Auburn hires Gus Malzahn as its next head football coach

[ralaw]

Auburn is expected to hire Gus Malzahn as its 26th head football coach and will maintain ties to its first national championship since 1957, according to multiple reports.

Malzahn was the second assistant coach Gene Chizik hired at Auburn, serving as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator from 2009 to 2011. He was named Arkansas State’s head coach last offseason, the first time he was ever hired as a head coach at the college level.

The Red Wolves are 9-3 and Sun Belt Conference champions under Malzahn. They will play at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Week 3 next season.

Malzahn, 47, will replace Chizik, who was fired two years after the Tigers’ first national championship since 1957, one day after the program’s worst season in 60 years. Auburn finished 3-9 this fall, low lighted by a 49-0 drubbing at No. 2 Alabama that was the second-worst Iron Bowl loss in the series’ 77-game history.

An Irving, Texas, native, Malzahn likely will be a popular hire within Auburn’s fan base. He also represents a bit of repeated history. Chizik, like Malzahn, was an Auburn coordinator during an undefeated season on the Plains before leaving for another program and returning as head coach.

Malzahn, along with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton, received much of the credit for the Tigers 2010 national championship. Behind a rushing attack that ranked fifth nationally with 284.79 yards per game, Auburn’s offense was seventh in scoring (41.2 points per game) and total offense (499.2 yards per game) in 2010.
Now, Auburn’s offense has fallen to staggering lows. Malzahn’s presence should help provide a considerable boost.

Arkansas State’s 36.4 points per game was 21st nationally, as was its 217.4 rushing yards per game. The Tigers, meanwhile, ranked 114th nationally out of 124 Division I teams with 18.7 points per game and 118th in total offense with 305 yards per game.

One unknown with Malzahn is his relative college coaching inexperience. Before coming to Auburn in 2009, Malzahn spent two seasons as Tulsa’s offensive coordinator and one at Arkansas. He arrived in Fayetteville in 2006 from Springdale (Ark.) High, where he coached highly-touted quarterback Mitch Mustain.

Malzahn’s coaching career began as a defensive coordinator at Hughes (Ark.) High in 1991. He spent 15 seasons as a high school coach before moving to college.

Auburn reportedly interviewed Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart for its vacancy Monday. The Tigers were also believed to be interested in TCU coach Gary Patterson and Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher, among others.

 

[NAHSTE]

No brainer of a hire. Kind of like his wife.

 

[Glenbino]

Fianlly. And now he won't have Gene Chizik and Ted Roof around to mess things up anymore. Auburn is a national contender by 2015 again.

 

[Rudi]

Good hire.