Tag: Gus Malzahn auburn

Malzahn ‘out from under the strictures’ of Auburn? Dennis Dodd takes cheap shot

CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd’s cheap shot at Auburn and the “strictures” Gus Malzahn was under is another example of dramatic falsehood.

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If you pay attention to what Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports has to say about Gus Malzahn’s tenure at Auburn, you’d think the new UCF coach was coaching with both hands locked in handcuffs behind his back.

In a preview of things to look for during spring practice, Dodd has this to say about Malzahn:

“After getting out from under the strictures at Auburn (available on request), he has the chance to go back to his roots as a play-callin’ ball coach savant with the Knights.”

Sorry if I take a second to laugh at that sentence. What, exactly, was Dodd watching these past four or five seasons at Auburn? One of the biggest complains of the Malzahn era was that his play-calling, when he was the one actually calling the plays, got stale. Opposing defensive coordinator had figured it out. It was no secret anymore and the magic that was the 2013 Tigers offense wasn’t coming back.

So what were these strictures that Malzahn was so-called under? As far as we know, Malzahn wasn’t forced to bring in Chad Morris or Chip Lindsey and have them call the plays nor was he forced to go back to play-calling duty all by himself, where he said he felt more natural, in 2019. Sure, there are some powerful people that like to pretend that they run the football program but not so much that they would have control like Dodd is projecting.

As for getting back to his roots, maybe Malzahn will do that but did those roots ever really leave him during his time at Auburn? Possibly so. At times it was like he couldn’t decide what type of coach he wanted to be. Hands-on? A CEO type? The “play-calling’ ball coach savant?” That last one we all wanted him to be.

Personally, I’m rooting for Malzahn to do great things at UCF. I hope he takes the American Athletic Conference by storm and leads the Knights to amazing wins. Saying that, I still think Dodd is off base when saying he was under strictures during his time on the Plains. A lot of good happened during Malzahn’s watch at Auburn and, eventually, the relationship ran its course.

It happens, yet the cheap shot at Auburn wasn’t necessary. Malzahn has said nothing but good things about his time on the Plains. Maybe it is time for others to see it as what it was: eight years of majors ups and downs that came to an end.

Save the drama for somewhere else.

Gus Malzahn: ‘We’ll be rooting hard’ for Auburn

Former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn says he and his family will always love Auburn and will be rooting for the Tigers in the future.

Sometimes when a coach is fired by a school, there can be some ill will held by both parties.

That definitely won’t be the case with Gus Malzahn who was fired after eight seasons in charge of the Auburn football program back in December. On The Paul Finebaum Show on Wednesday, the new UCF head coach spoke on how he still feels about his time on the Plains.

“I was at Auburn 11 years and I’ve got nothing but great memories,” Malzahn said. “It was a great experience. My family loves Auburn and we’re part of the Auburn family. We always will. We’ll be rooting hard from here for them. But it was just — both of my daughters graduated, my son-in-laws, both of them graduated from Auburn. We’ll always be a part of the Auburn family.”

Malzahn record a 68-35 overall record during his time as head coach of the Tigers including a SEC championship, two SEC West titles and a spot in the BCS National Championship Game. As the offensive coordinator from 2009-11, he helped mentor Cam Newton on his way to winning a Heisman Trophy and lead the Tigers to the 2010 national title.

Owed a $21 million buyout from Auburn due to his firing, Malzahn seemed to be on his way to sitting out a year before the UCF job became open a couple of weeks ago.

“I’ve coached for 30 years straight. Never had a break,” Malzahn said. “First time in my life in 30 years to sit back and say, ‘Hey, got time to reflect. What’s the next step?’ Me and Kristi, we took about a week or two, we prayed about it, thought about it, ‘What’s that next step look like?’ It took about two weeks and I started getting that coaching itch again. I love to coach. Really, I was planning on possibly doing some TV, some radio during the offseason, gearing up for next year. But when this job came open — from the outside I’ve always said, ‘If the right guy ever got to UCF and would stay there and build it, everybody else would be in trouble.’ I was real attracted and got excited about it.”

UCF hires former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn

The UCF Knights are hiring Gus Malzahn to be their football coach. Malzahn previously coached at Auburn

The UCF Knights are hiring Gus Malzahn to be their football coach. Malzahn previously coached at Auburn. The Auburn Tigers fired Gus Malzahn following their regular season finale against Mississippi State.

The Auburn Tigers went on the replace Gus Malzahn with former Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin.

Overall, Auburn went 6-5 last season, but didn’t get any big-time wins. Malzahn coached at Auburn for eight seasons and amassed a 68-35 record for the Tigers. He helped the Tigers make the 2013 national championship, where they fell to the Florida State Seminoles in a last-minute defeat.

Now, Malzahn will look to keep UCF’s momentum going in football. The Knights are replacing former head coach Josh Heupel and athletic director Danny White. Both Heupel and White left to fill the head coaching and athletic director vacancy at the University of Tennessee.

