The History of Gus Malzahn (ESPN article)

[LoboCane]

This is a very informative article that was written right after Gus got fired at Auburn…I encourage everyone to read it. Does this sound familiar?

Malzahn would ping-pong from being the CEO he said he needed to be and the hands-on coach he said he really was. He'd give offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee playcalling duties only to later take them back. Then Lashlee left for UConn, and Malzahn hired Chip Lindsey and handed him the keys to the offense. And true to form, Malzahn would call that "a mistake" and take control once again when he hired Kenny Dillingham as Lindsey's replacement.

Even this past offseason, Malzahn couldn't help changing his mind once more as he hired his buddy and former Arkansas coach Chad Morris to run the offense, giving Morris playcalling duties, which he appeared to maintain throughout the season.

Why did Auburn pay Gus Malzahn $21.7 million to walk away? Offensive woes top list

Gus Malzahn nearly won a national championship in just his 14th game at Auburn. The seven seasons that followed were defined by a frustrating and futile attempt to scale the same heights.

www.espn.com

 

[LoboCane]

The article also explains why he hires who he hires. He is said to be very “secretive and paranoid”.

 

[AuburnLegacy_1]

This is a very informative article that was written right after Gus got fired at Auburn…I encourage everyone to read it. Does this sound familiar?

Why did Auburn pay Gus Malzahn $21.7 million to walk away? Offensive woes top list

Gus Malzahn nearly won a national championship in just his 14th game at Auburn. The seven seasons that followed were defined by a frustrating and futile attempt to scale the same heights.

www.espn.com

Every word of that is accurate, but not every word is true.

"Rather than go faster and apply even more pressure, Gus slowed down the tempo."

That statement is accurate, but that writer isn't being truthful or lacks understanding. Of all Gus's accomplishments at Auburn, this is the one area where Gus grew the most and became a visionary.

Gus get ZERO CREDIT, ZERO CREDIT, for stealing uat's/sabahr's defense and bringing it to Auburn. Gus hired two back-to-back Nick Saban protege's in Will Muschamp and Kevin Steele to coach his defense.

Gus even slowed down the tempo of his offense to help strengthen his defense. Not only that, Gus bolstered the Auburn special teams with an NFL kicker and an NFL punter.

Under Gus, Auburn went from winning with explosive offense and points (2013-14) to winning with defense and special teams (2017-2019). Yet he gets ZERO CREDIT, ZERO CREDIT, for this transformation because he is an "offensive head coach." An "offensive head coach" cannot win with defense and special teams?

Gus saw the bugger picture. The NCAA, Mark Emmert, and sabahr had changed the rules to make Gus's offense less effective, so Gus stole sabahr's way of playing defensive football. And it worked. Auburn looked more like the 1992 uat team than the Auburn 2010 team in Gus's later years. (Curry and Copeland will pick Gino Torretta up.)

Rushing offense, stellar defense, and great special teams play still win football games.

 

[LoboCane]

Paranoia Gus

But Malzahn kept his circle unusually small, most notably including fellow hurry-up disciples Art Briles and Hugh Freeze. One coach who worked with Malzahn said he maintained a siloed program. Another pointed out how his staff was intentionally stacked with acolytes, his former players or low-level assistants.

The word "paranoid" was often used by colleagues and former co-workers to describe Malzahn, who is said to have once sent a member of the support staff out of practice because he graduated from the school Auburn was playing that week. One coach said Malzahn even made a habit of harping on scout team players about keeping game plans a secret from their family and girlfriends. He picked up the reputation of being difficult with NFL scouts, restricting their access for fear that information would leak.

 

[AuburnLegacy_1]

Good luck to UCF fans with “Paranoia Gus” in charge.

I am keeping it 💯! The greatest travesty of Gus's career at Auburn is he gets ZERO CREDIT for transforming his entire philosophy to play to the strengths of his team. Not even when Gus had the NCAA Defensive POTY did he get any credit for the defense.

Conversely, sabahr got all kinds of praise for changing the uat offense from power run-based to a more uptempo, no huddle pass happy attack.

BUT.... BUT.... BUT .....

Do you realize uat won just one national title after changing its offensive identity?????

Let me jog your memory....

Jalen Hurts got injured and Tua Tagovailoa hit a miracle touchdown pass to Devonte Smith to beat thuga, which had outplayed uat all over the field and truly deserved to win the game.

