Well, if I were Bryan Harsin and had never coached a day in my life in the SEC, I would be trying to find a few folks to add to my staff who had.
And according to FootballScoop, that’s exactly what he’s doing.
Sources tell FootballScoop Bryan Harsin is seeking to bring South Carolina offensive coordinator Mike Bobo in for the Auburn offensive coordinator position.
Bobo was retained by new Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer, and just two days ago had a new 2-year deal worth $1.2 million annually approved by the board of trustees, but sources tell FootballScoop that Auburn is seeking to hire Bobo for the offensive coordinator position on Bryan Harsin’s new staff.
Former Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason, who rose to acclaim as defensive coordinator at Stanford, is expected to become Bryan Harsin’s defensive coordinator at Auburn University, multiple sources confirmed Wednesday night to FootballScoop. The hiring, pending background checks and final authorizations, is expected to be complete this week.
From my selfish perspective, I’m okay with both of those. Sure, it’ll be a little weird seeing Bobo in orange and blue, but it’ll mean that South Carolina, which is apparently on a budget, is going to have to scramble to find another coordinator. (I reserve my right to change my mind if Bobo can actually coax a decent quarterback out of Bo Nix, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.)
As for Mason, he was gonna go somewhere in the conference. Better Auburn, where he’ll replace a very good DC in what should be little more than a break even proposition, than, say, Florida (I know) or LSU, where he’d be a major upgrade.
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UPDATE: Will Friend, too.
Get The Picture 
I just hate Auburn so much I hope Bobo doesn’t end up there, because despite some faults, I think Bobo is a pretty good coach.
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And a damned good recruiter.
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And top notch QB evaluator. Only Bobo could see the gem Ramsey was over Watson.
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I know the snark feels good, hoss, but check out Ramsey’s offer sheet sometime.
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I did at one time and held on to that as I whistled past the graveyard that was the Georgia QB room in January 2015.
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yep…Bama wanted him.
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As long as other programs poorly evaluate recruits it’s fine for coaches at Georgia to do the same.
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Not what I said, but I suspect you know that.
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It’s the premise of this argument as far as I can tell.
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No, I was responding to his use of the word “only”.
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I’ll take the eye test any day over offer sheets.
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Yep. Assuming Harsin lasts long enough, I think Bobo could do some damage there. I hope he stays at Sackerlina.
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I am going to say this about Bobo.
Yes, he is a good coach, and has been a good recruiter. But his health problems HAVE taken a toll on him. He will not be the recruiter now that he might have been 10 years ago. He will get some players sure, but should not be horribly feared.
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yep…broke some records at UGA, as an OC and player.
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Does this mean Derek mason was/has been “Mullened”….
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Hate to say it, but based on those judgments I like the cut of Harsin’s jib.
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A well coached Nix would in fact be dangerous. Bobo knows quarterbacks.
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Bobo knew QBs until Aaron Murray left the building. He absolutely blew the recruiting and development of every Georgia QB after Mason. He’s the reason we had to go get Greyson Lambert. While I think he was an excellent coordinator at the end of his time in Athens, I’ll never forget that he’s the reason Deshaun Watson wasn’t a Dawg.
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Believe what you want but that’s objectively incorrect.
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Did one of his recruits after Aaron Murray (other than Mason) play significant time at UGA? No.
Did Bobo offer Watson early enough to sign him? No.
Did Georgia have a starting QB ready when Mason graduated and Bobo left? No.
Did Richt and Schitty have to go find a transfer to compete for the job? Yes.
Objectively that falls at the feet of the head coach and the OC.
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Your analysis is that Bobo can’t develop a quarterback because he developed QB’s consistently until he left, but Watson went to Clemson, which is patently absurd.
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No, my point is the QB room didn’t have a starter ready to replace Hutson Mason. If you believe that’s not the OC and QB coaches’ fault, then you misunderstand what I’m saying.
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Who gives a damn about how Bobo left the QB room at Georgia like 7 years ago? I couldn’t care any less whose fault that was in the year 2021, but of course the OC /QB coach is at least partly responsible for recruiting QB’s. Do you think that’s some sort of brilliant revelation? Some new hot take nobody had considered before today?
I’m talking about Bobo the developer, not the recruiter. Bobo’s about to be working to develop an extremely talented and to this point completely mishandled Bo Nix who plays for a rival, and he’s damn good at that.
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I guess my question is who exactly has he developed since Hutson Mason. If he had a run of great QBs at CSU, he would still be there or would have moved on to a Power 5 head coaching job.
