Commodores to coach the Auburn defense, it will be a departure from what the Tigers experience under former defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. Under Steele, Auburn thrived in the trenches and in the pass rush. While Mason is a sound defensive mind too, look for his defense to be led by the secondary, his position group of strength.
Mason is a former cornerback himself and a defensive backs coach, parlaying that into the Stanford defensive coordinator role before taking over in Nashville for James Franklin in 2014. While competition will be key in all areas of this football team, the one position group Auburn could be spectacular in right away is the secondary. Mason already has one star to work with.
That star playmaker is safety Smoke Monday. Though he has one of the coolest names in the SEC, he is also one of the finest defensive backs the Power 5 conference has to offer. He could have gone pro, but returns for his senior season down on The Plains to play for Harsin and Mason. If it all goes according to plan, he has a fantastic opportunity to be First-Team All-SEC in 2021.
Other players to keep an eye on in the back-end of Auburn’s 2021 defense include cornerbacks Roger McCreary and Jaylin Simpson. Chris Thompson Jr. probably slots in as the other safety next to Monday. We may also want to keep an eye on true freshman Ahmari Harvey. He is one of the best players Auburn landed this past recruiting cycle and he did enroll early out of high school.
1. Does Bo Nix take the next step in Mike Bobo’s offense?
2021 will be the third year Bo Nix will likely be serving as the Auburn starting quarterback. Even though he has followed in the footsteps of his father Patrick Nix, he has shown he can be one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC on a good day. While he may not have been a great fit in Gus Malzahn’s offensive scheme, we could see a regression out of him playing for Mike Bobo.
Malzahn’s offense is more ground-centric and speed-based more than anything. While Nix was fleet afoot, this type of offensive scheme can lead even the most polished passers to play recklessly. What Bobo has working for him is a proven track record of precision passing from the pocket, best illustrated when he was coordinating his alma mater Georgia Bulldogs’ offense.
With so many great SEC quarterbacks going pro from last season (Mac Jones, Kellen Mond, Kyle Trask, etc.), Nix has a terrific opportunity to be an all-conference passer in his junior year. Guys like JT Daniels at Georgia, Myles Brennan at LSU and Bryce Young at Alabama will be contending for that honor, too. However, Nix has the most career SEC starts among any of them, and it matters.
Though it is highly unlikely that someone will take the starting role from Nix, this offseason is all about seeing if he can be the best passer in the SEC. Bobo is the coordinator who can get him on that level. While other teams may be more talented than Auburn, Nix is in a prime possession to truly carry this passing game offensively. If he has a great spring and fall camp, look out, SEC.
Ultimately, Auburn will have somewhat of a rebuilding year in 2021. While the Tigers get arch-rivals Alabama and Georgia at home this year, Auburn is probably not going to do better than 8-4 or even 9-3 during the regular season. However, we could see a totally different team really starting to take flight by late October or early November. This program will be back very soon.
How good can Auburn be in the first year of the Harsin era down on The Plains?
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