| FTBL Marshall with another entertaining look at Auburn Q&A with yellatooth.

Auburn football is in an unusual place, and I’m not sure quite what to make of it. I can make a half-dozen calls and hear convincing arguments that the program on the edge of the abyss and convincing arguments that things are good. Which of those arguments is accurate? I don’t know, and I’m not sure anyone really knows.

In our social media-driven world, recruiting rankings have come to create reactions as emotional as winning or losing games, sometimes more emotional. I think that’s a misguided view, but I certainly recognize it is out there.

What I know about that is first-year Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin and his staff have been able to welcome official visitors for all of 18 days. Most of those prospects who have visited had never met Auburn coaches face-to-face. I won’t even start to develop my opinion about the 2022 recruiting class until next February. Until then, I will leave that debate to others.

A bigger issue is just what Harsin inherited when he was introduced as Auburn’s head coach on Christmas Eve. It depends on how one looks at it. There certainly is reason for optimism as the 2021 season approaches.

The Tigers are seriously lacking in experience only at wide receiver, and that is probably the position in which young players frequently excel more than any other. They have arguably the best running back in the SEC in Tank Bigsby, a two-year starting quarterback in Box Nix, maybe the top pair of linebackers in the SEC in Owen Pappoe and Zakoby McClain, top cornerback in Roger McCreary and some other really talented defensive backs and linemen.

On the other side of that, while there are some experienced offensive linemen, there are unanswered questions about most of them. Is it as bad as some believe? No. It’s popular to criticize center Nick Brahms, but his teammates swear by him. Tashawn Manning is a future NFL player. Brodarious Hamm could be, too. But it can’t be argued that Auburn’s offensive line as a whole has not had championship production in in recent seasons.

I’m not trying to go position-by-position here, but Harsin will have some good players and potentially some great players on his first Auburn team. He will inherit a team accustomed to winning and some players who have been part of some really big wins. Auburn has not had a non-winning season since 2012. A 6-4 record against all-SEC schedule last season wasn’t great, but it was better than nine of the 14 SEC teams.

The problem that got Gus Malzahn in the end was that those players have been part of some bad losses, too. They rarely seemed to have any answers in bowl games. Can they get over that hump? And if they do, can Harsin keep it going in years to come? If knowing that was easy, there wouldn’t be any drama in college football.

At the highest level of the game, it’s about staying relevant, and for numerous reasons, doing that has never been more difficult.

In discussions among pundits about a 12-team playoff, it is taken as a fact that nothing will change at the top, that Alabama and Clemson will continue to win every year, with an occasional push by Ohio State or Oklahoma and a few others have moved into and out of the national championship picture in recent years. Everybody else is viewed as an afterthought, relegated to watching from the outside. At least that seems to be the going opinion.

In order to be relevant in today’s game, it takes getting into that group and staying there or at least close. Doing it for one year is not enough. Auburn won the national championship in 2010, lost five games in 2011 and had the worst season in 60 years in 2012. Auburn won the SEC championship and played for it all in 2013 and was on the verge in 2017.

Is that enough for Auburn to be relevant? In in any real measure, it is enough. But in the perception game that starts with “national” writers and sportscasters, Auburn isn’t getting much attention. That is despite the hiring of Harsin in December being hailed by those same writers and talkers as a bold move by athletics director Allen Greene.

LSU, on the other hand, is riding the crest of winning the national championship in 2019 despite going 5-5 last season, losing 48-11 at Auburn, missing out on a bowl game because of off-field issues and, in general, having an awful year. Why? It’s those recruiting rankings again.

I’ve been astonished at some of the takes that Auburn was a recruiting power until Malzahn left and Harsin came along. I’m not saying those takes aren’t accurate, but where were they when it was happening? How often was Auburn mentioned among the nation’s top recruiting powers even when it was piling up top-10 finishes in recruiting rankings?

Harsin took a difficult job. Year in and year out, Auburn probably faces the most difficult schedule in the game. Harsin knew that when he left Boise State to take the job.
 
Great steak place...in the '80's.

You hearing Gus having some issues?

Oh hell yeah, them and Quincy's were a big part of my childhood. In fact, I've eaten at that Opelika Western Sizzlin more than a few times, but that was when it was past it's prime (late 90's).

Haven't heard anything on Gus, but wouldn't surprise me. I think UCF is as good a fit as he will find, but he's a damn weirdo and that's gong to follow him anywhere. The early reports that he was reenergized and stuff was laughable. He's a guy who isn't going to change who he is, I'm not even sure he'd be able to if he wanted. He doesn't adapt, he doubles down.
 
