Calling plays has Gus Malzahn feeling like himself again, and Auburn's offense is clearly benefiting
Malzahn's comfort is apparent, and the Tigers offense is humming better than it has in years
By
Dennis Dodd
•
7 min read
The Gus Malzahn you see wears sweater vests, speaks in low tones and does a heck of a job imitating a middle school teacher.
The Gus Malzahn you don't see is an offensive mad scientist, wearing out film and white boards in equal measure before turning his attention to that week's opponent.
That's another way of saying the old Gus is also back at Auburn. And that's a good thing.
"He just looks like he's having fun out there again," wide receiver Anthony Schwartz told reporters this week. "He's not really stressing. He's just doing what he does. He's one of the best play callers in the country, and we trust him."
Malzahn calling plays again is one of this season's most notable developments. It's hard to believe one of the game's best play callers hasn't done it on a regular basis since 2015.
Don't ask why it's been that way for one of the few humans walking the Earth to have beaten Nick Saban twice. It's complicated.
"Like I said three years ago, you live and learn as a head coach," Malzahn said. "That was the direction we went."
That's Malzahn -- understated in the face of upheaval. In this case, his return to the call sheet has No. 7 Auburn undefeated and headed to face No. 10 Florida in a matchup that will help define the season.
The Tigers are doing it with a true freshman quarterback, a stout defense and what one associate called a "savant" calling plays.
"He said what?" Malzahn asked.
A savant. The term is defined as "a learned person, an intellectual, a scholar, a sage."
"Oh, golly. I think I've been real blessed to coach a lot of really, really talented offenses that allow me to do a lot of creative things," Malzahn responded.
OK, it's only football not the discovery of penicillin. But lest we forget, Malzahn coordinated a championship offense for Gene Chizik with Cam Newton at his disposal in 2010. Three years later as a head coach, his Tigers got nipped by Florida State in the final seconds of the last BCS Championship Game.
His love for callin' ball never left. It just got stowed in the closet. Before that 2016 season, Rhett Lashlee was installed offensive coordinator. A sub-par 7-6 season in 2015 might explain why. Lashlee lasted a season. When Chip Lindsey arrived as OC in 2017, Malzahn said he was "retiring" his clipboard full of plays.
In the following two seasons, Auburn finished sixth and 11th in the SEC in total offense.
"It came out of retirement," Malzahn said this week.
The Tigers are currently averaging its most points per game (38) since 2013.
Arkansas State athletic director Terry Mohajir inherited Malzahn when he took the job in September 2012; it was the coach's one and only season in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
"He's very methodical. He's very systematic. He's a rhythm play caller," Mohajir said. "I would sit in game plan prep. His game plan flows extremely well when he can run the ball."
Malzahn is always at his best with a power running game. Consider the Auburn backs he has coached -- Michael Dyer, Tre Mason, Kamryn Pettway, Kenyon Johnson. Boobie Whitlow is on pace for a 1,200-yard season.
Against Oregon in the opener, the Ducks dominated for most of three quarters. A Tigers team trying to find its legs with a freshman quarterback was being pushed around. Something changed midway through the third quarter when Auburn began running the ball with authority.
That freshman quarterback, Bo Nix, started 9 of 25. He finished by going 4 of 6 on the final drive -- ending with the eventual game-winning pass with 9 seconds left.
A mid-range field goal would have been more prudent, but that's Malzahn.
"Oh snap," WR Seth Williams said at the time, "I just won the game."
The offense might have fully formed last week against Mississippi State. Nix completed 16 of 21 for 335 yards. Williams returned from a shoulder injury to catch a career-high eight balls for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Schwartz -- an Olympic-level sprinter -- scored on a jet sweep against the Bulldogs a week after scoring on this 57-yard reverse.
Anthony Schwartz booking it to the end zone. #Devy #DevyWatch pic.twitter.com/jD3M0Jw5pv
— Greg Brandt (@devywarehouse) September 21, 2019
"We kind of go by [what hash mark we're on]," Schwartz said. "So when I knew when we were on that hash, I'm like, 'OK, I'm ready.' And then coach called it and I'm like, 'All right, touchdown. Get the band ready.'"
