Bryan Harsin makes first appearance at SEC Media Days as Auburn Football Head Coach

HOOVER, Ala. (WAFF) - Some coaches are veterans of SEC Media Days, while others are embracing the environment of competing in the best College Football conference in America.

First-year Head Coach Bryan Harsin passed his first Media Days experience with flying Tigers colors as he now moves toward what really matters, wins and losses. That all begins September 4th against Akron at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“Ultimately, as we get into practice, we’ve got 25,” Harsin explained during his introductory Press Conference. “We’re getting ready for September 4th against Akron. That is the focus at Auburn. I know the other games we play. I know the other teams on the schedule, but you’ve got to win the first one. You’ve got to go out there and put on the field your very best performance so we can evaluate that and learn from it. So that is our number one focus.”

“For me, the things I’m most excited about, I’m excited about Tiger Walk,” Harsin continued.

“I want to walk from South Donahue all the way down into Jordan-Hare Stadium, and I want to see all those people yelling, ‘War Eagle!’ I want to be in that stadium with 90,000 people going crazy, because I’ve heard nothing but how the environment is, and I got a chance to experience that in a bad way when I was at Arkansas State.”

“So, I’ve got a little taste of that, and now those folks are going to be on our side,” Harin continued. “And I want to be able to be part of a program that, when you win, your fans go crazy and go downtown and we toilet paper trees. I mean, how awesome is that? I’ve never been a part of that. I’ve been a part of great programs and I’ve been around great people, but you have all these things. For me, I’m looking forward to that.”

The Tigers return Junior Quarterback Bo Nix, who’s started every game under center while on the Plains. Nix is the front runner for the starting job this season but will compete with LSU transfer TJ Finley in Fall camp.

“I’m just confident,” Nix said during his press conference with media members. “I’ve had a few, I mean I guess you could say my freshman year was a solid year, last year at times struggled, but I think it was a great year of growth. So I’ve had two good years in my opinion. Obviously, continue to grow. I think pressure is a privilege and so all the added pressure is just more of an honor to be at Auburn playing quarterback.”

“Let me just say this,” Harsin added during his press conference. “Every year that I’ve coached quarterbacks, there’s a quarterback competition. Here’s what I mean by that. You have your returners, they’ve played, they’ve proven themselves. They’ve been in games and all that. But you also have guys that are hungry to play. And they’ve also been working. They don’t want to be backups. They’re doing whatever they can to get on the field. We’re going to have a pecking order. Bo will start when we get out into camp, he’ll be the first guy that rolls out there. There’s a pecking order. TJ Finley’s going to have his chance to run with the ones as well.”

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