Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin isn’t using this week’s open date to sit on a beach with his feet kicked up. His Tigers won’t play a game this week but will practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, coming off a three-game losing streak after Saturday’s 48-34 loss at No. 7 Ole Miss.

Harsin started the week continuing a tradition that goes back to Shug Jordan and Pat Dye of the Auburn coach speaking in Birmingham with the Monday Morning Quarterback Club during the week of the Tigers’ open date.

Harsin’s flight to Birmingham took about 30 minutes.

Brad Law of the Auburn radio network hosted a 30-minute question and answer session at the Harbert Center in Birmingham with Harsin for members of the long-standing club, many of whom are Auburn alums and significant supporters. The second-year coach also had an opportunity to see several high-level Auburn boosters while visiting the Magic City.

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Next up for Harsin was a flight from Birmingham to Mobile. Harsin visited Saraland, Vigor, and Mobile Christian high schools before heading to dinner at the 1st & 10 Club for a charity event. Auburn initially planned for assistant coach Zac Etheridge to attend the event, but Harsin wanted the chance to speak to Auburn fans he wouldn’t usually get a chance to directly.

Harsin met with UMS-Wright Preparatory School athletic director and football coach Terry Curtis in Mobile before flying back to Auburn. He conducted practice on Tuesday and will on Wednesday before giving his team a much-needed weekend off after seven consecutive games.

Thursday and Friday will be busy days for Harsin and his coaching staff. He and every assistant coach will make stops at high schools in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama. His team visited over 300 high schools in Alabama and several others during spring.

Per NCAA rules, the Auburn staff has 42 days to visit high schools in the fall evaluation period. They are not allowed to visit any school more than once during this period, making the use of the 42 days very strategic, as each coach on the road on a given day counts as an individual evaluation day.

Coaches aren’t permitted to talk to players from September 1 until December 3rd during the eval cycle. However, school visits are imperative for relationship-building with high school coaches.

Offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau and Defensive Coordinator Jeff Schmedding stay with the team on Friday nights to conduct the regular unit meetings and activities less than 24 hours before kickoff.

Wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard, defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh, Etheridge, running backs coach Cadillac Williams, and edge linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Roc Bellantoni have spent Friday nights at high school games during the season as part of the 42 days allotted to Auburn for high school visits.

Harsin’s son Davis is a quarterback for 7-1 Auburn High. Harsin regularly attends his son’s games. Observing his son’s games allows Harsin to support Davis while getting the bonus of watching players at Auburn High that would interest Harsin in recruiting. He also watches opposing players from some of the top schools in Alabama’s highest classification. Auburn plays powerhouses such as Hoover, Enterprise, Opelika, and Central Phenix City, with each school having top players from the class of 23 and 24.

When Harsin goes to watch his son, it doesn’t count against the 42 days in the fall evaluation period. Harsin plans to use four days this week, including a stop in Atlanta on Friday before visiting Kansas on Saturday for some Junior College action.

A possible visit for Harsin would be to Coffeyville Community College for their game against Georgia Christian CC. Keyshawn Blackstock is a 6′5 300-pound tackle at Coffeyville.

Auburn is among 60 schools, including Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, Florida, and Jackson State, with scholarship offers to Blackstock.

Harsin plans to start his day on Friday by driving from Auburn to Phenix City and into Columbus, Ga, for stops at high schools in middle Georgia before hitting several metro-Atlanta high schools. A logical stop for Harsin would be Nationally ranked Langston Hughes in Fairburn Ga when they host Newnan High.

Auburn defensive back commit Terrance Love attends Langston Hughes. Georgia Bulldog O-Line commit Bo Hughley, who took an official visit to Auburn, is a teammate of Love’s. There is a belief in recruiting circles that the Tigers can flip Hughley similarly to four-star offensive lineman Clay Wedin from Tampa. Josh Horton, Jelani Thurman, from the 2023 class, and 2024 quarterback Air Noland also play for Langston Hughes.

Increased dedication to recruiting is getting notice from high school coaches and internally at Auburn. The Tigers expect over 20 players to leave for graduation or early entry to the NFL. Edge rusher Derick Hall and running back Tank Bigsby could return, but with each having first-day draft grades, it’d be hard to expect them not to test the waters of the NFL.

As it goes, in today’s ever-changing college football landscape, Auburn could lose players to the transfer portal as they did last season. The NCAA announced a two-year waiver to the 25-scholarship cap per year signing rule in May during the preseason. Auburn still is limited to 85 scholarships, but if more than 25 athletes leave for graduation, NFL, or the portal, the Tigers could replace each one instead of having fewer than 85 scholarship athletes on the active roster.

Auburn expects to have two or three days for visits left out of the 42 once the open date week is over. Harsin could use those to attend a state playoff game of a recruit heading into December’s early signing day.

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group.