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You say this every time the subject comes up, but I have yet to see a quote from Deshaun Watson to the effect of, “but for Mike Bobo, I would’ve gone to Georgia….” There are dozens of reasons why a school recruits a player (or not), and dozens of reasons why a player chooses a school (or not), and we as the general public are privy to precious few of them (and most of the ones we do get are probably BS anyway)…
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Watson has said multiple times that he chose Clemson because they offered him early on in his recruiting process (as a 9th grader, IIRC) and stayed on him. Bobo and Richt didn’t offer Watson until his junior year and that was too late. Watson had already built a strong bond with the Clemson coaches.
I think it has nothing to do with Bobo per se, more of how we recruited at that time. Offering scholarships to bonafide star recruits at a young age was becoming the norm, and UGA was behind that curve.
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Yeah, I just can’t get too worked up about us losing a kid because we didn’t offer him a scholarship when he was a freshman in high school…
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Be that as it may, that us nothing to do with Bobo’s ability to develop quarterbacks. He’s good at it.
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Some of the folks from Gainesville made it clear that Bobo and Richt waited too long to offer Watson. By that time, he had developed relationships with Swinney and Morris. The bottom line is the QB room Bobo left didn’t have one guy who was a contributor going forward leading to the recruitment of Lambert and the eventual disaster of using Bauta against Florida.
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Right, well Nix is already on campus.
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https://www.dawgnation.com/football/look-old-deshaun-watson-tweet-calls-mike-bobo-thinking-watson-wasnt-good-enough-play-georgia
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Sort of. I’ll give him a C.
JTIII
Joe Cox
Hutson Mason
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Mason being the DC at Auburn concerns me. Great defensive coach and he will finally be able to recruit good players unlike his time at Vandy. Bobo to Auburn I just don’t see. I think he hates them as much as we do. Unless they can pad his pay with at least $500 K more I don’t see him leaving, but I could be wrong.
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I totally agree…it seems like ancient history, but when Mason was a dc, Stanford was in all the national title discussions…plus he comes across as such a relatable coach…I could see him as a potential recruiting nightmare…btw Auburn sucks
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Same here, much more concerned about Mason going there than Bobo.
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Just out of curiosity why do you think he’s such a good recruiter. At Vandy he never finished higher than 12th in the SEC in recruiting and he didn’t have a reputation as a great recruiter at Stanford.
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You “CAN’T” recruit at Vandy because they won’t lower their academic requirements down to football level.
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What about Stanford?
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Let’s not forget that where Bobo goes, so goes 5 star Gunnar Stockton.
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Don’t be so sure about that given the Shaw connections
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He’s gonna weigh 240 by the time he takes a kneel-down snap as a sophomore.
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One SEC school I wouldn’t work for is AU. F’em.
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Is Friend taking another pay cut to move to aubie? If his goal is to be an assistant at every sec school before he reaches 50, he’s making good progress.
Assuming Bobo and Friend require buyouts, its just amazing the amount of money aubie is throwing around. Gus & staff buyouts, Harsin’s hires, and buyouts for staff poached from other programs.
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My thought was Friend must be one of the two or three best OL coaches in America. carolina has to pay ut a buy out for Friend then au has to pay carolina a buy out not a month later for his buy out.
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It doesn’t matter who Auburn hires. The Dawgs will continue to beat their ass like the red headed stepchild they are. Low rent, cheap shot, trashy cheaters. And you’re absolutely correct, frozendawg. Auburn sucks.
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#AUBURN SUCKS!
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If Bobo wants to make Auburn’s offense more “under center” like he did at SC, I’m ok with that. Bobo will always be a DGD in my book but he doesn’t strike me as an OC at the vanguard of modern SEC offense.
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Which makes you wonder, are these sexy enough hires for the Barners? (Not that I give a shit) I know they are objectively all solid coaches, but they’re also the usual suspects within the SEC without much recent success to point to.
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Didn’t have time to read all of the comments but when did Bobo come into the new world that is SEC Offenses? He was always a pro-style OB and coach but that was the old Pro-style. Now it’s light them up on offense. Bobo is scarier as a recruiter than a position coach. The whole of west and south GA will again be Auburns fertile fields for recruits.
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It’s amazing to me how polarizing Bobo is for some folks here. I knew him in school at UGA, didn’t care for him personallly through some interactions we had, but cheered hard for him on the field. Also thought he did a great job for the majority of his time coaching at UGA. He left (what?) 7 years ago and some fans still have their feelings hurt about some of his choices. Hard to understand that life is long enough for some to hold onto that stuff. My $.02.
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