Bryan Harsin timeline at Auburn: How we got here

The Bryan Harsin experiment at Auburn is finally over. How did we get here?

After less than two very tumultuous years, the Bryan Harsin era at Auburn is over. 

Amid news that John Cohen is set to come over from Mississippi State to Auburn, the word finally came down that Harsin's time on the Plains came to an end.

Between the allegations, the player statements, the coaching staff exodus, player transfers, investigations, the rumors, the transfers and finally the decision ─ how did we get here?

Auburn, Bryan Harsin timeline

Bryan Harsin is out at Auburn

2021 regular season

Sept. 4-11: Auburn starts 2-0 by defeating Akron and Alabama State by a combined 122-10.

Sept. 18: AU, ranked No. 22, loses on the road to No. 10 Penn State, 28-20.

Sept. 26: Harsin fires wide receivers coach Cornelius Williams four games into the season. The coach said AU's receiver play didn't justify Williams' position.

Oct. 2: Auburn defeats LSU on the road for the first time since 1999. Neither of the school's two previous coaches -- Gus Malzahn and Gene Chizik ─ beat the SEC West rival in Death Valley.

Oct. 9: Loses at home to No. 2 Georgia, 34-10.

Oct. 16-30: Auburn wins two straight against ranked SEC West teams ─ No. 17 Arkansas and No. 10 Ole Miss. AU starts 6-2 on the year.

Nov. 2: Auburn opens as No. 13 in first College Football Playoff rankings.

Nov. 13: Blows a 25 point lead to Mississippi State, the largest in Tigers program history. Starting quarterback Bo Nix suffers a season-ending ankle injury. The second of five straight losses.

Nov. 27: Auburn leads rival Alabama for most of regulation in the Iron Bowl. Bama then scores a TD in the last minute of regulation and wins in overtime. The loss is Auburn's third straight after it had a double-digit lead.

Postseason

Nov. 29: Harsin fires first-year offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.

Dec. 12: Bo Nix transfers away from the Auburn program.

Dec. 18: Auburn hires Austin Davis as OC away from Seattle Seahawks.

Dec. 28: AU loses to No. 20 Houston in Birmingham Bowl for first losing season since 2012.

After the 2021 season

Jan. 3: Kobe Hudson, AU's top receiver, says Harsin kicked him off the team. "He from the north I'm from the south he don't understand me," Hudson said on Instagram.

Jan. 7: Defensive line coach Nick Eason leaves Auburn for Clemson. Seven defensive linemen transfer away from the program during the month.

Jan. 26: DC Derek Mason leaves for the same position at Oklahoma State. Mason takes a $400,000 per year pay cut to move schools.

Jan. 31: Davis leaves Auburn after 43 days, citing personal reasons.

Feb. 2: Auburn fails to sign any of its top four prospects on National Signing Day.

Feb. 3: Reports emerge that Auburn is looking into new "volatility" in the football program. Some former players allege that Harsin verbally abused them.

Feb. 4: Harsin, on vacation in Mexico, defends allegations against his character as "bullshit." Reports contend Auburn is interviewing former personnel to look into the state of the program.

Feb. 4: Auburn AD Allen Green talks to players about Harsin and his management of the program.

Feb. 6: Senior center Nick Brahms says he wants to speak with the Auburn board of trustees.

Feb. 10: Harsin attends SEC Coaches Meetings representing Auburn. And then with Auburn officials who were inquiring into the volatility of the football program. That meeting was "benign," according to an ESPN report, and involved "no clarity of next steps" regarding Harsin's position at the school.

Feb. 11: Auburn announced it will keep Bryan Harsin as head football coach for the 2022 season.

2022 season

Sept. 17: Auburn loses at home to No. 22 Penn State in a 41-12 rout, the first loss of Auburn's season, after its offense failed to generate any momentum.

Sept. 24: Auburn defeats Missouri only after a missed field goal from close range forces overtime and Mizzou then fumbled near the goal line.

Oct. 1-29: Auburn loses four straight games, including to a pair of ranked rivals in No. 2 Georgia and No. 9 Ole Miss by a combined 90-44.

Oct. 26: Freshman cornerback A.D. Diamond announced he would enter the transfer portal, meaning that 10 of Auburn’s 18 recruits from Harsin's 2021 recruiting class had elected to move on from the school.

Oct. 31: Reports emerge that Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen told that school he was resigning in order to take the same position at Auburn.

Oct. 31: Auburn fires football coach Bryan Harsin. He finishes with a 9-12 overall record, including a 4-9 mark in SEC games in less than two full seasons. Auburn will owe Harsin $15 million in buyout money, according to reports.

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