Fact or Fiction: Bryan Harsin will get Auburn to the playoff
National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
MORE: Five recruits Harsin should call | 2020 coaching carousel
*****
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
COVERAGE: Rivals Transfer Tracker | Rivals Camp Series
*****
1. Bryan Harsin will get Auburn to the playoff.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. Of course none of us know, but I’m going with the percentages here and saying that Alabama will continue to rule the SEC West and Texas A&M is charging while Auburn will remain in the middle. And I like this hire from a coaching perspective. Can he recruit the Southeast? I don’t know but I’m sure he will get a great staff. But it’s a reach to think he can do what Gus Malzahn did in 2013 and reach the national championship game.
Gorney’s take: FACT. I love this hire. Harsin is not just another recycled name making his latest round through the SEC, he’s an innovative offensive coach with an excellent track record, he can recruit quarterbacks - he did really well at Boise State in that capacity - and he’s going to bring a completely fresh perspective to an Auburn brand that has been getting stale in recent years.
In the last decade, Auburn has won a national title and played for another, a game the Tigers were leading with less than a minute left. The SEC West is getting tougher, but Harsin can get Auburn back to national contention.
2. Florida's NCAA sanctions are a slap on the wrist.
Farrell’s take: FACT. Limited evaluations? Head coach can’t recruit? So what? Dan Mullen isn’t an elite head coach recruiter and in the pandemic we have all learned to have an eye for film evaluation again. And let’s be honest, what Florida did was nothing in the big picture. This became news on Tuesday, but it’s really not.
Gorney’s take: FACT. It was a slap on the wrist and it should have been. So Mullen met with a high school head coach to recruit a certain player who was in the room at the time? And then on the way to a tournament a bunch of 7-on-7 teams stopped by Florida’s campus, toured the facilities and happened to meet with the coaches? If that’s the extent of Mullen’s sins, then give him 10 Hail Marys and one Our Father and let’s move on. With some of the recruiting stories out there, this is very little.
3. Don Brown was the problem at Michigan.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. I still blame the offense. It’s been boring and ineffective since Jim Harbaugh took over and the lack of consistency puts more pressure on the defense. Brown didn’t adapt his defense to personnel as much as people would have liked, but he is who he is. And so is Harbaugh. Look at the offense here.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. I broke down each of Michigan’s losses during Brown’s five years as defensive coordinator and I’ve come to the conclusion that he was absolutely not the problem in the Wolverines’ struggles but is now the fall guy for all of Michigan’s issues. There were 19 losses in Brown’s tenure with eight of them by a touchdown or less. In many others, Michigan’s offense could not get going and the Wolverines’ defense could only hold up so long.
This last season was a struggle though giving up 49 to a bad Wisconsin offense and losing to Michigan State was inexcusable. Brown is a fantastic football coach who could only do so much. The offense remains the issue in Ann Arbor without question.