Saturday’s tough loss at Ole Miss might mean the end of the line for Bryan Harsin leading the Auburn football program.
At 3-4 and heading into a bye week, it might be the time for the Auburn football program to punt on the Bryan Harsin era.
In his first season and a half down on The Plains, Harsin is 9-11. While he had great success previously at Boise State and briefly at Arkansas State before that, this is the SEC, and he’s not cut out for it. While Auburn may ride this thing out until it hires a new athletic director, it is apparent that the Tigers need a new head coach. Fortunately, there are plenty of great candidates out there.
Here are five head-coaching candidates who may have what it takes to save Auburn football.
Bryan Harsin replacements: 5 coaches who could save Auburn football program
Kevin Steele has strong Auburn ties and knows how to win in the deep SEC West
Kevin Steele may be in his mid-60s and in his first year coordinating the Miami Hurricanes defense, but he should have been the head coach Alan Greene hired instead of Harsin. I mean, he was right there in the building! Steele may have been a horrendous head coach previously at Baylor, but that was a lifetime ago. He was Gus Malzahn’s defensive coordinator from 2016-20.
Hiring Steele is not a long-term solution, but is one that will help transition Auburn into its next chapter. He knows how to recruit and develop his players. If he can pair himself with a quality, up-and-coming offensive coordinator, Auburn could be in a fantastic position heading into the latter part of the decade. Of course, this is not a sexy hire, which is why Auburn probably will not do it.
This is not exactly righting a wrong, but it will be a change back to what has made Auburn great.