When you’re watching Auburn practice you can always find Bryan Harsin right in the thick of it. Not standing around watching, but participating in practice.

Sometimes he’s one of the guys throwing to wide receivers during a drill. At other times the former quarterback is helping Bo Nix and the other Auburn quarterbacks with fundamentals. Or he’s over with the defense working in press coverage with the cornerbacks.

For Harsin, it’s all about his passion for the game.

“Hey, man, I love football. I love football. And I learn every day,” Harsin said. “When I'm on the defensive side, I'm all about tackling. I know schemes, and I see it from a different perspective on the offensive side. If I can help and provide just maybe what the offensive side might be thinking about that particular coverage or technique, or how much of a problem that can be... I'll provide information.”

While he was spotted with the receivers during a media viewing window, Harsin says he also spent part of the practice with cornerbacks coach Zac Etheridge and tried to help them out while picking some things up.

“But I love just listening to coaches coach,” Harsin said. “I love to hear the players communicate out there and see the techniques… I want to be around it. That's our team. That's the one thing about being a head coach, getting to go out there and be on every side with every group. Then you pick the winners, right? The defense is winning, I want to go hang out with them. The offense is winning, I want to go hang out with them. Special teams, I want to be with those guys. That's the fun part about being the head coach, you get to cheer for each side.”

Harsin joked that he liked to hang out with the winners of practice, but also emphasized that correcting the mistakes and helping the losing side out is a big part of it, too.

“I enjoy seeing those guys work and being there and just try to pick them up, help them out, encourage them, re-emphasize whatever the coach is saying. At the same time, too, when it's not going well, let them know that we've got to fix this,” Harsin said. “One thing that we're learning right now is that we know that there's going to be mistakes and things we have to correct. But what I hope these guys understand is, once they recognize whatever it is they need to do better, they're able to just move towards improving and making that decision to intentionally get better at whatever it is that they can improve on. That's why I bounce around. I enjoy that.”

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