‘It Just Means More’ for Auburn football

HOOVER, Ala. (WSFA) - Bryan Harsin is just a few weeks away from his first season as head coach on the Plains, and the Boise man is ready to make some noise in Auburn.

“I’m proud to be here in the SEC. When you drive up here, and it says, “It Just Means More,” I really believe that,” said Harsin. “As a football coach, when you come into the facility, you have 250 people at a place like this, and we’re all charging towards one goal. We want to win championships. We want to get better every single day. All the things you hear from every single coach that’s been up here and has talked.”

The team is wrapping it up it’s first summer of the Harsin era, and while there’s been some adjustments to the new coaching staff, the team is eager to get going in August.

“He understands the magnitude of the SEC football, because you know it just means more down here, and that actually is a legitimate saying for the league,” said Auburn quarterback Bo Nix. “Every team is so tough to play that each and every week it better mean more to you, or you’ll mess around and get beat, so Coach Harsin understands that. He came in knowing that and he’s done a really good job of laying the foundation. He’s excited to play in some hostile environments and some great atmospheres.”

With a new coaching staff on the Plains, things will look a little bit different this football season for Auburn, but the change is good, and the players are embracing new roles in order to bring a new identity to the Tigers’ locker room.

“The energy has been great this summer,” said Auburn linebacker Owen Pappoe. “The coaches have been off in July, so just really from a leadership standpoint a lot of the guys on the team such as myself, Bo, Smoke Monday, we’re been able to step up as leaders and help guide guys in the right direction.”

“Coach Harsin is huge with the small details and the discipline that goes into running a football program, so that’s helped us tremendously,” added Nix. “I think guys have responded really well. Obviously, there’s always something that could be changed or could be done better, so our guys are learning and adapting to that.”

It’s no secret the team’s success hasn’t been up to par in the last few years, but that isn’t phasing this year’s squad. The goal in 2021 is to change the mentality surrounding Auburn football, a mantra the players have already bought into.

“This year a big thing we’ve been talking about – we just had a meeting about it not too long ago – is just to bring a change to Auburn,” said Pappoe. “Blocking out the noise. We know everybody is counting us out, and just being able to come up and shock people. I think we’re really gonna shock people this season – that’s how we’re coming.”

“We’re looking forward to getting our players back together and really working every single day on just playing good football,” added Harsin. “Playing good football every day and being consistent, and if we can do that, we can be that 1-0 type team every single day.”

As his first official game as head coach approaches, it’s the little things that Harsin is most excited about. And when he steps out for his first Tiger Walk into Jordan-Hare Stadium, it’ll be a moment he won’t forget.

“That’s why you come to Auburn. That’s why you’re in the SEC, because it does mean more, and opportunities like that, it’s not like that at other places. So my family, myself, our coaching staff, we’re all excited to be here. We’re all proud to represent Auburn University,” said Harsin

Auburn will host Akron to open the season this fall.

Copyright 2021 WSFA 12 News. All rights reserved.