Gus Malzahn’s offense is an excellent fit for the UCF Knights. UCF has run a face paced offense in the past and that’s not going to change under Malzahn. The former Auburn coach is no stranger to the underdog role and will be a good hire for the Knights.

Gus Malzahn will rejoin new UCF athletics director Terry Mohajir, who worked alongside Malzahn at Arkansas State.

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Report: UCF to hire former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn

Former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn is set to be named the new coach for UCF per a Yahoo Sports report.

Gus Malzahn wasn’t unemployed for very long.

Per Yahoo Sports, the former Auburn head coach is set to be hired to the same position at UCF.

Malzahn would be replacing Josh Heupel who took the Tennessee job after the Volunteers fired Jeremy Pruitt.

The 55-year-old Malzahn was fired after eight seasons at Auburn in which he won a SEC Championship, took the Tigers to another SEC title game and, in his first season, led the team to the BCS National Championship Game. He is owed a buyout of more than $20 million.

His overall record was 68-35 and 39-27 in conference play.

All-Auburn Defensive Team during Gus Malzahn era

From Derrick Brown to Deshaun Davis to Carlton Davis, Auburn saw a lot of talent at all three levels of defense during the Gus Malzahn era.

Auburn has a historic reputation for putting out great, hard-nosed defensive players and that didn’t change during the Gus Malzahn era.

Derrick Brown and company were monsters in the trenches for the Tigers during the past eight seasons while Deshaun Davis and others controlled the middle of the field. When a team tried to pass on Auburn, defensive backs such as Carlton Davis and Daniel Thomas were there to shut the air game down.

Yet who was the best of the best during Malzahn’s eight-year span for the Tigers on defense under coordinators Ellis Johnson and Kevin Steele? We name our All-Auburn Defensive Team during the Malzahn era along with a second string for each position.

*We decided upon a 4-3 scheme for this team as Auburn has had so much talent upfront to leave anyone off.

All-Auburn Offensive Team during Gus Malzahn era

All-Auburn Offensive Team during Gus Malzahn era

Taking a look at the elite of the elite for Auburn on offense during the eight years of the Gus Malzahn era on the Plains.

The Gus Malzahn era at Auburn started out with a bang on the offensive side of the ball has Nick Marshall, Tre Mason and company lit the scoreboard on fire on their way to a SEC title and spot in the BCS National Championship Game.

While the Tigers’ offense would never reach those heights again under Malzahn during his eight years in charge, there were still plenty of great offensive players to come to the Plains during that time.

But who is the top of the top and the elite of the elite? We name our All-Auburn Offensive Team from the Malzahn era along with who would serve as second string.

(Note: When it comes to offensive linemen, we did not choose someone for each position but the top five guys that made the biggest impact.)

The Gus Malzahn era had faults but his integrity wasn’t one

While you can question Gus Malzahn’s coaching and choices during his Auburn tenure, you can’t question his integrity.

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Since news broke on Sunday afternoon that Gus Malzahn had been fired by Auburn, I’ve been floating around in my head what his ultimate legacy will be 10, 20 years from now when his name is brought up on the Plains.

For a coach who spent just eight seasons on the job, there are somehow a myriad of ways he can and will be remembered. Yes, there is the magical 2013 debut season in which the Tigers took the sport by storm and it seemed Malzahn would become one of the rulers of the game.

There’s the lack of development at quarterback. His waffling on offensive coordinators and whether or not he would be the one calling plays. The departure of talented players, including the top four recruiting in the 2018 class. The transformation from high-energy, hurry-up offense to whatever concoction we currently see on the field. His ability to do what a lot of SEC coaches couldn’t and beat Nick Saban on a regular basis.

So many different ways for someone to be remembered yet as an Auburn alumnus and fan, Malzahn’s class and integrity always stood out to me the most.

Yes, I have been extremely critical of the coach during parts of his tenure including this past couple of weeks when the proverbial bus seemed to have nothing but flat tires. His quote on how a four-loss season would be solid in most seasons after the loss to Texas A&M didn’t exactly do him any favors with Auburn fans and the powers that run the program.

Yet the one thing we didn’t have to worry about with Malzahn was him embarrassing the university. That says a lot especially in a time when every move by a head coach at a major college is scrutinized and on record. His calm temperament even when things were going wrong was assuring. Not once did he lose his cool on a reporter or lecture someone on why he’s a football coach and they are not.

His players seemed to genuinely care for him as well. That was evident from the postgame video from Saturday night of him, in one of the rare moments he let loose, dancing while the players cheered him on. One has to wonder if he knew this was his last game in charge as he brought back the sweater vest and visor. Was that for sentimental reasons?

I don’t pretend to know Malzahn as well as the rest of the reporters that cover Auburn. I have only met him a number of times and it was usually in a professional setting, but I can say this: he was always cordial, friendly and approachable. That is rare for a man in his position.