Malzahn's band goes back to Shiloh Christian School in Springdale, Arkansas. It was there he was the genius behind back-to-back state titles.
"Gus would be in his office. He was a film watcher, dissecting looking for the weak players," said John Elder, a member of that Shiloh staff. "He would sit there on Saturday mornings. After watching some film, he had a whiteboard in there writing down plays that he thought would be effective."
When Elder watched Auburn use "The Freeze" twice in the Oregon game, he was not surprised. At the snap of the ball, Auburn offensive linemen don't move or "freeze" at their positions. It throws the defense off.
Oregon was tricked on both plays, jumping offside on one and watching Nix complete a 23-yard pass on the other.
With Malzahn calling plays at Arkansas in 2006, the Hogs beat Auburn with a trick play called "Woody." It has been copied, as is the case with most successful trick plays.
The man is back to being a human joystick. Since Malzahn took back play-calling duties ahead of the 2018 Music City Bowl, the Tigers are 6-0.
"A lot of times guys will say, 'We can't do that,' or, 'We've never done that,'" said Texas offensive line coach Herb Hand, who was with Malzahn at Tulsa and Auburn. "Particularly when we were at Tulsa, our mentality was, 'How can we do this? How can we make this work?'"
There is a vision of the young Malzahn that endures. In a small, unpretentious office, the 2007 Tulsa staff included Todd Graham as head coach, Malzahn and Hand as co-offensive coordinators. The Golden Hurricane that year sported a 5,000-yard passer (Paul Smith), a 1,000-yard receiver (Charles Clay) and a 1,000-yard rusher (Tarrion Adams).
"Todd gave me a chance to really establish myself as a college coach," Malzahn said. "He said, 'Hey, play fast, run no huddle, trick plays, whatever you want to do.'"
If Steve Spurrier brought the modern forward pass to the SEC, Malzahn was the league's Chip Kelly -- using tempo to fatigue defenses.
Saban was so concerned about tempo offenses that he once questioned their effect on player safety. That assertion seems laughable now.
"We were one of the only ones in our league," Malzahn said. "Everybody does it now. … It was a lot of fun 10 years ago when everybody was griping about it and all that stuff."
Malzahn's staying power deserves mention. The middle school teacher persona endures. Watching him operate, it's hard to believe that he can be so merciless as a play caller.
The game-tying touchdown pass in the 2013 Kick Six game against Alabama might as well be a training film for the run-pass option.
"He doesn't cuss or anything like that," Hand said. "I would tell him he's got G-rated Tourette syndrome.
"He'll 'durn it.' He'll throw in some 'bullcraps.'"
(One of the symptoms of Tourette syndrome is a compulsion to utter obscenities.)
Malzahn first realized he could coach while working at the local Fort Smith, Arkansas, Boys & Girls Club. As a sophomore in high school, he coached baseball, football and soccer.
"I just fell in love," he said. "I knew it was my calling."
Auburn wouldn't be Auburn without Malzahn being on the hot seat. Things are good, for now, but reports surfaced during the offseason that a faction of boosters were willing to buy Malzahn out after the first season of a seven-year, $49 million contract.
In that sense, Malzahn deserves our pity. Yeah, he's rich beyond most folks' dreams. He also doesn't deserve the harassment. A recent report stated a powerful Auburn trustee was targeting Bob Stoops to be the Tigers' next coach early in this undefeated season.
An Auburn trustee being in position to reportedly call the shots is the same reason Stoops isn't coming.
Malzahn had a chance two years ago to take the same $49 million deal at either Arkansas or Auburn. Why pick The Plains after enduring all that aggravation?
The decision came down to simply being more comfortable at Auburn, a source close to Malzahn told CBS Sports.
Imagine that.
"It's been refreshing this year being out there with players and not worrying about anything else," Malzahn said.
