Dana Holgorsen didn’t have time for Auburn — or its Birmingham Bowl postgame press conference.
The Houston coach, fresh off his team’s 17-13 win Tuesday afternoon, grew impatient from the bowels of Protective Stadium as he and his players awaited their turn at the dais. Holgorsen was heard shouting “hurry up!” from outside of the media room as Bryan Harsin was fielding questions from the press inside the room. Once Holgorsen entered the room, the Cougars’ coach proceeded to complain and vent about how long the Tigers’ press conference ran.
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Despite the victory, in which his team scored the go-ahead touchdown with 3:27 to play to finish the season 12-2, Holgorsen was noticeably peeved as he sat down at the table in the media room. He shook his head in disbelief before being asked for his opening statement. He proceeded to criticize the Birmingham Bowl for its postgame media setup.
“Yeah, we need to have separate press conferences during this,” Holgorsen said. “We’re the—we won the game, and I’m just standing out there for 20 minutes. I don’t quite understand that. I’d get that together.”
Harsin, linebacker Chandler Wooten and tight end John Samuel Shenker fielded questions for about 7 minutes before the players exited and Harsin answered questions for an additional 15 minutes, 28 seconds.
Harsin’s postgame press conferences have typically taken some time to start after games have finished this season, as he likes to address his team in the locker room before speaking with the media. On Tuesday, Auburn’s postgame press conference, which was coordinated by the bowl, started approximately 22 minutes after the game ended and lasted about as long too.
AL.com will update this post.
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.