Auburn’s offseason investigation into Bryan Harsin, and the public nature of the probe, thrust the school’s long-held reputation of booster meddling in athletics back into the spotlight in February.
The university conducted an internal investigation into Harsin’s handling of his first year as Auburn’s football coach in early February, throwing his status as head coach and the future of the football program into flux for more than a week as the saga spilled out into the public view. The inquiry nearly cost Harsin his job less than 14 months into his tenure, but then-president Jay Gogue announced Feb. 11 the university’s decision to retain Harsin and offered some insight into the investigation.
While the saga has since been put to rest, with Harsin opening spring practice by noting his desire to move past it and shift focus back to rebuilding the program, the ordeal still produced lingering questions about the involvement of the university’s boosters in athletics-related personnel decisions — particularly when it comes to football. One of the school’s most prominent boosters, Board of Trustee member Jimmy Rane, on Thursday addressed that topic on Thursday night in Montgomery while speaking at a banquet to kick off his annual charity golf event, according to a report by the Montgomery Advertiser.
“Trustees don’t hire and fire football coaches,” Rane said, according to the Advertiser. “We hire and fire presidents. So, I’m not aware of any role the trustees played in that at all. I think there were questions that the administration had, and (Gogue) is the kind of a president that wants facts. He’s going to do thorough investigations, and so that was a providence of the administration. Certainly not the trustees.”
The investigation into Harsin began, in fact, with a statement from Gogue during the university’s February Board of Trustees meeting in Montgomery, when he — unprompted — addressed rumors that began circulating online the night prior.
“There have been a lot of rumors and speculation about our football program,” Gogue said toward the end of the board meeting on AUM’s campus. “I just want you to know we’re involved in trying to separate fact from fiction. We’ll keep you posted and make the appropriate decision at the right time.”
That statement — made by an outgoing president on the same day the Board of Trustees officially announced his replacement, Dr. Chris Roberts, who officially took over this week — was the catalyst of an eight-day saga that played out in the public view. Former players spoke out about their perceived treatment by Harsin and took umbrage with his handling of interpersonal relationships, while a large contingent of current players publicly supported the embattled coach, who also vehemently defended himself in an interview with ESPN while out of the country on vacation. For the better part of a week, Auburn endured a standoff within the football program, even resulting in a highly anticipated appearance by Harsin at the SEC’s annual coaches meeting in Birmingham in early February.
When the dust settled and probe was completed, Gogue announced Harsin would be retained as Auburn’s coach. He enters Year 2 looking to rebound not only from the damage done by the offseason drama but from the program’s worst season since 2012 — a 6-7 inaugural season that ended on a five-game losing streak that prompted a staff overhaul.
“I wish him all the success in the world,” said Rane, a trustee since 1999 and the richest man in Alabama. “I hope he wins every game he plays. It’s a tough league. It’s a tough job for anybody, but I certainly wish him nothing but the best.”
The Harsin investigation was only the latest instance to produce questions of booster meddling in athletics matters at Auburn. During the search that ultimately led to Harsin’s hiring in December 2020, athletics director Allen Greene emerged from a behind-the-scenes battle, bucking the influence and wishes of some of the university’s most powerful boosters by hiring Harsin over their preferred candidate. Greene, as AL.com reported at the time, wanted to conduct a thorough search instead of hastily moving on a coach shortly after the firing of Gus Malzahn — another decision influenced by the program’s boosters.
There have been other instances over the years, including during Malzahn’s ebb-and-flow tenure as coach, that have fostered the university’s perceived reputation for booster meddling, which Rane addressed Thursday.
“I don’t know how to help people with their perception,” Rane told the Advertiser. “All I know is facts. And there’s enough rumor out there that people can make up anything they want to make up, but facts speak for themselves, and that’s just how things are done.”
