Auburn Tigers’ offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn in a Q&A with the Mobile Press-Register provided this revelation that should worry Auburn fans:
Q: Are you the same coach today that you were when you first stepped on campus at Arkansas?

A: I think each year as a coach, you take those experiences and they make you better in the future. I like to think I’m better each year no matter what level. That’s the goal. As a person, I’m definitely the same person I was when I first started coaching as I am right now.

Read that again: I’m definitely the same person I was when I first started coaching as I am right now.

Uh oh. Malzahn was a disruptive force on the Arkansas coaching staff. Houston Nutt is one of the finest coaches and best men in college football; however, even Nutt couldn’t handle Malzahn.

Malzahn was a cancer on the Arkansas staff, and never had the right attitude to bend his ego and will to the greater good of the program. You have to be able to work with people, and he couldn’t work with that coaching staff.

Malzahn is another Tony Franklin, who was a man who couldn’t work with Tommy Tuberville and his successful Auburn staff. He is a coach who pursues his own agenda at the expense of the rest of the staff. If Malzahn hasn’t changed, then Auburn fans should be looking for another disaster with the spread. Auburn’s only hope is that Gene Chizik is a better coach than Nutt. I wouldn’t hold my breath.

18 thoughts on “Worry Auburn fans!”

  1. I think you’ve got your cancers backward. Houston Nutt is a liar and a cheat who will stop at nothing to get people to come on board with him. Had Nutt do as he said he would, Malzahn would have guided the Razorback offense to a 8-5 record in during their 10-4 season. No SEC West title, no McFadden heisman runner-up campaign.

    So why would that 8-5 be more desirable than the 10-4 that Houston ended up with? Because, the next season the Razorbacks would have been a National Title Contender with McFadden, Jones and Hillis being accompanied by the passing attack of Williams and Mustain.

    Nutt can’t think about the future, he can only focus on today and if he has to break promises that he makes along the way, so be it.

    All Malzahn wanted to do is what Nutt told him he would be doing. Nutt lied.

    And if Petrino ever bolts from Arkansas, you can bet the fans here are going to be calling for Malzahn because we have a much different idea of who he is than what you are indicating in your column.

  2. Thanks for sharing that. I’ve been told both versions, but I have always believed Nutt’s side of it. Leaders always end up having subordinates like Malzahn claiming they were lied to.

    A subordinate is there to follow orders. Malzahn, Franklin and others with a big ego can’t subordinate their own will to that of the organization.

    It just bugs me.

  3. Kinda like the way you have been taking Tubbs side instead of Franklins lately, huh Cap ? Good grief.

  4. I think I wrote about this before taking Tuberville’s side. People who are disloyal like Franklin annoy me.

    One GOOD thing about Chizik is his military style. That might make him more capable of handling disloyal subordinates.

  5. Regardless, as an Alabama fan, I look at it as if he took way too big of a step going from a high school head coach one year, to an SEC offensive coordinator the next. It may not sound big, but that’s one hell of a major transition if you ask me.

    If it was his fault, maybe it was the newness and the fact that he wasn’t going to be intimidated by the step he took.

    But who knows really.

  6. Cap, I think it’s blatantly obvious that there was a lot of dissension in the ranks at Arkansas before Malzahn got there, and it was still there after he left. For God sakes, Nutt was forced out the day after beating the #1 ranked team in the country on the freakin’ road. Malzahn was a distant memory at that point.

    It’s not that much of a shock that Malzahn didn’t fit in at Arkansas, kind of like Franklin at AU. Nutt hired Malzahn solely to snag Mitch Mustain, despite the fact that Malzahn and Nutt and his staff were polar opposites in offensive philosophy. (also sounds eerily familiar). No doubt that also made the Ark staff defensive right off the bat. If the Franklin-AU and Malzhan-Ark episodes prove anything, it’s that you’ve got to have good chemistry on the staff.

    P.S. I still think Franklin can run a good offense under the proper circumstances. It’s essentially the exact same offense that Leach is running at Texas Tech, and God knows he’s lighting up the scoreboard. Franklin just wasn’t going to work out with Tubs’ staff, though.

  7. I tend to agree about chemistry. You either need it or need someone who could force it.

    I also agree that under the right circumstances Franklin could run a good offense. The problem is he isn’t very disciplined…just look at how he runs his mouth.

    The thing that would worry me if I were an Auburn fan is how sanctimonious Malzahn is about his time at Arkansas. Personally, I detest insubordination. But Malzahn doesn’t seem to think he did anything wrong.

  8. yeah cap, let’s not forget how malzahn worked the players families to create dissention behind nutt’s back.

    it’s also interesting to recall mike leach’s latest bowl game.

    what was that score???

  9. and for the record i’m not a big fan of houston nutt and believe he’ll eventually be drummed out of oxford just like everybody else has.

  10. Cappy, this is wishful thinking on your part.

    BTW, Nutt was the one being stabbed in the back…that’s Ms. Nutt! Remember the texting scandal????

    Nutt is such a great moral leader…pfft!!!

  11. The Auburn Bashing continues… This site should be renamed, the Capstone Report and AUBURN bashing site… 40% of the articles are bashing Auburn with nothing more than biased opinion.. it is an embarassment…

  12. I was being sarcastic cap….In reference to the Franklin interviews that have been critical of Auburn. Yall love it. Where is the disdane for not being loyal in that case?

  13. Ah… I can see it is time for the heavyweight to weigh in on this tete-a-tete.
    Lets see…
    Auburn has a wish for a QB.
    Auburn has recievers who are incapable of catching a cold in a public elementary school.
    Auburn’s offensive line is attrociously bad. And has anorexic depth.
    The defense is really no better than the one Alabama ran over in the last Iron bowl.
    The kicker is hot and cold like running water in a hotel room.
    And finally Malzahn has many things in common with tony Franklin.
    High School offensive Guru. Problems at previous College coaching jobs.
    and no talent left to run his grandiose offensive scheme.
    also he will probably be out before the first year is done.
    Malzahn should have stayed in Tulsa. In less than a year the auburn fanbase will be openly criticizing him as an imbecile.

  14. BASH BITCHES BASH!!!

    When the game is played and the dust is settled.
    We will see who the man is by the goods he has pettled.

    Kepp on giving your opinions and you guys better rememeber some of you 06 predictions 🙂

  15. Cap……Why dont you write an article on the recent release of football generated revenue ? We have a larger warchest than you guys. YOU ARE THE ONES WHO SHOULD BE WORRIED. AUBURN OVERALL RANK #6 IN THE COUNTRY…..BAMA #8…..HOW DO YALL LIKE THEM APPLES ? OVER 3 MILL MORE LAST Y4EAR THAN YOU GUYS AND ONLY 120,000 LESS THAN NOTRE DAME.

  16. Actually, those numbers are out of date. The numbers I produced on total athletic department budgets were on the most recent budget year.

    Alabama’s total budget was almost $100 million last year, according to what I was told.

  17. Budget perhaps, But that article was on total revenue. You know , money coming in…….We also won in total revenue for all sports……..SPIN AWAY !!!!

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