More.





Questions – asking them and answering them – are part of everyday life as a columnist or reporter. Here’s a look at some questions about subjects of interest, along with my answers on some and guesses on others.

WHAT SHOULD THE MISSION OF AUBURN FOOTBALL BE?

My answer: Clearly, it should be to compete annually at or near the top of the SEC and to win championships. But that is so much easier to say than it is to do. It’s very difficult to climb to the top of the mountain. It’s even more difficult to stay there. Staying there hasn’t happened all that often for Auburn, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.

HOW DO AUBURN PLAYERS FEEL ABOUT BRYAN HARSIN COMPARED TO HOW THEY FELT ABOUT GUS MALZAHN?

My guess: They loved Malzahn in most ways. They loved the way he treated them like they were family members. At the same time, there were frustrations about the dysfunction and puzzling decisions on offense. I haven’t had enough access to say for certain how players feel about Harsin, but my impression is that they like his approach, his demand for accountability, his attention to detail and his intensity. I don’t see the warm and fuzzy relationship most had with Malzahn, but I could be wrong about that.

HOW MUCH MONEY WILL PLAYERS MAKE FROM NEW NIL POLICIES?

My answer: That’s a really good question. Obviously, some players will be more valuable than others. At the same time, coaches are not going to like a large discrepancy among players. The sponsors who have interest in players will probably have interest in the program and will likely want to avoid offending coaches. The biggest problem might be discrepancies between programs. I don’t see any way around some players making decisions based on where they can expect the most money. Add the one-time transfer without penalty to that and real chaos is a possibility. In most power-5 programs, I expect all scholarship players to get something.

WHO WILL BENEFIT MOST FROM A 12-TEAM PLAYOFF?

My guess: Programs like Auburn who are frequent contenders but not every-season contenders. Auburn would have had six or seven playoff appearances if a 12-team field had been in place from the start of the BCS in 1998. I don’t believe it is a given that nothing will change and the same teams will win. It’s no huge upset if, say, the No. 7 team beats the No. 2 team in the regular season and won’t be a huge upset if it happens in the playoff. Heck, in 2017 Auburn handily beat both of the teams that played for the national championship. I think the 12-team playoff will make the regular season more interesting and make the playoff more interesting.

HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE WILL A DIFFERENT STRENGTH & CONDITIONING PROGRAM MAKE?

My guess: I expect players to be bulked up more, which lots of fans will like. Beyond that, it’s hard to say. Ryan Russell was and remains one of the more respected professionals in the business as indicated by how quickly Missouri hired him after he was let go at Auburn. It is crucial that players buy into the process, whatever it is, and that certainly seems to be happening at Auburn.

HOW SHOCKING WAS IT THAT AD ALLEN GREENE GOT HIS WAY IN HIRING HARSIN?

My answer: Not as shocking as some believe. The same group of power-brokers wanted Jimbo Fisher, who expressed interest and then gave them the cold shoulder, or Kirby Smart after the 2012 season. They got Malzahn. They signed off on Gene Chizik after the 2008 season, but he certainly would not have been their first choice. The only surprising thing was that, this time, they thought things were lined up for them to get who they wanted. They didn’t.

WILL THERE BE STAFF CHANGES IN BASEBALL OR SOFTBALL?

My guess: I don’t expect anyone on either staff to lose his or her job. If that was going to happen, it already would have happened. I wondered if Tim Hudson, who is technically a volunteer coach, would want to do it again, but my understanding is that he does. So I don’t expect any significant change in the baseball mode of operation. In softball, I believe Emily Carosone will likely be the de facto hitting coach.

HOW WILL AUBURN COPE WITH LACK OF EXPERIENCE AT WIDE RECEIVER?

My answer: A better question is who will step forward and be a go-to guy. I don’t believe this team is without talent at wide receiver, and there might not be a position at which experience is less important. Plus, this team has some experience. In 2002, Auburn had three freshmen – Ben Obomanu, Devin Aromashodu and Anthony Mix – in the starting lineup at USC.

WHAT IS A REASONABLE EXPECTATION FOR AUBURN’S BASKETBALL TEAM?

My guess: It might take a while for new players to gel, but Auburn will be in the upper echelon of a very strong SEC with the possibility of being in the championship mix until the end.
 
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