OT: Auburn OC Gus Malzahn to Arkansas State.
Mahlzahn Was the offensive mastermind who used Cam Newton's skills to a tee.
Is it just me who is surprised he went to such a small school? Even though lack of Head coach experience, justs seems like a school with a little more prestige would take a chance on a guy who helped win a MNC.
EDIT: Sorry for the formatting from iPad.
EDIT II: Fixed.
December 13th, 2011 at 11:36 PM ^
Count me as very surprised. He was on the top of my coordinator list for possible Michigan HC when it became clear we weren't getting Harbaugh and Hoke hadn't been named yet. I wonder if there isn't more to this story because Arkansas State is a VERY small school and Gus was clearly considered one of the nation's top OC's.
Hmmmmm........
December 14th, 2011 at 8:38 AM ^
I guess this is what happens when...Big Charlie takes your job.
However, I'm sure he could've gone to SMU, Houston or S. Miss...two of those will be Big East schools.
December 14th, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^
top pick for HC of michigan? lol wow
December 14th, 2011 at 11:22 AM ^
The post suggested OC, not head coach.
December 14th, 2011 at 1:04 PM ^
No it suggested HC, not OC. He means that he had a list of current coordinators that could get a boost to head coach.
He was on the top of my coordinator list for possible Michigan HC
December 13th, 2011 at 11:36 PM ^
join Urban in C-Bus.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:59 AM ^
too big of an ego to share the spotlight.
Go Blue!
December 13th, 2011 at 11:37 PM ^
That's a huge surprise, especially considering all the big name schools that had open positions a few weeks ago.
December 13th, 2011 at 11:37 PM ^
If Arkansas State can get Gus... how could UCLA not put a better hire together than Jim Mora Jr?
December 13th, 2011 at 11:47 PM ^
The whole athletic department at UCLA is a mess. With that campus, location, and resources, its just nuts that can't get their shit together and build a program.
December 14th, 2011 at 3:23 AM ^
Jim Mora Jr. only lost two more games as an NFL head coach than he won. Remind me again why that is so bad for a middling program like UCLA?
December 13th, 2011 at 11:40 PM ^
Throw this in with Bama's OC taking off for to Fort Collins, Co. Interesting moves to say the least...
December 13th, 2011 at 11:48 PM ^
December 13th, 2011 at 11:41 PM ^
Something seems really fishy about this. Don't see why he would leave for less money and go to a place where if you are really successful you could maybe get promoted to head coach at Ole Miss.
December 13th, 2011 at 11:43 PM ^
I agree. It's very fishy.
Scandal coming...???
December 14th, 2011 at 2:15 AM ^
Maybe Malzahn just likes being home in Arkansas. After all went to HS and college in Arkansas, he was a "high school coaching legend" in Arkansas, and Auburn and Tulsa were the only jobs he had outside of the state.
If he turned down more money to stay "home," good for him.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:54 AM ^
That's really the only explanation.
December 14th, 2011 at 10:19 AM ^
That's a big if, but I agree. Good for him if you're right.
December 13th, 2011 at 11:45 PM ^
Very odd. Why turn down $3M from Vandy last offseason to take $800k from Ark. State the next season? Something has to be up.
December 14th, 2011 at 7:28 AM ^
Maybe he sees it as a better long term career move. It's probably easier to win at Ark St (and Malzahn is from Arkansas too) than to die a slow painful death at Vandy while you get rolled by the Georgia's and Florida's of the SEC. He may be hoping to do well there and then get an offer from a big time school a year or two down the road
December 14th, 2011 at 11:21 AM ^
If he could win five or six games a year at Vandy, he would be considered a rising star and get a good job in short order. This smells like a head coach who has pissed off his key asssistants to me.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:27 AM ^
Wow!
I remember that Malzahn turned down Vanderbilt's offer to become their HC last season but I had no idea that they offered him that kind of money. I thought they had offered about 1 Million.
Definitely strange.
December 14th, 2011 at 1:11 AM ^
It sounds like he was just really unhappy where he was and wanted to pull his life back together. I've seen a lot of people do that, and I almost always think it turns out to be a good move for them.
December 14th, 2011 at 11:54 AM ^
Maybe he figures he'll have enough money in any case, and he just wanted to go home.
December 14th, 2011 at 2:49 AM ^
Kristy Malzahn's words have proven costly
http://capstonereport.com/2011/12/09/kristi-malzahnns-words-have-proven-costly/15069/
December 14th, 2011 at 3:56 AM ^
...about the reputability or trustworthiness of capstonereport.com, this headline from their front page should dispel them:
CBS’s anti-SEC stance is baffling
I'll save you the trip if you'd rather not reward someone who's just (allegedly) created a new account to tout his own website and lure page clicks: he accuses Gary Danielson of anti-SEC bias.
I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed that an Alabama site is proposing that Malzahn's job-search problems stem from his wife. If they can't come up with something more traditionally scandalous than that, there must really not be any fire behind all that smoke.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:25 AM ^
He's from Arkansas, he wants a head coaching opportunity and the big jobs all were taken without anyone calling him. Seems pretty logical to me.
