HOOVER, Ala. – Making his debut at SEC Media Days, Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin's last words to reporters sounded like his first words to his football team.
"We're here for you," Harsin said, describing the culture he's instilling on the Plains. "The expectations for you are simple: your personal best. Show up, care and repeat. Every single day.
"You're going to do it to the very best of your ability every single day. That's the standard. How do we do that? Discipline. What is discipline? Self-regulation.
"You've got to be able to get up and do things over and over and over to build those habits to be successful. Understand that you want to be great. Here's what it takes.
"What comes with discipline? Toughness. In this game, you'd better be tough physically and mentally. You'd better be able to perform at your very best when the circumstances are against you.
"I don't want you to survive. I want you to thrive in situations where things get really difficult and tough for you.
"The last one is conviction. I want you to believe in yourself. When you wake up, I want you believing in yourself, and I want you believing in what we're doing.
"That's who we are, that's who we'll always be, and those are the things we strive for daily."
In his closing remarks, Harsin also addressed Auburn fans.
"When we go out there and play on Sept. 4, I want our fans and everybody that watches and tunes into our game to see a disciplined team, a tough team, and a team that believes they can win every time they step on the field and every single practice.
"You want to be one of those teams that every single year you're in the hunt for an opportunity to win a national championship. That's been my message with our guys.
"I've won Sunday through Friday, so what am I going to do on Saturday? I'm going to win. That's what everybody wants."
Harsin invited quarterback Bo Nix and linebacker Owen Pappoe to accompany him to SEC Media Days to represent their teammates.
"Those two players have done a great job since I've been here," Harsin said. "They've been leading and doing a tremendous job this summer. Both guys are hard workers, and they deserve the opportunity to be here to represent their team."
Asked about the pressure that comes with coaching in the SEC West, Harsin said that's one of the things that attracted him to Auburn from Boise State.
"As a coach and as a competitor, everything I do, I want to win," he said. "I've always tried to prepare and find ways to win, and every little thing has mattered to me.
"This is why you come to Auburn. This is why you want to be in the SEC. You want to play against the best. You've got the best talent, not just in football but in any sport in the SEC. The best athletes in the world come to the SEC. You've got the best coaches in the SEC.
"If you want to be a part of that, understand what you're getting into and the level that all those coaches take each and every day with every one of those players. Do I understand that? Yes. Do you work every single day to be in that elite group? Yes.
"There have been other opportunities, but not like this. The chance to be in the SEC and to play against the very best, and when you do it at a high level, you have the chance to be the very best as well.
"As a competitor, that was a big draw for me. I'm proud to be at Auburn."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
