Bryan Harsin on Auburn football inquiry at SEC Media Days: Some media 'didn't expect me to be here'

ATLANTA — As Bryan Harsin stepped onto the main stage Thursday morning at SEC Media Days, the rain outside the College Football Hall of Fame suddenly escalated.

A fitting metaphor for Auburn football's offseason. When it rained, it poured.

The second-year Auburn coach welcomed the deluge with a smirk and came out firing.

"Second time here. Excited to be here," he told reporters. "And I know some of you out there looking at me didn't expect me to be here."

Harsin wasn't afraid to acknowledge the university's February internal investigation that endangered his job after one season. But he said in his opening statement that this would be the last time he addresses it.

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"There was an inquiry. It was uncomfortable," Harsin said. "It was unfounded, and it presented an opportunity for people to personally attack me, my family and also our program.

"Right now, our focus is on moving forward. What came out of that inquiry were a lot of positives. There was a silver lining in all this. ... It united our football team."

Harsin pointed out how the investigation led to leaders revealing themselves on his team. Senior edge Derick Hall, who was one of Auburn's three player representatives in Atlanta, confirmed that he testified on Harsin's behalf as the university conducted interviews during the investigation. Hall declined to share publicly what he said in those interviews.

Hall and running back Tank Bigsby said the players heard about the explosion of allegations against Harsin as they came out of a workout.

"It wasn't even shocking, because it wasn't nothing," Bigsby said. "We all knew it wasn't real or anything."

One week later, university president Jay Gogue announced in an open letter that the inquiry was completed and Harsin was retained.

"We had coaches and players that could have gone on and gone to different places, avoided all the adversity, the challenges and everything that came with it," Harsin said. "They didn't do that. They're here."

Auburn did lose 19 transfers and six assistant coaches from the start of the 2021 season through 2022 spring practices. The investigation stemmed from Harsin's mistreatment of players and staff.

"That'll be the last time I talk about that. There's plenty of interviews on it. If you need more information on it, just go Google it."

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football: Bryan Harsin tackles investigation at SEC Media Days