The Auburn Tigers have reportedly found their next head coach.
Boise State's Bryan Harsin has reportedly agreed to become the 27th head coach of the Auburn football program, AuburnSports.com's Jay Tate reports.
Harsin brings a 76-24 career record to the Plains, which includes a 69-19 (45-8) overall record during seven seasons at Boise State. The 44-year-old coach led the Broncos to three Mountain West Conference titles and six MWC Mountain Division titles during his tenure in Boise.
Harsin also played quarterback at Boise State from 1995-99 and began coaching as an assistant at Eastern Oregon before rejoining the Broncos in 2001 as a graduate assistant. The Boise native continued to work on the Broncos' staff from 2002-10 as a tight ends coach (2002-05) and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (2006-10) before joining Texas' staff as co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2011 and later taking over as Arkansas State's head coach for one season in 2013.
Auburn's interest in Harsin was initially reported by Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel, who said Louisiana's Billy Napier and Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables were also candidates "seriously considered" for the job.
"One of things that appealed to Auburn officials was Harsin’s competitiveness, as the school acknowledges the challenge of competing in the SEC West," Thamel wrote. "Harsin comes from the Chris Petersen tree at Boise State, which is known for high integrity and the ability to connect with players."
Harsin will replace Gus Malzahn, who was fired last week after eight seasons with the program.
Malzahn led the Tigers to a 68-35 (39-27 SEC) overall record during his eight seasons as head coach, which included an SEC Championship victory, BCS National Championship appearance during his first season, as well as two SEC West titles in 2013 and 2017.
Malzahn had also previously worked as an offensive coordinator at Auburn from 2009-2011, which included the Tigers' undefeated 2010 BCS Championship season that saw quarterback Cam Newton become the third player in school history to win the Heisman Trophy.
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