Harsin fits the mold for Red Wolves

Bryan Harsin, introduced Wednesday as the new head football coach at Arkansas State, comes to the Red Wolves from Texas, where he spent two years as the co-offensive coordinator. He will be the third coach for Arkansas State in three seasons when the season opens next year. Harsin said he will not be involved in coaching Texas when it faces Oregon State in the Alamo Bowl.
Bryan Harsin, introduced Wednesday as the new head football coach at Arkansas State, comes to the Red Wolves from Texas, where he spent two years as the co-offensive coordinator. He will be the third coach for Arkansas State in three seasons when the season opens next year. Harsin said he will not be involved in coaching Texas when it faces Oregon State in the Alamo Bowl.

— It took less than 10 minutes Tuesday for Bryan Harsin to convince the search committee he was the right choice to replace Gus Malzahn as Arkansas State’s head football coach.

The co-offensive coordinator from the University of Texas called on his history as a walk-on quarterback at Boise State in the late 1990s during a period of constant coaching turnover at a school now considered one of the nation’s elite mid-major programs. The memories resonated with ASU officials, who were hunting for their third coach in three seasons.

“He played for three coaches and talked about how they built that system and the lean days and what it took to get through that,” ASU System President Charles Welch said. “It was as if he was describing Arkansas State at this moment in time.”

Harsin, 35, was introduced Wednesday as the Red Wolves’ 29th head coach, and ASU officials said they hope he can blend lessons gleaned from a decade of building a sturdy program as an assistant coach at Boise State and two seasons serving as Texas’ chief play-caller.

Harsin said he understands he was given a five-year, $3.5 million contract to follow the same template he picked up as a tight ends coach and offensive coordinator at Boise State under Dirk Koetter, Dan Hawkins and Chris Petersen.

“I understand the blueprint that we used there, and that’s been part of my fabric and my growing as a coach,” said Harsin, who served as offensive coordinator at Boise State in 2006-2010. “One of the reasons I was a candidate for this opportunity has a lot to do with that.”

ASU Athletic Director Terry Mohajir, Welch and ASU Chancellor Tim Hudson flew to Austin, Texas, on a private plane Tuesday for a meeting with Harsin. Mohajir laid out his vision for a program coming off backto-back Sun Belt Conference titles, plans for a $22 million practice and operations facility, and talked about devoting more money to salaries for assistant coaches.

The pitch sold Harsin, who earned $675,000 annually at Texas.

“I was hoping to get another call,” Harsin said. “When I got that phone call about the opportunity to be the Arkansas State University football coach, there was no doubt about it.”

Florida State running backs coach Eddie Gran and Sam Houston State Coach Willie Fritz also interviewed for the position.

Mohajir called Harsin and offered him the job while the plane was on the ground in Little Rock to drop off Welch.

“We walked out of that room with him, and we got back on that plane and we knew we didn’t need to go anywhere else,” Welch said.

The deal includes a $1.75 million buyout if Harsin leaves after one season and a $1 million buyout should he leave after his second season. ASU’s past two head coaches, Malzahn and Hugh Freeze, left Jonesboro after only one season to take head coaching jobs in the SEC.

“His reps tried to beat me up a little bit, but it was like non-negotiable,” Mohajir said. “Anything else on that, it’s that simple.”

The Red Wolves are getting a head coach from a similar school of thought as Freeze and Malzahn. Harsin ran a a multiple offense at Boise State that blended components of Pro-style, Spread and Pistol offenses.

“We want to have a tempo offense,” said Harsin, who was a finalist in 2009 for the Broyles Award, which is given to the nation’s top assistant coach. “We want to have a high-powered, high-flying offense. We want to have fun. That’s what we’re going to do on offense.”

During his five seasons calling plays, Boise State never ranked lower than 18th nationally in total offense and 10th in scoring offense, including second in 2010 with an average of 521.3 yards per game and second with an average of 45.1 points per game.

Harsin is also known for calling trick plays, including the well-known Statue of Liberty play that lifted No. 9 Boise State to a 43-42 victory over No. 8 Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

His time in Austin, where he had a tendency to shuffle quarterbacks, only accentuated an emphasis on running the football. The Longhorns ranked 21st nationally with an average of 202.6 yards per game in 2011.

The Red Wolves operated largely out of the Shotgun under Malzahn and Freeze, but Harsin said the quarterback will have the ability to go under center and use play-action, pro style.

“That physical mentality of having two backs in the backfield will continue at times,” Harsin said. “We’ll have a downhill-running football team.”

Harsin met with Red Wolves players Wednesday and said he will spend the next several weeks assembling a staff and recruiting.

“We’ve got to get to work,” Harsin said. “It’s starting with putting together the best staff in the country, putting together the best staff for these players.”

Harsin said he doesn’t intend to coach the Longhorns against Oregon State on Dec. 26 at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

“I’m going to be here,” Harsin said. “That is what has to happen.”

Sports, Pages 19 on 12/13/2012

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