Harsin on Kiesau: ‘A very good teacher’
AUBURN | Eric Kiesau has already hit the ground running.
Auburn’s new wide receivers coach, who was elevated from an analyst role shortly after the firing of Cornelius Williams, put the wideouts through a short practice Sunday and participated in the formation of a gameplan for Saturday night’s showdown at LSU.
“You’ve got sacrifice a lot and you’ve got to spend a tremendous amount of time in order to have yourself physically ready to play, mentally ready to play every single day. I think Coach Kiesau brings that to the table,” said Auburn coach Bryan Harsin. “He understands that. He’s always done a very good job since I’ve been with him, as far as having his guys and having himself prepared and ready and knowing also just what it is we’re trying to accomplish on the offensive side.
“I think he’s a competitor. I think he’s very driven and motivated for the job that he does, and so that brings something to our staff as well that can help, not only just our players but our staff moving forward on the offensive side, I feel like, is going to be a positive for us as we continue this season.”
Kiesau followed Harsin from Boise State where he was wide receivers coach from 2017-18, wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator in 2019 and quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator in 2020. He was hired as an offensive analyst at AU earlier this year.
The 48-year old Kiesau has previous coaching stops at Utah State, California, Colorado, Washington, Kansas, Alabama and Fresno State. He served as interim head coach at Fresno for the final four games of the 2016 season.
He’ll be taking over a wide receiver position that has struggled to produce big plays and has combined for six touchdown receptions in four games. In Saturday’s 34-24 comeback win over Georgia State, only two of the seven wideouts that played had a PFF offensive grade above 60.
“One of the things, he’s a very good teacher,” said Harsin. “He understands what we want to do. He understands how we want to do it and why we’re doing what we’re doing. He brings that experience and a level of teaching that I feel like can improve our room and help those guys understand what it is they’re trying to accomplish every play.
“I think he’s a good technician. He’s a very good coach. He’s very detailed. That would be one thing I would describe him as, he’s a very detailed coach. He has a plan. He has a vision. He has things I know we’ll do at the wide receiver position that will help us improve.”
Kickoff at Tiger Stadium is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT on ESPN.