 

[LoboCane]

AuburnLegacy_1 HAS to be:

1: Related to Gus Malzahn.
2. In love with Gus Malzahn.
3. Clinically insane.

That’s it…there are no more options.

 

[jtGoldenKnights]

This article is 4 years old...you must be really bored.

 

[LoboCane]

This article is 4 years old...you must be really bored.

Lmao. He’s doing the EXACT same thing at UCF.

 

[goodknightfl]

I guess as usual the UM boards are incredibly boring again. Nothing to see or read there.

 

[KnighttimeJoe]

Lobocane is that retarded kid you weren’t allowed to make fun of since he rode the short bus because he was, well, retarded.

 

[AuburnLegacy_1]

AuburnLegacy_1 HAS to be:

1: Related to Gus Malzahn.
2. In love with Gus Malzahn.
3. Clinically insane.

That’s it…there are no more options.

LOL.

Yeah definitely Gus. Dude is a Texas native who grew up in Arkansas and couldn't even find Auburn, Ala., on a map if his life depended on it until he became a college coach.

You do realize that no one in Gus's genealogical history has ever played for a college national championship, much less won titles at Auburn and uat.

I didn't even know Gus existed until 2007. I met Gus only one once in my life. We spoke about 10-15 seconds after the 2014 spring game. But I knew he was a man of profound moral character.

I didn't even want Auburn to hire Gus. I wanted PIGtrino. Joe Whitt, Sr., a longtime Auburn LB Coach and father of the current Washington Redskins DC by the same namesake, once called PIGtrino "the greatest X's and O's coach to ever walk the sidelines at Auburn " Whit, Sr. is a legend around Auburn: https://www.247sports.com/Article/joe-whitt-an-auburn-mans-story-37591931/

Gus is not the X's and O's coach PIGtrino is, but Gus is also nothing like Petrino off the field, either.

Get back on topic....

Per the article you just posted, the only negative things can be said about Gus in 10 years of coaching are as follows:

No. 1, He doesn't trust former assistant coaches who dish anonymously on his behaviors and practices to former uat beat writer Alex Scarborough:

(BTW, Scarborough is definitely a reliable and unbiased source to be writing a column on Gus and Auburn football. I am also certain that lifelong Florida State beat writers would just gush over former 'u' coaches.)

No. 2, He doesn't steal ideas from coaching peers and doesn't want them to steal from his.

No. 3, Scarborough said Gus had some blue chips players who got arrested and "flamed out." You don't say? Gus typically gets rid of law breakers. It is hard for players who are kicked off the team to 'pan out.' I am a little confused on how Jarrett Stidham "didn't pan out" despite being one of only one of two quarterbacks in Auburn history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season and a starting NFL quarterback.

I could go on, but you get the picture.

 

[AuburnLegacy_1]

"From 2013 to 2016, Auburn's offense ranked 25th in the FBS in points per game. But since 2018, the Tigers have fallen to 50th in scoring.".

Yeah bammer... Conveniently leave out the SEC Championship Game appearance when Auburn had a 3,000-yard passer AND 1,000-yard rusher in the same season for the first time in the 100+ year history of Auburn football. Just like a bammer beat writer to omit a THRASHING of sabahr and then-No. 1 uat (no "'Kick Six' and the 'Prayer at Jordan-Hare' and so many other magical moments" necessary!)



"It's unclear how much of the offense changed under Morris and how much of the learning curve was curtailed by COVID-19, which prevented Auburn from holding spring practice or meeting in person for much of the offseason."

Make no mistake: COVID, Gus's outward support of social justice, and the hiring of Chad Morris ultimately led to Gus's dismissal. Gus getting vaxxed did not play well and his backing of the social justice movement lost Gus the support of a powerful Auburn trustee (Raymond Harbert) who had stood by Gus when Jimmy Rane did not.

Auburn football reports 9 positive COVID-19 cases, others quarantined during 'challenging week'

In all, Auburn was missing 16 players last week due to COVID-19, which is part of why the team had to cancel three practices.

www.montgomeryadvertiser.com

Morris was the nail in the coffin.

 

[SCKnight]

I am convinced that the two main guys on this board are the same person...

 

[AuburnLegacy_1]

I am convinced that the two main guys on this board are the same person...

Brandon and Lobo?