Derick Hall was on the short course at Grand National in Opelika on Monday when the news hit.

Auburn’s captain was in the middle of a round of golf with teammates Luke Deal, Brandon Frazier and Reed Hughes — just trying to unwind and not think about football for a few hours — when they collectively got word of Bryan Harsin’s firing. The quartet of Tigers found out of the change within the program’s leadership like most people did: via Twitter.

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Naturally, their relaxing round of golf was cut short. They suddenly had a team meeting thrown on their schedule for that afternoon.

Those four were hardly the only Auburn players to find out the news in an unexpected manner Monday, as word quickly spread after Auburn president Dr. Chris Roberts’ decision came down from Samford Hall at 11:51 a.m. After just 21 games, less than two seasons, and a 9-12 overall record, Harsin’s time on the Plains was over.

Linebacker Owen Pappoe was finishing a film session and walking to his car, on his way to get lunch at Momma Goldberg’s just across the street from campus when teammate Sammy Cohen stopped him in the parking lot. Cohen found out the news minutes earlier and asked if Pappoe was alright. The senior linebacker and co-captain was confused, at which point Cohen told him to check Twitter. Pappoe opened the app on his phone and saw Harsin’s name trending.

“It was all a shocker to me,” Pappoe said. “I didn’t know it was going to happen, like, during the year.”

Pappoe, of course, heard the murmurs throughout the season—and last offseason—about the instability of Harsin’s position, even as he entered Year 2 as Auburn’s coach. It was hard to ignore, even more so as the on-field struggles mounted. Auburn had just lost its fourth straight game, a 41-27 setback at home against Arkansas, and fell two games below .500 in a season for the first time since 2012.

The writing was on the wall, but the timing still came as a surprise.

“It was crazy,” Pappoe said. “Everybody heard the news on Monday, but it’s just all about how you respond to it. You know, word of that’s been flying around pretty much all year, so it wasn’t a surprise, but it was a surprise when it happened. It was just all about how we responded, knowing that we still got four games left, knowing that we needed to finish the season strong.”

Players, of course, would have preferred to find out the news in other manners—directly from someone within the program or from Auburn’s administration, but in the current landscape, they also seemed to understand the way information circulates, even if they didn’t appreciate finding out on social media.

“That’s the business that we’re in,” Pappoe said. “I know (Harsin) would’ve wanted us to know first before it got out there, but it sucks hearing it like that.”

Quarterback Robby Ashford and cornerback Jaylin Simpson also said they found out about Harsin’s termination through social media. Simpson was out on the practice field, getting in some individual work with his strategist during the off day, when a teammate told him to check Twitter. He was also shocked, but he didn’t panic.

Cadillac Williams, who was named interim coach in the wake of Harsin’s firing, did everything he could to hold the program together throughout a tumultuous week. He told the remaining coaches early in the week that the players needed them—all of them, shown through their actions and not just their words — to help keep things from dissolving. It would have been easy to fold, after everything that happened this week, but it was on Williams and the retooled staff to hold things together.

Auburn lost Saturday, falling 39-33 in overtime against Mississippi State despite rallying from a 21-point deficit to twice take the lead in the fourth quarter. Even in defeat, at the end of a whirlwind six days, there was optimism emanating from within the locker room afterward.

“This week has been full of ups and downs,” defensive lineman Colby Wooden said. “We love Coach Harsin, but I feel like there was a new energy. I feel like ‘Lac being an Auburn man, he gets where we’re at and gets where we’ve been and where we’re trying to go. I don’t know, in a strange way, it’s like a new motivation.

“It’s a new breath into us, and you can see on the field. Yeah, so we’ve just got to take that next step to just win. But I love how we fought today.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.