Analysis: John Longshore on Auburn Football Program in Turmoil
Alabama News Network Sports Analyst John Longshore provided his insight into the ongoing turmoil surrounding the Auburn football program.
Head football coach Bryan Harsin has come under fire on a range of issues, but has told ESPN that he’s “not planning on going anywhere.”
Longshore says influential Auburn boosters who never wanted Harsin to replace Gun Malzahn after the 2020 season have been looking for ways to get him out.
Longshore says those boosters have plenty of ammunition: players entering the transfer portal, coaches leaving, Harsin’s refusal to say if he’d received the COVID-19 vaccine and especially the Tigers 6-7 record. Longshore says if Auburn had ended the year at 10-2 and had beaten Alabama, these conversations wouldn’t be happening.
Longshore says it is very possible that Harsin won’t be the coach for the 2022 season and the decision could come very soon. He believes both sides are looking for an amicable parting of the ways, and there is no benefit in delaying the inevitable.
Auburn president Jay Gouge said, “We’ll keep you posted and make the appropriate decision at the right time.”
But Longshore believes other problems will persist, such as poor recruiting that he says has gone on for more than just this year, which could mean Auburn will not see many improvements in 2023 or 2024.
