Auburn’s head football coach Bryan Harsin is coming to an end in the next few days. Harsin will gear up for his second season on the Plains next Monday when the Tigers rally in Jordan-Hare for the first time since the April 9 A-Day game.
Harsin will address the team on Monday, followed by a film session. New NCAA regulations allow for eight hours of practice/practice when Harsin and the coaching staff can attend. Players can train alone and without a coach at any time. As a bonus of the new rules, the Tigers are allowed two hours of practice with a soccer ball on the field each week.
Players cannot wear helmets or pads. There must also be no contact during the exercises. But there’s an opportunity for Harsin, who has hired new offensive (Eric Kiesau) and defensive (Jeff Schmedding) coordinators, to ramp up the plans.
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“Well, now you can use a ball,” Harsin told AL.Com Tuesday after speaking at an event for the Columbus, GA, Phenix City alumni club. But many of those hours involve your training and conditioning. And you have up to a few hours to film and then work with your players on the field, which is a bit new this year.
Some weeks the Tigers spend two hours on the field, six hours in conditioning/weightlifting, and two hours in movies. Or they could focus more time on cardio and weightlifting depending on their plan for the week.
“It goes back and forth as to what we want to get done that week and if we want to maximize the two hours we can or we can spend extra time focusing on the weight room and conditioning piece, which is crucial during that time Meaning is year,” said Harsin. We don’t want to miss the opportunity to train.”
Seeing shot practice is more important for Harsin as the Tigers have a four-person battle for the starting quarterback slot. TJ Finley, Texas A&M transfer Zac Calzada, Oregon transfer Robby Ashford and freshman Holden Geriner could win the QB role.
“We played a lot of football in the spring so we’ll get some of that in June, but we want to maximize training,” Harsin said. There will be weeks when we use the total of two hours to train on the field, but let’s not forget the weightlifting and conditioning.”
Auburn starts the season September 3 at Jordan-Hare vs. Mercer.
Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for the Alabama Media Group.
