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Fans show support for Harsin at Toomer's Corner

<p>Auburn fans and community members gather at Toomer's Corner to show support for Auburn head football coach Bryan Harsin on Feb. 6, 2022, in Auburn, Ala.&nbsp;</p>

Auburn fans and community members gather at Toomer's Corner to show support for Auburn head football coach Bryan Harsin on Feb. 6, 2022, in Auburn, Ala. 

Approximately 30 people gathered at Toomer's Corner on Sunday afternoon to show support for Auburn head football coach Bryan Harsin, whose future with the program has become questionable within the last few days according to multiple reports.

"They hired a man, and they haven’t given him a chance to prove himself yet," said Tyler Blalock, a lifelong Auburn fan who attended the gathering. "So that’s where we’re at — showing our support for a man who hasn't had a chance to show what he’s made of and prove where he can bring us.”

February 6, 2022; Auburn, Alabama; Auburn fans and community members gather at Toomer's Corner to show support for Auburn head football coach Bryan Harsin.

The gathering, which lasted about 45 minutes at the corner of North College Street and South Magnolia Avenue, was organized by 1974 Auburn graduate and former letterman Billy Kendrick. It was organized to show support for Harsin amid what many feel is lack of support from the Board of Trustees, according to Kendrick.

University President Jay Gogue addressed the situation during his Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 4.

"I want to mention there's been a lot of rumors and a lot of allegations made about our football program," Gogue said. "I just want you to know that we're involved and trying to separate fact from fiction."

The rumors that have been circulating on social media are the reason why the gathering was organized.

"All the rumors that were being disseminated about coach Harsin and his family and using that as a reason to undermine him as a coach, and the coaches and the football team," Kendrick said on what motivated the gathering. "It’s just not right, that’s not the way Auburn people do it.”

February 6, 2022; Auburn, Alabama; Billy Kendrick (left) helped organize the gathering to show support for head coach Bryan Harsin at Toomer's Corner.

In his first season on the Plains, Harsin's team went 6-7 and ended the season on a five-game losing streak after starting the year 6-2. According to Kendrick, one season is not enough time to rebuild a program after a coaching change.

“You put people in the position, you hire people and you give them the resources to do their job and then support them," Kendrick said. "If they don’t do their job, then you get rid of them. But you don’t do that after one year when he had such a mess to clean up from [Gus] Malzahn.”

Kendrick says that he thinks Harsin would need at least three years at Auburn before a potential coaching change.

Fans dressed in Auburn gear showed their support for Harsin by waving orange and blue shakers, holding up signs and leading cheers. Blalock held a sign that read "Bryan Harsin, Allen Greene > Good Ol' Boys Board of Trustees" and had the hashtag #IStandWithHarsin at the bottom.

February 6, 2022; Auburn, Alabama; Tyler Blalock holds a sign in support of Auburn football head coach Bryan Harsin at Toomer's Corner.

Greene, Auburn's athletic director, was responsible for the hiring of Harsin.

“Allen Greene brought change because everybody knows that he did not have the board’s approval when he hired coach Harsin," said Angela Jackson, whose been an Auburn fan for over 40 years. "I think that if they are successful with this witch hunt for coach Harsin, it’ll probably be a witch hunt for Mr. Greene as well."

Jackson said that the Board of Trustees should have an opinion in hiring a football coach, but the opinion should not be the "epitome of how Auburn football or Auburn athletics operates."

Harsin is currently out of the country on vacation, according to ESPN, but told ESPN on Thursday night that he's "not planning on going anywhere."

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“I think Coach Harsin is what Auburn needs," Jackson said. "He was last year, he is now, he will be in the future. We do not need a 'yes man' that is going to agree with the Board of Trustees. We need someone that’s going to run our football program and get us to championship status year after year after year, and you cannot do that saying yes to the people that write the checks all the time."


Caleb Jones | Sports Editor

Originally from Helena, Ala., Caleb Jones is a senior studying journalism at Auburn University. He has been on staff with The Plainsman since 2019.

You can follow him here on Twitter: @calebjsports


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