Gus Malzahn has been the head coach at Auburn since 2013.
He has experienced success during his tenure at Auburn, including winning the BCS national championship as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator in 2010.
Auburn won the Southeastern Conference championship in 2013 and the West divisional title twice since he has been head coach.
Malzahn began his coaching career at Hughes High School in Arkansas as an assistant in 1991.
He became Hughes’ head coach in 1992 and remained in the position through 1995.
Malzahn later became a head coach at two other high schools in Arkansas at Shiloh Christian (1996-2000) and Springdale (2001-05).
He remained in-state to launch his college coaching career at Arkansas as an offensive coordinator and overseeing wide receivers in 2006.
Along the way, Malzahn has implemented his Hurry-Up, No-Huddle offense throughout various coaching stops. It is an offense that provides a mixture of running and throwing the football for success.
His offensive scheme showcases three base formations: doubles, trips and pro.
Within the offense is a route tree that provides an ability to make adjustments against defenses. The Hurry-Up, No-Huddle offense uses a one-snap count cadence, creating tempo to dictate a faster pace and keeping defenses on its heels.
Malzahn is known to use a dummy play every third or fourth play to keep defenses honest. This allows for the game to slow down and for the offensive personnel to recognize defensive schemes.
A quarterback has the ability to audible at the line of scrimmage and to adjust based on the defensive alignment.
A staple part of Malzahn’s Hurry-Up, No-Huddle offense is the running game. Within the offense is four plays that are used on a regular basis: counter, power, trap and sweep.
In order to commit to a running play, the number of defensive players within the box has to be counted. If it is ideal to check to a passing play, based on the number of defenders in the box, then the quarterback should recognize the audible.
If a running play remains ideal to conduct, the quarterback must determine which side of the formation has more favorable numbers and angles that provides the most success in moving the ball.
The passing game in Malzahn’s Hurry-Up, No-Huddle offense is based on eight regular-used combination routes.
However, there are four basic combination routes: Smash, Four Verticals, Arrow and Crossing.
Smash
The inside wide receiver runs a flag route, going over the top cornerback. Usually the back pylon is a target for the end route.
The outside wide receiver runs a five-yard stop route with the ability to turn inside.
Four Verticals
An inside wide receiver runs vertical and should have an expectation to catch the ball between 15-20 yards. An outside wide receiver also goes vertical with an attempt to have a cornerback on his outside shoulder. He can also create a stop route within the vertical.
Arrow
Arrow with tempo in short-yardage situations can cause troubles for a defense. The inside wide receiver will run approximately a five-yard speed route with an expectation of having the quarterback throw him the ball over his outside shoulder. The outside wide receiver will run a four-yard slant and can expect the ball after clearing the outside linebacker.
Crossing
A slot wide receiver has the ability to move his defender in front of him around three yards upfield before making a shoulder fake to finish his route, going across the field. The other slot wide receiver can run a rub route off him crossing the field. A play-side wide receiver goes outside and looks to get his defender’s back turned before going across the middle of the field.