From Boise, Idaho, Harsin is a graduate of Boise's Capital High School, and a former quarterback at Boise State. He was the first alumnus of Boise State to serve as the Broncos head football coach.
In 2001, he returned to Boise State as a graduate assistant under first year coach Dan Hawkins.[7] Harsin was hired as tight ends coach in 2002 and remained in that position through 2005.[8] During this period the Broncos led the nation in scoring twice and remained in the top 10 scoring offenses all four years. In 2005, four Broncos tight ends combined to catch 27 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns.
When Hawkins left BSU for Colorado, offensive coordinator Chris Petersen was promoted to head coach for the 2006 season. Harsin was moved up to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and guided the Broncos offense to an undefeated season. Running back Ian Johnson rushed for 1,713 yards and led the nation in rushing touchdowns and scoring. In 2008, Kellen Moore took over the quarterback position and under Harsin's guidance earned WAC Freshman of the Year honors, completing an NCAA freshman record 69.4 completion percentage (281–405) with 25 touchdown passes and only 10 interceptions.
During Harsin's tenure as offensive coordinator, Boise State posted a 61–5 (.924) record, which included two undefeated seasons and two Fiesta Bowl victories, over Oklahoma (2007) and TCU (2010).
Harsin became the 29th head coach at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro on December 12, 2012, succeeding Gus Malzahn, who left for Auburn after just one season.[11] Because Malzahn and his predecessor Hugh Freeze left after just one season in Jonesboro, Harsin's contract at Arkansas State included a $1.75 million buyout clause.[12]
Harsin returned to Boise State as head coach on December 11, 2013. He replaced his mentor Petersen, who left for the University of Washington in Seattle.[16] In his first season at the helm, he led his team to a win at the Mountain West Championship against Fresno State 28–14, and earned a spot in the Fiesta Bowl against Arizona. The Broncos won the Fiesta Bowl 38–30, and Harsin won 12 games in his first season.[17][18] Harsin led the Broncos to 10+ wins in 5 out of his 7 seasons.
Auburn
Harsin was hired on December 22, 2020, as the 27th head coach of the Auburn Tigers, taking over after the termination of Gus Malzahn.[19] His salary was $5.25 million.[20] In his inaugural season with the Tigers, Harsin went 6–7, the team's worst record since 2012.[21][22][23] Despite the losing record, the season saw ranked victories over Arkansas and Ole Miss to go along with a narrow 24–22 4OT loss to #3 Alabama.[24][25][26] Following the season, Harsin fired offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and hired former Seattle Seahawks quarterback coach, Austin Davis, to replace Bobo before losing Davis just six weeks later for personal reasons.[27][28][29] Harsin also lost defensive coordinator Derek Mason to Oklahoma State where Mason took the same role for less money.[30] In addition to the coordinatoring changeovers, 31 players left the program including starting quarterback Bo Nix who described his time under Harsin as "miserable".[31][32][33]
Following the loss of players and coaches, as well as rumors that began circulating in February 2022, Auburn began to collect information to understand any issues surrounding the football program.[34] Harsin told ESPN that "I'm not planning on going anywhere".[31] Multiple players, current and former, came out in opposition to Harsin with one former player stating that Harsin "treated us like dogs".[34][35] In the end, Auburn decided to retain Harsin as head coach.[36] Harsin would later, in July 2022, describe the situation this way: "There was an inquiry. It was uncomfortable. It was unfounded. It presented an opportunity for people to personally attack me, my family and also our program. And it didn't work."[37] Harsin's recruiting also came under significant criticism during his tenure at Auburn, signing the worst two recruiting classes in program history by a wide margin, with the coaches of many of the top high school programs in Alabama stating that they had never met Harsin and that he was "absent on the recruiting trail".[38][39]
Harsin was fired as Auburn's head coach on Monday, October 31, 2022, following a 3–5 start to the season.[40] He finished with a 9–12 record and recorded the lowest winning percentage for a non-interim head coach at Auburn since Earl Brown (1948–1950).[41]
