18Champs
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First-year Auburn head football coach Bryan Harsin certainly isn’t likely to ever ask me for advice, and who could blame him for that. But in the unlikely event that he ever did, here are some thoughts I would share with him:
---I share your thoughts about recruiting rankings, but I have yet to see a great SEC football team without great players, without impact players. It doesn’t matter how many stars they were awarded by recruiting analysts, but you’d better have enough players that can win against the most talented players in the game. If you don’t, you won’t win.
--You don’t win by outsmarting other coaches on game day, not in the SEC. As one SEC coordinator told me, “even if you do something they don’t expect, they’ll figure out by halftime.”
--Developing players is an important part of every program, but every player has a ceiling. The higher the ceiling, the better the development is likely to be.
--Expectations are part of the job you took. There might be a honeymoon, but it won’t be a long one. No matter what you say to try to keep those expectations under control, they’re not going to go away.
--The challenge you face now is nothing like what you faced at Boise State. Tom Herman learned that the hard way as Texas head coach. Scott Frost is learning it at Nebraska. And they were the group of five coaches everybody had to have.
--Either let Mike Bobo run the offense or run it yourself. Auburn supporters have seen enough in recent years of trying to mix offensive philosophies. That’s one of the reasons you are at Auburn and Gus Malzahn is at Central Florida.
--No matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to keep many secrets. Too many eyes are watching and ears are listening. You might want to control the message, but you won’t be able to. You’re better off being as open and transparent as possible.
--Nobody else has to beat Alabama and Georgia to keep their jobs. You do. It might not be fair, but that’s reality.
--Bruce Pearl is the most popular coach on the Auburn campus for a reason. He won over the students and major supporters before he ever won a game and has continued to win them over. There are lessons to be learned from him.
--If you win people over like Pearl did, they’ll be in your corner and be behind you even in the bad times. If you don’t, your job will become much more difficult.
--Have fun. You’re making an incredible amount of money at a place that truly cares about what you do. Embrace the passion.
---I share your thoughts about recruiting rankings, but I have yet to see a great SEC football team without great players, without impact players. It doesn’t matter how many stars they were awarded by recruiting analysts, but you’d better have enough players that can win against the most talented players in the game. If you don’t, you won’t win.
--You don’t win by outsmarting other coaches on game day, not in the SEC. As one SEC coordinator told me, “even if you do something they don’t expect, they’ll figure out by halftime.”
--Developing players is an important part of every program, but every player has a ceiling. The higher the ceiling, the better the development is likely to be.
--Expectations are part of the job you took. There might be a honeymoon, but it won’t be a long one. No matter what you say to try to keep those expectations under control, they’re not going to go away.
--The challenge you face now is nothing like what you faced at Boise State. Tom Herman learned that the hard way as Texas head coach. Scott Frost is learning it at Nebraska. And they were the group of five coaches everybody had to have.
--Either let Mike Bobo run the offense or run it yourself. Auburn supporters have seen enough in recent years of trying to mix offensive philosophies. That’s one of the reasons you are at Auburn and Gus Malzahn is at Central Florida.
--No matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to keep many secrets. Too many eyes are watching and ears are listening. You might want to control the message, but you won’t be able to. You’re better off being as open and transparent as possible.
--Nobody else has to beat Alabama and Georgia to keep their jobs. You do. It might not be fair, but that’s reality.
--Bruce Pearl is the most popular coach on the Auburn campus for a reason. He won over the students and major supporters before he ever won a game and has continued to win them over. There are lessons to be learned from him.
--If you win people over like Pearl did, they’ll be in your corner and be behind you even in the bad times. If you don’t, your job will become much more difficult.
--Have fun. You’re making an incredible amount of money at a place that truly cares about what you do. Embrace the passion.