Anonymous Caller Comes To Auburn Coach Bryan Harsin's Defense, Which Many Suspected As Harsin's Dad
Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin may have the program against him, but "Dale from Boise" is here to stick with Harsin — through thick and thin.
Who is Dale from Boise?
While the anonymous caller on the "Paul Finebaum Show" attempted to make his case in support of Harsin during a trying time, audiences quickly began to hear through the guise — suspecting Bryan's father, Dale Harsin, as the caller.
“First-time caller on the show,” Dale told Finebaum. “Anyway, on the recruiting portion of it, it said he didn’t recruit very well. Well, I think he did a pretty good job recruiting some of these players. They don’t have to be star-struck with five-star ratings. They can be good players. (He) went after good players that want to play the game and not star-struck with their stars and stuff."
"I thought he did a pretty dang good job: Kellen Moore, Leighton Vander Esch, Jay Ajai,” professed the anonymous caller, which many believed to be Harsin's father.
The caller even attested to having exclusive information on Harsin's days at Boise State.
“He’s saying a lot of very inside Boise State type of things," Finebaum noted on his show. "He mentions Kellen Moore and these other things I was aware of when Harsin was the offensive coordinator. The tone was that Bryan Harsin was responsible for all the success out there, and I didn’t object.”
Finebaum later revealed that he too caught on to Dale's potential true identity.
“I didn’t know his dad’s name was Dale until later, but I was going to be respectful,” Finebaum added. “This guy, obviously, is fan of Harsin or knows Harsin. He’s calling from Boise. When he hung up, one of my producers said, ‘Man, someone on Twitter just posted that was his father.’ I said, ‘You know what? I wonder if it was.’ We thought about it. But again, it was early in the show, the show moved on.
“Then, last night and this morning, I started getting texts from media friends of mine who said they had friends listen to that and they think it is Harsin’s father. I’m like, ‘OK,’ so I got to the studio today and we listened to that and we listened to some other tape of him from a couple of months or a year ago. I’m a talk show host. I’m not an FBI voice analyzer, but it certainly sounds like the same guy who was on television as Bryan Harsin’s father.”
Dale tried to make the case for Harsin as a player-friendly coach, but the track record of departing players in his first season tells a different tale.
Former Auburn defensive lineman Lee Hunter, who transferred to UCF, spoke out directly against Harsin following the accusations of personal issues last week. Hunter admitted to leaving Auburn with Harsin as an influence.
“Coach Harsin has the true mindset for a winner but has a terrible mindset as a person, " Hunter noted. "The reason I chose to leave Auburn was because we got treated like we wasn't good enough and like dogs."
Compounded by a 6-7 result, Harsin has put the onus on Auburn to make a drastic decision in order to regain stability as a program, sans the coach — as well as avoid having to pay Harsin's full buyout price (estimated at nearly $20 million) should they nix the coach without the requisite "just cause" tag.
Auburn president Jay Gogue released a statement on the Harsin controversy — promising swift action once the proper details become evident.
"I just want you to know that we're involved in trying to separate fact from fiction. We'll keep you posted and make the appropriate decision at the right time."
Follow along on Twitter: @AlejandroAveela