Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin will keep his job after a university inquiry into the football program, ESPN reported.
An official announcement is expected to come Friday.
Auburn spent at least the past week looking into the reasons behind the departure of about 20 players to the transfer portal. Five assistant coaches also left the Tigers, who finished 6-7 in Harsin’s first season with the program in 2021.
“The Auburn administration is judiciously collecting information from a variety of perspectives, including our student-athletes, and moving swiftly to understand any issues in accordance with university policies and procedures,” the university said in a statement issued Monday.
“Decisions regarding the future of Auburn and its Athletics programs, as always, are made in the interests of our great university and in fairness to all concerned.”
ESPN said Harsin met with officials conducting the inquiry on Wednesday before he attended the SEC head coaches meeting on Thursday in Birmingham, Ala.
Harsin’s treatment of players and coaches was the focus of the inquiry, ESPN said. Last week, a variety of current and former players spoke out on social media, both in support of and against Harsin.
Per ESPN, the school was investigating whether there was reason to fire Harsin with cause. If Auburn were to fire him without cause, he would be owed $18.3 million — 70 percent of the money left on his contract.
Auburn hired Harsin, 45, to replace Gus Malzahn after the 2020 season. Harsin compiled a 69-19 record as the head coach at Boise State from 2014-20.
–Field Level Media