With Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher throwing jabs at each other like George Foreman and Muhammad Ali in 1974 Zaire and Greg Sankey trying to control his two children by merely slapping them on the wrist and threatening to take away their ice cream, there is one man (other than Lane Kiffin) who must be smiling and enjoying the entire thing: Bryan Harsin.
Until this spat between two coaches spouted up like the groundhog in Caddyshack, the biggest offseason story had been the power brokers and others at Auburn trying to rid Harsin of his job duties as the Tigers head football coach after one season. It was a rogue attempt that backfired as Harsin refused to back down, not even returning from his vacation in the midst of it all in February to meet with anyone. It was a bad look for Auburn and would have been the focus of SEC Media Days.
That's no longer the case. It's not even close. This war of words between two national title winners has taken college football by storm. Upon hearing my phone conversation, my Uber driver here in Lexington put it together that I was a sports writer and asked me to spill the tea on the whole controversy.
And guess who appears the same day as the embattled Harsin in Atlanta on Thursday, July 21? Jimbo and his motormouth that runs at 90 mph with each despicable and narcissist highlighted by a man that … well, I wouldn't say has always run the cleanest of programs. If the Auburn coach was going to be the star of the show that day, he might be almost forgotten once the A&M leader enters the ballroom. The exodus from the room where Harsin is answering questions at that moment will imitate a fire drill, with Fisher the only one in danger of roasting.
Of course, it is SEC football; therefore, a bigger story could come around at any second, but that isn't very likely considering the status of Saban and Fisher in the game. Although they used to work together, these are two heavyweights that now despise the other. It will make for an interesting pregame meeting on October 8 in Tuscaloosa.
Yet we might get more fireworks between the two before we even reach July as the SEC Coaches Meetings take place in Destin the week after Memorial Day. Tensions could be at an all-time high if the two meet in the lobby surrounded by their security. Chances are, they will exchange pleasantries and try to make nice, but oh boy, if one of them cracks, we might see another replay of what happened on Wednesday night/Thursday morning.
Coming out of this looking fresh and clean is Harsin, who only posted a tweet of Jordan-Hare Stadium rocking today, not commenting on the controversy. But, of course, it would be a mistake if he had because as long as he stays quiet, his two comrades in the division will continue to dig a grave so deep that not even the mightiest booster at either school could fill it with cash.
It's the break Harsin needed, or you could argue deserved, after the coup that never came to fruition in February. It's setting up to be an easier day than he could have imagined considering all that has gone on in the last seven months, starting with the five-game losing streak to end the season. With all the attention paid to Fisher and his insistence that maybe someone should slap Saban upside the head, the treacherous waters once awaiting Harsin will be a bit smoother.
If that doesn't deserve a thank you note, I don't know what does.
