OT: Gus Malzahn to Vanderbilt

Submitted by JC3 on

He's been mentioned at many smaller schools for a while, now he gets the chance to coach in the SEC. Malzahn to Vanderbilt, according to the Washington Post. Only five years removed from coaching in the 5A state championship game in ARK, very impressive career so far.

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JClay

December 12th, 2010 at 6:06 PM ^

Man, I would've held out for a better gig. With their ethics and academics, Vandy cannot compete in the SEC. Malzahn is a spread guru and can take credit for a lot of Auburns offense.

Joined: 09/14/2010

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Sambojangles

December 12th, 2010 at 6:33 PM ^

It's not as bad as you think. The spread was designed in part to counteract the advantages big schools with power teams had, which is why it works at WVU, Texas Tech, Boise, etc. It was made for the underdog.

Plus, the SEC East is weak, especially with Florida now struggling, in addition to Tennessee and Georgia. If he can beat two of the three, he'll be a hero, and be the big name looking for an elite job in a few years. 

Joined: 12/15/2008

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expatriate

December 12th, 2010 at 6:42 PM ^

Malzahn wasn't going to get an elite job right away, especially not in his first head coaching gig.  He gets to coach in the SEC and if he even gets them to a couple bowl games he will be in a position to get one of the big name jobs.  ADs just want to see a little success from him as HC and he will get a lot of interviews.

Joined: 12/15/2009

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Born Blue

December 12th, 2010 at 8:28 PM ^

Let's see...he has a Heisman Trophy winner to his credit, and if he beats Oregon, a Nat'l Championship to his credit, with that combination, I can tell ya, there are not may of those around are there?  Yeah, if that's the apex, few reach it, so yeah.  I love Bo, but these are two things NOT on his resume...where's the justice in that?

Joined: 11/04/2010

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CRex

December 12th, 2010 at 6:18 PM ^

If the 3 million a year rumor is true then Vandy is getting serious about football.  

Also Les Miles must love this.  His salary is that of the next highest paid coach plus one dollar.  If little old Vandy is dropping 3 million for talent, imagine what big programs are going to end up dropping.  

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JC3

December 12th, 2010 at 6:25 PM ^

The only problem is their facilities are still extremely lacking, and they should have put money forth for both. But I understand they must have really wanted Gus.

Joined: 07/17/2009

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WolverineBlue

December 12th, 2010 at 6:39 PM ^

If another SEC coach signed a contract with a similar clause to Les Miles (next highest plus $1) ... would both he and Les Miles be legally entitiled to an infinite salary?

Edit: ^^^ looks like someone else beat me to the same thought! Then again, I have also seen where the clause is actually next highest +$1000; yet both Urban Meyer and Nick Saban reportedly are paid more than Miles. So, have fun lawyers!

Joined: 01/09/2010

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CRex

December 12th, 2010 at 6:47 PM ^

http://i.usatoday.net/sports/graphics/2009/coaches-contracts/pdf/miles_lsu.pdf

Looks like it was changed to "Total Compensation shall be no less than highest in SEC + 1k".  This was due to issues over private schools not releasing salary info and making it harder.  

The legalese version is there is a difference between (base) salary and total compensation.  So the contact says Les gets the salary +1k, but Meyer/Saban can still have a higher total compensation with bonuses, etc.  

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Clarence Beeks

December 12th, 2010 at 6:43 PM ^

If this is true it'll be really interesting to see if this is effective immediately or after Auburn's season is over.  If this takes effect before the national chapionship game then Auburn might be in big, big trouble.  Granted, Auburn didn't have Cam Newton last year, but the difference in the basic nature of Auburn's offense between this year and last year is vast.  I really think this would have a huge impact on Auburn, even with Newton in the line up.

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mejunglechop

December 12th, 2010 at 6:54 PM ^

I wonder if he leaves before the championship game. And who knows whether he'll be anywhere near as good a head coach as he was a coordinator. Finally, I can't believe Vandy would pay their coach almost a million dollars more than we pay ours.

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Magnus

December 12th, 2010 at 9:53 PM ^

Hopefully the loss of Malzahn hurts Auburn's chances in the NC game.  I don't want a cheater winning the NC game just so they can take it away and declare that, well, uhh...I guess nobody won the national championship at the end of the 2010 season.

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Clarence Beeks

December 12th, 2010 at 11:08 PM ^

I can't see it not hurting Auburn in the NC game.  The difference in Auburn's offense was night and day between this year and last year, Newton not withstanding.  The first couple of games, before they really started leaning on Newton, it was a vastly different offense than anything they ran last year.  There will probably be enough carryover staff and familiarity with the playbook, but man, I would have to think this really hurts Auburn's chances in this game.  They are going to have to be firing on all cylinders to keep up with Oregon, anyway.

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