Bryan Harsin
Bryan Harsin went 85–36 as a head coach, 2013–2022, at Arkansas State, Boise State and Auburn. Share
- Record
- 85–36 career
- Seasons
- 10
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Nov 1, 1976
- Alma mater
- Boise State
- Best season
- 2014 12–2, No. 16
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Arkansas State | 7–5 | T–1st | GoDaddy (not coached) | ||
| 2014 | Boise State | 12–2 | 1st (Mountain) | Fiesta Bowl W | 16 | |
| 2015 | Boise State | 9–4 | T–2nd (Mountain) | Poinsettia Bowl W | ||
| 2016 | Boise State | 10–3 | T–1st (Mountain) | Cactus Bowl L | ||
| 2017 | Boise State | 11–3 | 1st (Mountain) | Las Vegas Bowl W | 22 | |
| 2018 | Boise State | 10–3 | T–1st (Mountain) | First Responder (not played) | 23 | |
| 2019 | Boise State | 12–2 | 1st (Mountain) | Las Vegas Bowl L | 23 | |
| 2020 | Boise State | 5–2 | 2nd | |||
| 2021 | Auburn | 6–7 | T–6th (Western) | Birmingham Bowl L | ||
| 2022 | Auburn coached eight of 12 games | 3–5 |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 21 | 7–14 | 33% |
| Against top-10 teams | 7 | 1–6 | 14% |
| Against rivals | 17 | 9–8 | 53% |
| Conference games | 73 | 54–19 | 74% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 6 | 3–3 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 37 | 23–14 | 62% |
| At home | 62 | 49–13 | 79% |
| On the road | 51 | 33–18 | 65% |
| At neutral sites | 8 | 3–5 | 38% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 101 | 77–24 | 76% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 20 | 8–12 | 40% |
His own 121 games on file, 2013–2022, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craig Bohl 2014–2020 | 6–1 | Wyoming | 7 | |
| Troy Calhoun 2014–2020 | 4–3 | Air Force | 7 | |
| Bob Davie 2014–2019 | 5–1 | New Mexico | 6 | |
| Mike Bobo 2015–2019 | 5–0 | Colorado State | 5 | |
| Matt Wells 2014–2018 | 4–1 | Utah State | 5 | |
| Kalani Sitake 2016–2020 | 3–2 | BYU | 5 | |
| Jeff Tedford 2017–2018 | 2–2 | Fresno State | 4 | |
| Tony Sanchez 2015–2019 | 3–0 | UNLV | 3 | |
| Gary Andersen 2016–2020 | 3–0 | Oregon State, Utah State | 3 | |
| Nick Rolovich 2016–2019 | 3–0 | Hawai’i | 3 |
Bryan Harsin’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Colorado Stateseries | 7 | 7–0 |
| Utah Stateseries | 7 | 6–1 |
| Wyomingseries | 7 | 6–1 |
| BYUseries | 7 | 4–3 |
| Air Forceseries | 7 | 4–3 |
| New Mexicoseries | 6 | 5–1 |
| Fresno Stateseries | 6 | 4–2 |
| Hawai’iseries | 5 | 5–0 |
How he was hired
- Hired by Auburn for the 2021 season from Boise State, where he was head coach.
