Tag: Guz Malzahn

Social media reacts to Cadillac Williams resigning from Auburn’s staff

Cadillac Williams has resigned from Auburn’s coaching staff.

A program legend has resigned from Auburn’s coaching staff. [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag] resigned from his role as associate head coach and running backs coach late Thursday evening.

Playing at Auburn from 2001-04, Williams joined [autotag]Guz Malzahn[/autotag]’s coaching staff for the 2019 season and was retained by both [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag] and [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag]. He served as Auburn’s interim head coach after Auburn fired Harsin during the 2022 season and led them to an emotional win over Texas A&M in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The move stunned Auburn fans, who took to social media to react to the news and wish Williams the best. Here is a look at some of the top reactions.

Where does LSU land in the USA TODAY Sports bowl projections?

Where are the Tigers heading in these preseason projections?

Some people just can’t escape the SEC. One way or another, everything comes full circle.

Why am I saying this? Because USA TODAY Sports recently released its preseason bowl projections, and it has the LSU Tigers playing against the UCF Knights, led by former Auburn head coach, Gus Malzahn.

He may escape a season full of SEC opponents, but he’ll have to head to Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama, to play against [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] and the Tigers if this projection comes to pass. The Knights finished last season 9-4 with a win over Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl.

Malzahn enters his second season as the head man for the Knights this Thursday against South Carolina State. LSU and its new coach start their season against Mike Norvell and the Florida State Seminoles this Sunday evening at 6:30 CT in New Orleans.

Usually, teams that play in the Birmingham Bowl end the season around 6-6. I’m hoping the Tigers do better than that.

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Texas Football Bowl Projections: Longhorns in Citrus Bowl against Auburn

If the regular season is going to be different, so is bowl season. 247Sports has tried to predict what bowl games will look like in 2020.

College football is going to look different this season, with only three out of the five Power Five conferences scheduled to play its season in the fall. The Big 12 is joined by the ACC and SEC in playing football, beginning in September.

If the regular season is going to be different, so is bowl season. Right now, there will be 54 fewer FBS teams to choose from at the end of the season. 26 of those are from the Big Ten and Pac-12.

247Sports has tried to predict what bowl games will look like, even during a crazy season.

We’re trying something out of the ordinary at 247Sports and imagining an unprecedented 2020 bowl season with wholesale changes, including but not limited to tie-in alterations and a couple of games being moved to the spring. No one is college football right now how bowl season will play out this fall, so we’ll give it a shot:

In 247Sports’ projections, Texas will be heading east to Orlando to face off against the Auburn Tigers in the Citrus Bowl. Formerly known as the Capital One Bowl, the matchup is traditionally between Big Ten and SEC teams. With the Big Ten’s season canceled, the Longhorns will step in as a representative.

Texas and Auburn have played each other eight times with the latest in 1987. Legendary head coaches have faced off against each other, with Darrell K. Royal and Ralph “Shrug” Jordan in 1974 and Fred Akers and Pat Dye in 1983 and 1984.

As for the possible 2020 contest, it would be another coach’s duel between Tom Herman and Guz Malzhan. The two are both in need of a good season to continue the stints at their respective schools.

The quarterback matchup would also raise eyebrows, with senior Sam Ehlinger going against sophomore Bo Nix. Wanting to lead their teams to something greater than the Citrus Bowl, Ehlinger and Nix would provide offensive explosions through the game.

Related: ESPN predicts Longhorns season using win probability

Here is what 247Sports had to say about Texas and Auburn squaring off:

The Big 12’s potential runner-up against a quality opponent from the SEC? Here’s a rarity pitting two respected programs. Ironically, the Longhorns and Tigers have met once before in a Florida-based bowl game, that coming in 1974 (Gator in Jacksonville). This would be an important game for both head coaches, too. There’s some sense of pressure surrounding Tom Herman and Gus Malzahn this fall as preseason contenders.

As for the rest of the Big 12, 247Sports has five other teams making a bowl game.

  • TCU vs Florida State in the Holiday Bowl
  • Kansas State vs Mississippi State in the Liberty Bowl
  • Iowa State vs Virginia Tech in the Camping World Bowl
  • Oklahoma State vs Tennessee in the Alamo Bowl
  • Oklahoma vs Alabama in the Rose Bowl (College Football semifinal)

The Sooners would once again represent the Big 12 in the College Football playoff. However, Alabama would beat Oklahoma for the second time in three years.

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Guz Malzahn chimes in on looming QB competition between Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham

Auburn coach Guz Malzahn shared his thoughts on how he expects the Patriots’ quarterback competition between Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham to play out.

Auburn coach Guz Malzahn has his own business to attend to in the upcoming football season, but he’s still keeping a close watch on the New England Patriots’ looming quarterback competition between Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham.

Few people on the planet understand the dynamics at play better than the man that coached them both in college and helped catapult their NFL careers.

Even if there is no replacing Tom Brady, Malzahn is completely confident the Patriots have at least two quarterbacks in the room capable of stepping up to the challenge and excelling.

“I think both of them could handle that without a problem,” Malzahn said in a telephone interview, via The Boston Globe. “The thing about Cam is you’re talking about one of the better quarterbacks in NFL history already. He’s already proved that. With Jarrett, the fact that he was in the system for a year, that he learned under Tom, I know his mind-set. He’s ready to take over himself. Either one of them is prepared, but Cam has already done it. They’re both competitors now; both of them are going to compete. It’ll be good competition, but I really expect it to be a real healthy quarterback room. If you’re New England, it’s a great situation.”

There was a time in the NFL when Newton looked like the successor to Brady in another jersey.

He was the unstoppable, real-life video game cheat code imposing his will on opposing defenses. But time moves at an accelerated pace in the NFL, and those former glory days have already been buried and forgotten.

Newton, a former league MVP, landed with the Patriots on a one-year deal with a base salary of $1.05 million—a slap in the face sort of wake-up call for a man some considered the best player in the league five years ago.

Stidham definitely has a leg-up after spending his rookie season in the Patriots system behind Brady, but Newton should be the favorite to win the starting job.

It’s no mere coincidence the team’s Super Bowl odds jumped from 25-1 to 20-1 after he signed.

“One thing I’ll guarantee is [Newton will] be extremely hungry and motivated,” said Malzahn. “He thrives off of situations like that, and I’ve seen that look before. He’ll play really well, in my opinion.”