December 13th, 2011 at 11:43 PM ^
Very odd that both Malzahn and Ted Roof leave for small time jobs. Seems like with all of the openings out there two BCS Championshp coaches could find a better gig. Makes you wonder if the shit's about to hit the fan in Auburn.
December 13th, 2011 at 11:46 PM ^
best to take a head coaching job before another season like this last one and he loses his offensive "genius" reputation.
December 13th, 2011 at 11:51 PM ^
Maybe, but I find it hard to believe he couldn't find something better than Ark. State. Dude took a $500k pay cut ($1.3M at Auburn to $800k at ASU) just to be a head coach?? Just seems strange.
December 14th, 2011 at 3:31 AM ^
Is it possible that the Dipsy-Doo, Trickeroo © has run its course in a league that plays “man football?” Or is it possible that Cam Newton, from all appearances, single-handedly validated this embarrassing style of football with his freakish, once-in-a-lifetime dominating ability?
Facts don’t lie. With Cam Newton in 2010 Auburn was 14-0. Without him, in 2009 and 2011, Auburn was 7-5.
Somebody get Urban Meyer on the phone and ask him what it’s like once Nick Saban puts a bow on your unconventional offense. It ain’t pretty, and heart trouble may follow.
I like this quote... especially about Urban Meyer. How much of his success in Florida had to do with Tebow/Mullen and how bad did Saban get inside his head after that thrashing he got in the SEC championship game? The following year he lost 31-6 and you know it was only gonna get worse this year with the type of defense Alabama has. We have to wait and see but, If Braxton Miller is not the next Tim Tebow I honestly think the Brady/Mattison defense will take him down just like Saban did.
December 13th, 2011 at 11:52 PM ^
Seriously. that's Arkansas State University's deer blind. I believe it's part of their Wildlife Management program.
December 14th, 2011 at 7:45 AM ^
I WANT THAT
December 14th, 2011 at 1:15 PM ^
GET ON THIS DAVE BRANDON!!!
December 13th, 2011 at 11:55 PM ^
now that the epic as-the-plains-burn thread at Tiger Droppings has been locked?
Maybe with the right chemical inducements I'll be able to figure it out on my own....
December 13th, 2011 at 11:58 PM ^
I understand the pull of having his own program, but I cannot think of a less significant place in FBS football for one of the great offensive minds to be. I'm sure he only expects to be there for a year or two, and he is an Arkansas guy.
December 14th, 2011 at 12:14 AM ^
"A person close to Malzahn said that not only was the coach looking for a head-coaching opportunity but that he was "looking for a change" from Auburn and "looking to move onto something else." He was willing to take a relatively large pay cut, the source said, for a chance to be happier and enjoy a new coaching environment."
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7350900/source-arkansas-…
Sounds like the dude just wanted to get the hell away from Auburn
December 14th, 2011 at 1:06 AM ^
He was "a top target for Kansas and North Carolina jobs earlier this year".
Sounds very weird....
December 14th, 2011 at 3:01 AM ^
Getting out of Dodge before impedending doom? Cam Newton's smile in that interview said a lot.
December 14th, 2011 at 7:52 AM ^
But Kansas elected to take the more qualified coach: Charlie Weis. Deeeeeeeeerp.
December 14th, 2011 at 12:15 AM ^
I would think this has to do with him being from Arkansas. Otherwise, why would he take it? Makes no sense.
December 14th, 2011 at 12:18 AM ^
His wife is a known to be a very loose cannon. Maybe this move has something to do with that. Something must have happened considering last year he turned down $3 mil a year from Vandy.
December 14th, 2011 at 12:25 AM ^
A head coaching job is a head coaching job. Guy's interviewed for pretty much all of them lately and hasn't succeeded in getting any of them, so it's not too surprising he'd take what he can get.
December 14th, 2011 at 1:06 AM ^
he'll be there a maximum of three years before he goes to a bigger school. Just think, the schools that hired coaches last year and the ones this year may be needing new coaches again in three years. Insert Malzahn.
December 14th, 2011 at 5:44 AM ^
That seems like an odd move for him, but I wonder if he does want a quiet little corner of college football to call "his program" at this point in his career, not to mention the fact that his wife's outburst recently might have taken him off everyone's list except Arkansas State's. My inner Oliver Stone makes me think something is about to happen at Auburn too, if two coordinators have left for relatively obscure positions.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:09 AM ^
and after surveying them, they say Chizik is a complete domineering asshat who creates a craptastic environment for his assistants. Most likely they just wanted to get away from him.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:28 AM ^
Perhaps ADs at bigger schools have teh YouTube and have seen his wife's video, and here's guessing they don't want any part of that.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:46 AM ^
Well after the interview his wife gave I think that scared a lot of the bigger fish away.
December 14th, 2011 at 11:45 AM ^
Borges, Franklin, Malzahn...now what?
Gene Chizik came from Iowa State and did not impress at all in Ames.
December 14th, 2011 at 1:09 PM ^
Prediction: he'll be coaching Arkansas within a couple years, after they decide they're tired of Petrino.