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Eastern Oregon | Running backs and wide receivers coach | |
| 2001 | Boise State | Graduate assistant | |
| 2002–05 | Boise State | Tight ends coach | |
| 2006–10 | Boise State | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2011–12 | Texas | Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2013 | Arkansas State | Head coach | |
| 2014–20 | Boise State | Head coach | |
| 2021–22 | Auburn | Head coach | |
| 2025 | California | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Dan HawkinsBoise State
- Chris PetersenBoise State
- Mack BrownTexas
- Nick RolovichCalifornia
- Justin WilcoxCalifornia
Assistants who became head coaches
- Eli DrinkwitzApp State, Missouri
- John ThompsonEast Carolina, Arkansas State
- Lee MarksFresno State
- Andy AvalosBoise State
- Mike Sanford Jr.Western Kentucky, Colorado
- Eric KiesauFresno State
- Spencer DanielsonBoise State
- Cadillac WilliamsAuburn
- Derek MasonVanderbilt, Middle Tennessee
- Mike BoboColorado State, South Carolina
Worked under (5)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Hawkins | Boise State | 2001–05 | 2001: graduate assistant; 2002–05: tight ends coach | |
| Chris Petersen | Boise State | 2006–10 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Mack Brown | Texas | 2011–12 | Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Nick Rolovich | California | 2025 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Justin Wilcox | California | 2025 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (10)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eli Drinkwitz | Arkansas State, 2013: co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach; Boise State, 2014: tight ends coach; 2015: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | App State, Missouri | |
| John Thompson | Arkansas State, 2013: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | East Carolina, Arkansas State | |
| Lee Marks | Arkansas State, 2013: assistant strength and conditioning coach; Boise State, 2014: assistant strength and conditioning coach; 2015–18: running backs coach; 2019: special teams and running backs coach | Fresno State | |
| Andy Avalos | Boise State, 2014–15: linebackers coach; 2016–18: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Boise State | |
| Mike Sanford Jr. | Boise State, 2014: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Western Kentucky, Colorado | |
| Eric Kiesau | Boise State, 2017–18: wide receivers coach; 2019: co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach; 2020: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Auburn, 2021: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach; 2022: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Fresno State | |
| Spencer Danielson | Boise State, 2017: graduate assistant; 2018: defensive ends coach; 2019–20: co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | Boise State | |
| Cadillac Williams | Auburn, 2021–22: running backs coach | Auburn | |
| Derek Mason | Auburn, 2021: defensive coordinator | Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee | |
| Mike Bobo | Auburn, 2021: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Colorado State, South Carolina |
Other assistants under him (17)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Anthony Tucker | Arkansas State, 2013: wide receivers coach | |
| Blake Baker | Arkansas State, 2013: safeties coach | |
| Bush Hamdan | Arkansas State, 2013: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Colin Hitschler | Arkansas State, 2013: graduate assistant | |
| Eliah Drinkwitz | Arkansas State, 2013: co-offensive coordinator; Boise State, 2015: offensive coordinator | |
| Joel Filani | Boise State, 2014: graduate assistant | |
| Junior Adams | Boise State, 2014–16: wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator | |
| Marcel Yates | Boise State, 2014–15: defensive coordinator | |
| Nate Potter | Boise State, 2014: offensive quality control coach; 2015–17: graduate assistant | |
| Matt Miller | Boise State, 2015: offensive quality control coach; 2020: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Scott Huff | Boise State, 2016: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Zak Hill | Boise State, 2016: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2017–19: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Jeff Schmedding | Boise State, 2019–20: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; Auburn, 2021: linebackers coach; 2022: defensive coordinator | |
| Juston Wood | Boise State, 2019: offensive quality control | |
| Zac Alley | Boise State, 2019: inside linebackers coach; 2020: outside linebackers and co-special teams coach | |
| Nick Eason | Auburn, 2021: defensive line coach | |
| Ike Hilliard | Auburn, 2022: wide receivers coach and interim co-offensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Boise State | head coachbonuses up to $475,000; $55,000 in bonuses paid; buyout $7,366,925 | $1,550,004 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Boise State | head coachbonuses up to $400,000; $85,000 in bonuses paid | $1,300,004 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Boise State | head coachbonuses up to $400,000; $182,875 in bonuses paid | $1,100,004 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Boise State | head coachbonuses up to $400,000 | $1,000,004 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Harsin’s teams went for it on 20% of fourth downs and on 34% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 49% of plays and took 24.4 seconds a play, 2013–2021.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 13 g | Arkansas State | 20 of 102 20% | 35% | 40% | 20.6 | +0.06 | |
| 2014 14 g | Boise State | 21 of 107 20% | 33% | 45% | 24.3 | +0.09 | |
| 2015 13 g | Boise State | 26 of 108 24% | 35% | 52% | 22.4 | +0.03 | |
| 2016 13 g | Boise State | 17 of 78 22% | 35% | 47% | 23.9 | +0.12 | |
| 2017 14 g | Boise State | 17 of 103 17% | 31% | 49% | 26.6 | +0.05 | |
| 2018 13 g | Boise State | 22 of 89 25% | 34% | 50% | 25.8 | +0.12 | |
| 2019 14 g | Boise State | 17 of 91 19% | 31% | 50% | 25.6 | +0.11 | |
| 2020 7 g | Boise State | 7 of 50 14% | 19% | 53% | 26.9 | +0.05 | |
| 2021 13 g | Auburn | 23 of 106 22% | 43% | 53% | 24.7 | +0.06 | |
| All 114 g | 170 of 834 20% | 34% | 49% | 24.4 | +0.08 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.