AUBURN | In many ways Bryan Harsin is rebuilding Auburn’s football program from the ground up.

Now, he can’t just replace 70 or so scholarship players, that’s not how college football works. But he’s hired 10 on-field assistants, a head strength and conditioning coach and four of his assistant, and a big group of off-field analysts with more expected in the coming days and weeks.

As for the players, Harsin's spent a good bit of his first 52 days as the Tigers’ head coach getting to know them along with the many administrators and employees within the athletic department.

“Especially at a place like Auburn you want to get to know what is it that makes this program special,” Harsin explained. “What are some of the things we want to be aware of as we start to put together this staff that are important to this program and the beliefs we have here’? That started with the creed and I started with that.

“Finding people with ability in all phases that fit with what it is we’re trying to accomplish. That goes for coaches and players. I really believe that. You want to do it right. You want to do it right the first time.”

The Auburn Creed, written by former AU historian, professor and first football coach Georgie Petrie in 1943, clearly made a profound impression on Harsin. He listed the verses in a series of Tweets on Jan. 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 13th. He followed that up by quoting former AU coach Pat Dye on Jan. 14: “I don’t believe in miracles. I believe in character,” Harsin tweeted.

Understanding Auburn’s history is allowing Harsin to build its future.

“Really making sure that I had a better understanding of what the expectations are here so we create a unified vision for what we want to accomplish,” said Harsin, “and then finding the people and players that are going to fit that.”

Harsin’s vision for Auburn is to consistently compete for and win championships. And building AU’s program the right way takes priority over doing it fast.

“We want to have guys that are here that are first class,” he said. “We want to have high integrity in this program. We want to have academic excellence in this program. You start with a goal and vision and you go find those people that fit within that goal and that vision.

“You find great people. That takes time. A lot of times there are staff changes and transitions and there is a sense of urgency in everything you do, but at the same time you want to make sure you get to know people, not just the people that are new but the people that are already there and the people that are on campus.”

Auburn began winter workouts Jan. 25 and will start spring practice in mid March.