So it appears now that former Arkansas and Tulsa offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn is taking his ‘High School Musical’ on the road down to the ‘Loveliest Village On The Plains.’
Just a couple of weeks ago, we wrote here about how the hiring of Gene Chizik at Auburn was good news for the other members of the SEC West. But with the addition of Malzahn, things may have gotten a little more complicated.
We use the word ‘may’ because, as Hog fans learned, hiring a coordinator means nothing if he’s not allowed to do it his way. And whether or not you landed in the camp of believing Malzahn was ready in 2006 for the SEC, few would now argue that the offense he ‘coordinated’ at Arkansas was his own.
Now it will be interesting to watch what Malzahn’s first season offense at Auburn will look like.
For a program that seemed to reject the ‘newfangled’ spread offense under former coordinator Tony Franklin, it will most certainly require some patience and faith. And those are two qualities that ‘Auburn Nation’ hasn’t been showing much lately.
So here’s a word of advice to meddling Auburn boosters…learn from our mistakes. Let Gus be Gus and enjoy the ride. Whether or not that ride will take you to glorious heights…we can’t say for sure.
But it will help us settle a bet with Frank about whether or not Malzahn’s offense will work in the SEC.
I wish Gus all of the best… just not against us!
His offence didnt work this year against the Hogs and we were on a down year. So why would it work any better in Auburn? The good recruiting is going to Alabama so I have a hard time believing the players will be that much better in Auburn. Guess time will tell. Goodluck Gus!
Like I said before, they have the wrong QB to begin with. Kodi Burns is no where close to being the guy to run that type of offense.
I can't remember his name, but AU has another QB that started the first half of the season when Franklin was still there. I can see him starting again next season with Kodi being moved somewhere else in the package.
Could we see a Wild Tiger offensive package next season at Auburn?
I can also see Kodi transferring to another school too.
I wish Gus the best. I just hope he doesn't become too much of a problem for Petrino & Co. He'll certainly have more talent to work with.
I think what everyone still misunderstands is that Gus gets the ball in the hands of playmakers. If it is handing off to running backs then so be it. If it is a superb quarterback then so be it. Spread is getting one on one mismatches set up and getting the ball there. I hope he succeeds. It is good for our State.
Auburn is supposed to have lots of talent according to the star system. It was surprising to see them fold so badly last season. Since we heard of no dissention among the players last season that is a coaching issue which may have been fixed with the hires. However, if they do not have the receivers next year and they stay healthy, they will have to run the ball as they use to do. I have not checked their returning offensive players but likely they have a full stable of great players. Running the ball would have served them well last season but if you do not have the coaching staff on the same page some assistants needed to go. I was surprised that it was Franklin who was canned. The change in head coach, although I believe Tubby is still a good recruiter but had problems keeping staff together, may help. Malzahnlikely learned his lesson at Arkansas and will stay on the same page this time and take input from others more experienced. This will be Malzahn's first test as THE offensive coordinator, whereas he was under a coach at Tulsa that knew more about the spread that Malzahn and was just a co-offensive coordinator at Tulsa. It should prove to be an interesting season for Auburn and the SEC.