On Monday, Auburn made the expensive decision to part ways with football coach Bryan Harsin.
Harsin's tenure was nothing short of a disaster for the program, with the former Boise State head coach leading the Tigers to a 9-12 record (4-9 in SEC play) in just 21 games at the helm. But while the decision to fire him was certainly justified, it's not going to come cheap.
The Sporting News look at what Auburn will pay for its latest coaching change:
MORE: Why did Auburn fire Bryan Harsin?
Bryan Harsin contract buyout
When Bryan Harsin signed a six-year, $31.5 million contract back in December 2020, it included a buyout clause amounting to 70% of whatever remained on his deal at the time of firing.
According to Nathan King of 247Sports, that figure is in the neighborhood of $15.3 million with at least half to be paid within 30 days.
To make matters worse, the school still hasn't even finished paying off the contract of Harsin's predecessor, Gus Malzahn.
Malzahn, who spent eight seasons as Auburn's head coach and led them to a national championship game appearance in 2014, had a massive contract buyout of $21.45 million. Half of it was paid within 30 days of his firing, with the other half set to be paid in annual installments of $2.68 million over four years. After some quick math, we can surmise the program still owes Malzahn somewhere in the range of $5-8 million.
All of this means the school will end up paying nearly $40 million over the course of several years to head coaches who aren't even with the program anymore. You don't need to be a math expert to know that's a lot of dead money.
Between Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin, Auburn will have paid around $37 million to buy out two head coaches since 2020 (not including staff).
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 31, 2022
Harsin had nearly the exact same buyout clause as Malzahn. He'll be owed around $15.5m, 50% within 30 days, no offset from another job.
BENDER: Ranking the 10 best candidates to replace Bryan Harsin at Auburn
The Tigers will now embark on their second head coaching search in as many years. This time it looks like it will be led by a new athletic director, with Mississippi State AD John Cohen reportedly set to move across the SEC West to the Plains.
