Bryan Harsin says Auburn college football probe a personal attack

ATLANTA — Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin opened his SEC media days news conference Thursday in part by addressing the investigation into the Tigers football program from February.

«There was an inquiry,» Harsin said. «It was uncomfortable. It was unfounded. It presented an opportunity for people to personally attack me, my family and also our program. And it didn't work.»

The university investigated the football program after an exodus of players and assistant coaches. The defections came after Auburn started the 2021 season 6-2 before dropping their last five games of the season to finish 6-7. Harsin was hired at Auburn in December 2020 after seven years at Boise State. He replaced Gus Malzahn, who was fired after the 2020 season and received a buyout of $21.45 million.

«I mean, you go back, and I don't think even in our own division we weren't the team that lost the most players,» Harsin said. «That's not mentioned, whether that's relevant or not, just, it is what it is. Coaching changes happen, and we brought in new players.»

Harsin added that he felt people underestimated the challenge of coming into the job during the COVID-19 pandemic, which he says made the transition more difficult.

«The first team meeting was in the indoor facility with the swamp coolers on 6 feet apart, everybody wearing masks and nobody could hear anything,» he said. «And you're trying to bring this energy and enthusiasm, and it was a bad environment. And we had to meet over in the business building, and there was a lot of things that didn't allow us to come in right away and establish.»

Auburn tight end John Samuel Shenker said, «When he came in, he has one way of doing things, [and] he was successful where he was before. So when you have a