Auburn finalizes deal with Bryan Harsin to be new head coach

Auburn is turning to the Boise State pipeline for their next head coach.

The Tigers are hiring Bryan Harsin away from Boise State to replace Gus Malzahn. Yahoo’s Pete Thamel first reported the news.

Harsin, 44, is from Boise and played quarterback at Boise State in the late ’90s. He served on their coaching staff in various offensive roles from 2001-2010 before leaving for Texas for two seasons. He went 7-5 as the head coach at Arkansas State in 2013 before returning to Boise State to replace Chris Petersen in 2014. Harsin has been Boise State’s head coach ever since.

Harsin has gone 69-19 in seven seasons at Boise State. Coincidentally, Harsin replaced Malzahn at Arkansas State when Gus left to take the Auburn job. Now Harsin is replacing Malzahn again.

Though plenty of other names were mentioned in connection with the Auburn job, Louisiana’s Billy Napier and Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables were said to be the other serious candidates.

Auburn is rivals with Alabama and plays in the highly competitive SEC West, which makes it arguably the most difficult college football job in the country. Best of luck to Harsin.