Gus Malzahn Leaves Auburn For Arkansas State: Surprising, But Not Necessarily a Bad Move.
By Ty Duffy
Gus Malzahn will leave his post as Auburn’s offensive coordinator to assume the head coach position at ASU, Arkansas State University. He will stay at Auburn through the bowl game. Fresh off a Broyles award 12 months ago, Malzahn eschewed interest from Maryland and Vanderbilt, waiting for just the right BCS job to open for him. Today, he’s leaving for Arkansas State, a team that had not won seven games in FBS since rejoining in 1991 before last season. He’s also accepting a substantial pay cut, from $1.3 million to $850,000 per year. The move seems like a head-scratcher, but, looking closer, it may not be that bizarre.
Had Malzahn’s stock fallen that far? That’s plausible. A decline without Newton was expected, but not a cataclysmic one. Auburn’s offense declined from 7.4 yards per play in 2010 (3rd) to 5.14 yards per play in 2011 (84th). If you’re a less sophisticated AD looking at total yardage, that’s 499.2 per game (7th) to 328.2 per game (104th). One bad year does not kill a stellar resume, but it would alleviate the tumescence enough for interviewers to question his lack of head coaching experience.
Malzahn could just be a poor interviewer. His wife’s video, mysteriously removed from the Internet, might have hurt his candidacy. Whatever the reason, he was not getting jobs he thinks he should have landed. Arkansas State may have been his best offer, and taking that job may put him in a better position than staying at Auburn.
Reports suggest unhappiness was a factor in Malzahn’s departure. We’ll assume he was not homesick. His offense is predicated on a “fast and furious” no huddle pace. Like Chip Kelly’s system at Oregon, he wants to run plays as quickly as possible to exhaust opponents and keep them off balance. Without a Cam Newton, that pace becomes critical.
Malzahn’s stated goal is to run 80 plays per game. Auburn eclipsed 65 plays four times in 12 games, compared to nine times in 14 in 2010. In those five games, two were slugfests (Alabama and Clemson) and three were games the offense was just running efficiently (179 points combined). Whether it was personnel, inexperience or shielding an atrocious defense, Auburn was not running his offense this season. Undoubtedly, that was frustrating. It was also making him look bad.
Arkansas State is neither Maryland nor Vanderbilt, but if it was his best option that may not be a bad move. He could exploit his Arkansas high school connections, win quickly in Jonesboro and be in discussion for a solid BCS job as soon as next winter. (It worked for Hugh Freeze). He might win quicker than he would have at Kansas and with far less media pressure.
An interesting question is what happens at Auburn. In less than a year, Gene Chizik has gone from BCS title winner to jettisoning both his coordinators. You can’t wholly discredit his undefeated season. Falloff this year was inevitable given the roster turnover, and he actually hit the over on wins. Still, without Cam Newton, Chizik is 13-10 against FBS teams (17-29 total) and 7-9 in the SEC. He’s not beyond proving himself as a head coach.
Without Gus Malzahn involved we’re in for some pure, unadulterated Chizik. If the new coordinator hires don’t go well, it’s not inconceivable he and his sweet leather jacket could be looking for another job in a few years.
Previously: Kristi Malzahn, Gus Malzahn’s Wife, is Quite Talkative