Mizzou Football should do whatever it takes to hire Bryan Harsin

Bryan Harsin of Boise State is a popular name in coaching circles and for good reason. The Boise State coach has won a lot of football games with the Broncos and is the ideal candidate for Mizzou football.

As the search continues, the day of conference championship day is upon us. What that means is the craziness of the coaches taking new jobs will be upon us as well. As Lane Kiffin appears headed to Ole Miss to take over that job, two SEC schools, Missouri and Arkansas are left to fill their vacancies.

One name that should appear at the top of that list is Bryan Harsin of Boise State. With five Mountain West Division titles in six years and a career 70 wins, Harsin should be and likely will be a sought after coach in the coming days and week.

Harsin spent one year in 2013 at Arkansas State before leaving to go to his alma mater in Boise. In his sixth year, the Broncos have amassed a 63-16 record with a really impressive 40-8 record in conference. They have won three bowl games while he has been the coach and finished in the top 25 three times.

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Arkansas State went 7-5 during his lone season there. Before being a head coach, Harisin served two years as the offensive coordinator for Mack Brown and the University of Texas.

Why Harsin makes sense

There are a lot of reasons why Harsin makes sense. He, for a head coach, is fairly young at 43 and has during his career won a lot of football games. He has won bowl games.

Boise State continues to put players in the NFL despite playing outside of the Power 5. He’s an accomplished coach. For Jim Sterk, if he is looking for an accomplished coach, someone with experience and can hit the ground running, Harsin could easily be that guy. What perhaps is most impressive, he continued the success of what Chris Peterson built as the previous head coach at Boise.

Just from a resumé standpoint, Harsin should be the top guy for Missouri. Local radio personality Carrington Harrison believes Harsin is a quality candidate for the job and I agree with him.

Why Harsin doesn’t work

This will be really quick and easy. If Harsin won’t take the job, than he doesn’t work.

Perhaps the only thing you can find that would be a negative is that he’s really never coached in the region of the SEC before. It’s hard to imagine that’s really an issue long-term, good coaches can coach and good coaches can recruit.

Missouri is in the SEC. Recruiting should not be as complicated as recruiting players to Boise, Idaho (Boise is really nice by the way).

If Harsin doesn’t get the job because of financial issues, that’s a problem for Missouri and their AD. No conference puts more money into their schools, especially football, than the SEC. If money truly is an issue for the Tigers, there are issues far greater than this coaching search.

My Opinion

If Bryan Harsin will take the job, Missouri should hire him. It’s that simple. He’s a winner and he’s the type of candidate that can both win on the football field and in attracting talent. Will he ‘win the press conference?’ I don’t know and really don’t care. But he’s a ‘name’ with sizzle, he’s a home run type get, the big name, swing for the fences type move that Mizzou football needs to make.

Harsin may not get the job at Missouri, and if that’s the case, they will probably end up with a lesser candidate. That says more about the University of Missouri than it does for Bryan Harsin or any of the other top candidates.

This would be the ideal hire for the Missouri Tigers, so let’s see if they make any type of run at one of the hottest head coaches on the market.