Bryan Harsin buyout: How much money Auburn owes after firing football coach

Bryan Harsin is out at Auburn after a ton of drama and not many wins to show for it: now Auburn has to open the checkbook

Auburn has pulled the plug on Bryan Harsin, firing the embattled football coach after less than two seasons on the job following sluggish performance on the football field and on the recruiting trail.

Harsin walks away from Auburn with a meager 9-12 overall record as coach, including a 4-9 mark in SEC competition.

And he'll leave the job a richer man than when he took it.

Bryan Harsin buyout: What Auburn owes him

Auburn will now have to pay Bryan Harsin more than $15.3 million in total money for being fired without cause, according to multiple reports.

That amount is calculated as being 70 percent of the remaining amount on Harsin's contract.

And half of that amount is due to the coach within the next 30 days, followed by four annual payments for the remaining balance.

That's in addition to the school still paying off a buyout of $21.5 million from when it fired coach Gus Malzahn.

Between Harsin and Malzahn, that means Auburn will be paying almost $37 million to a pair of coaches to not coach its football team.

Related: Bryan Harsin timeline at Auburn: How we got here

Auburn's first season under Harsin ended with a five-game losing streak and a 6-7 record that included a loss to Houston in the Birmingham Bowl.

Then came a tidal wave of offseason drama.

Multiple assistant coaches left the program, including defensive coordinator Derek Mason, who took a pay cut to serve the same role at Oklahoma State.

More than 20 players transferred out of the Auburn program and, though the school added 17 recruits in the Early Signing Period, it didn't sign a single player on National Signing Day.

Powerful boosters within the Auburn program who had opposed Harsin's addition since the beginning attempted to oust the coach during the 2022 offseason, but he was able to retain the position.

Some former players alleged Harsin had verbally abused them and the school investigated what they deemed was alleged "volatility" in the football program.

Auburn opened the 2022 football season with two straight wins against overmatched competition, but suffered an ugly 41-12 loss to Penn State at home and then lost four of its next five games, including four straight, with losses to ranked rivals Ole Miss and Georgia, allowing 40 points in three of those matchups.

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