There was never a doubt on whether he cared about his players, coaching staff and Auburn as a whole. He invested into the program and soon, a football-only facility that he helped fund will be erected on campus. He was a great ambassador for the university.

Quite certainly there were times when he wanted to blow his fuse, call his doubters out and release some frustration with a fan base that really never warmed up to him. Somehow, he didn’t. He was all class all the time.

And maybe that is what his ultimate legacy should be: a coach that had some major highs, some lows, but always had the best interest of the people around him at the forefront. Things sometimes don’t work out the way you would want or expect and for Malzahn, his eight seasons on the Plains have come to an end with no major controversies, no major probation and no major embarrassment for the school or athletic program.

When you take that into account, Auburn was lucky to have him.

One tweet that sums up the Gus Malzahn era at Auburn

A simple tweet that I was tagged in summarizes the Gus Malzahn tenure at Auburn.

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While checking my Twitter notifications and feed on Sunday morning, a person with the handle @JacklegTweeter had tagged me in a message that was in response to my postgame column on Saturday calling for the firing of Gus Malzahn.

In a short but sweet message, the Twitter user summed up the entire Malzahn tenure at Auburn.

For a closer look at the picture, here:

Work in progress. Yep, that has been the saying of Malzahn ever since he took the job along with wishing nothing but the best to another 4 or 5-star player leaving the program and telling us how excited the team was.

It’s funny that this person quickly found all of this and sent it in. It shows you that it’s not only Malzahn’s offense and team that are predictable but his words also.

It’s official: Auburn needs to fire Gus Malzahn despite buyout

The loss to South Carolina should be the final straw in the Gus Malzahn era at Auburn.

There are no ifs, ands or buts about it after Saturday’s embarrassing loss to South Carolina in Columbia: Gus Malzahn has got to go, and for the sake of Auburn football, that decision needs to happen sooner than later.

Listen, Malzahn has brought some good times to the Plains over the past eight years but those are extremely few and far between. He was the talk of college football in 2013 as he led the Tigers to the BCS National Championship Game but has yet to lose less than four games in a season less. His offense, which was what he built his reputation on, became so stale that even he realized it was time for a change. Enter Chad Morris and the Tigers look even more pathetic offensively.

Quarterback who have entered the system as true freshman have rarely succeeded. Bo Nix, a 5-star quarterback who somehow won the SEC Freshman of the Year last year despite an up-and-down season, has regressed in his second season. Joey Gatewood transferred to Kentucky. Malik Willis has looked like the playmaker he should have been for the Tigers while playing for Liberty.

Jarrett Stidham even took a step back in his second season under Malzahn, going from a sure-fire first-round pick to the fourth round. Nick Marshall, possibly sent from the heavens above to make Malzahn’s career take off, wasn’t a true quarterback so not even Gus’ tutelage could screw him up.

Jeremy Johnson. Sean White. The names start to pile up.

Yet Malzahn will never admit that maybe he isn’t the right person for the job. He’s still the smartest man in the room despite opposing defensive coordinators and coaches now laughing at him. Heck, the Tigers realistically should be 1-3 at best.

And it’s not like he doesn’t have the talent to work with. Despite bringing in some top-10 recruiting classes during his time, the Tigers have stayed mediocre. It would be nice to see a real coach — maybe a Billy Napier, Hugh Freeze, or anyone other than Malzahn — have a shot coaching these players. It has become tiresome watching the same things happen over and over on the field.

This might be Malzahn’s worst team yet. There are absolutely no strengths to this team besides maybe the leg of Anders Carlson and the running ability of Tank Bigsby. In a moment that we haven’t seen much on Auburn sidelines in a some time, two of the top offensive players, Nix and Seth Williams, got into a heated argument that Chad Morris tried his best to stop but, like his play-calling, was awful at doing.

For all the Malzahn supporters out there, I ask this simple question: do you think he is going to make this program any better than it is right now? My answer comes in the form of two words: heck no.

But the buyout, you say? What about the $21 million that Auburn must pay for Malzahn to be fired? One, we have the alumni ready to donate that money to get rid of him. Two, the hottest coaches on the market are going to be hired soon in this weird year. Three, do you really want to watch THIS for another season or, possibly, another two seasons?

So let’s thank Malzahn for what he has accomplished at Auburn. He brought us the Kick Six and the Miracle at Jordan-Hare, a SEC championship and three wins over Alabama. Yet he has also brought a 7-16 record against the school’s three biggest rivals, losses against mediocre teams in bowl games and the fact that no one realistically expects Auburn to compete for a SEC championship anymore.

Let that last line sink in. Let it sink in that while Malzahn has been watching, a lot of other SEC teams have improved in strides. Let it sink in that once defenses caught on to his system, Malzahn refused to adjust until completely giving up control to a coach who led Arkansas to exactly zero wins in two seasons as a head coach.

Writing all of this has sickened me as much as the Tigers play on the field the past three weeks. That says a lot.

Time for the Gus Bus to leave Auburn. That departure shouldn’t be delayed any longer.