If Bryan Harsin is going to throw it all away because he refuses to get the vaccine then he wasn’t the guy for Auburn anyway.
There have been some great days for Auburn football recently, but Monday was not among them. The Tigers play the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium, and we’re fairly confident that Harsin will be on the sidelines instead of in the unemployment line. Come Dec. 8 … who knows?
With his university now requiring employees to be vaccinated or face termination, Harsin once again refused to show the world his vaccination card on Monday afternoon during a news conference. It’s baffling behavior for someone in Harsin’s position, but it shouldn’t be this complicated. Why isn’t Harsin being transparent about his vaccine status? He needs to be because that’s what this lofty perch of leadership entrusted to him by a public university demands. We know he tested positive for COVID-19 around Aug.19, so if he was treated with plasma or antibodies then he’ll be eligible for a vaccine in time to meet Auburn’s Dec. 8 mandate.
Or maybe he’ll be fired.
What a nightmare hire for Auburn this coach would be if Auburn’s boosters spent all that money buying out Gus Malzahn to blow it all on a guy who refuses vaccines. Harsin was asked straight up if he was vaccinated, and if not then when. He ducked the question. The red flags are flying, folks.
“I appreciate you have to ask the question and understand it, but it doesn’t change — I mean, the executive order, all those things, it doesn’t change the fact I’m not going to discuss any individual’s decision or status on the vaccine or anyone else’s, including my own, like I said before.
“From the beginning I think I’ve made it clear that wasn’t something I was going to talk about, or discuss. I wasn’t going to go down that road, and don’t feel like right now that is any different. I’m focused on Ole Miss.”
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The only thing we really know for certain is that nothing Harsin has said about vaccines has made any sense and has the clarity of chilled squirrel-brain soup.
At the same time Harsin was mealy-mouthing his way through non-answers, coincidentally, Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement further politicizing vaccines and selfishly endangering public health.
But also maybe throwing some cover to Auburn’s football coach.
From Gov. Ivey’s statement: “The federal government’s outrageous overreach has simply given us no other option, but to begin taking action, which is why I am issuing this executive order to fight these egregious COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
“Alabamians — and Americans alike — should and must have the choice to roll up their sleeves to get this shot and certainly not forced by government. While President Biden laughs at the idea of protecting your freedoms, I will continue fighting for Alabama businesses and their employees.”
If you take away anything of value from this column, then please let it be this. Understand that Alabama schools require proof of immunization for many diseases, and this latest plague of the earth, COVID-19, should be no different, but that’s not how politicians win votes these days. Let’s not forget that Gov. Ivey once wore blackface while at Auburn, but recently signed into law legislation banning “critical race theory.” It’s all so sad and pathetic, these games people play with the good people of this state.
Gov. Ivey promised that COVID-19 mandates were going to be challenged in court. Good luck with that. Something tells me no one wants measles or mumps making a comeback so Gov. Ivey can score political points.
As for Auburn changing course after Ivey’s announcement about an executive order, that’s likely not happening. The university relies on federal money to operate, and has a duty to the state of Alabama to actually serve the best interests of the people. As for state politicians, the standards of service are obviously not the same.
Thousands and thousands of people in the state of Alabama have died from COVID-19, and every person in the state, the country and the world has been affected by this disease and its ongoing pandemic. Every person needs to do their part. Charles Barkley said it best. The vaccine isn’t about the individual. It’s about protecting everyone around them. It’s about all of us.
At some point, amid all the toxic sludge that people in the state of Alabama are forced to ingest because of the cowards, crooks and conmen in charge, someone with Barkley’s backbone needs to stand up. Hopefully it will be Harsin, who could always come out in support of vaccines after confusing the message. At this point, it seems more likely that he’ll just be fired if he’s not vaccinated.
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These are not moments of strength for the proud Auburn Tigers, or the first-year coach who is trying to persuade recruits to play for his team instead of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Clemson and all the rest. Harsin, who is from Boise, Idaho, has his selling points, and the two road wins against SEC West foes are positive steps. Unfortunately for Harsin and Auburn, though, transparency and truthfulness on vaccines are not among his strengths, and so that’s not a great sign here in the early going of his time among the Plainsmen.
There is already a precedent for a college coach being fired over vaccines. Washington State coach Nick Rolovich was dismissed last week after refusing to be vaccinated before that university’s deadline. Harsin doesn’t need to play this thing out any longer and turn Auburn into a national embarrassment.
Alabama coach Nick Saban has done PSAs encouraging vaccines. Auburn quarterback Bo Nix has done them, too. Auburn’s coach refused to promote vaccination, and now it looks like he’s willing to put the future of Auburn football in danger for his own pride or personal convictions.
Vaccinated or not, it’s unacceptable that he would rather evade questions than answer honestly in public when a simple explanation might save Auburn so much shame, and, more importantly, probably help save lives in Alabama, too.
Who really knows how long Harsin is even going to be at Auburn now that his employer is requiring all of its employees to have fully formed antibodies from the COVID-19 vaccine by Dec. 8? Definitely not the recruits.
Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr. His first book, “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team’”, will be released on Nov.9.
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