Re: Auburn will be a first class wreck
Gus Malzahn was the defacto head coach when he was at Auburn. His offense won the championship two years ago. He called plays for Cam Newton and the rest in history. At times on the sidelines Malzahn looked to be more in control than Chizik did. Granted Chizik got credit for hiring him (it was actually Pat Dye) but it was Malzahn's offense that helped them win. Not Chizik's defense. Malzahn will get a big gig soon once he has a good season at Arkansas State. Chizik is supposed to be a defensive whiz but his defenses have been very questionable since he took over there. We'll see how the offense does with a new coordinator. Van Gorder was a good hire for their defense but let's be honest: Auburn dosen't have the same caliber of athletes that Georgia had when he was coaching there. They'll improve but it's not going to be a huge increase like people think.
Back before Chiz came to Auburn as DC, he studied the Tampa Bay Bucks defense. There were no/few colleges at the time using that scheme. He brought that scheme to AU and it worked until it was no longer new to college football. That is the Chiz claim to fame. And it worked for him by getting him more and more responsible positions and pay.
Chiz is the epitome of the Peter Principle and to my knowing, has done nothing since he copied that pro defense.
I contend a true offensive genious would have had better results for Auburn than they had in 2011 (post-Cam)
Malz went to Arky State which is LOADED with talent. And I believe he had planned to take M Dyer with him all along but Dyer screwed that pooch. Cam could make me look like Knute Rockne so the jury is still out on Malz...especially if at his new gig he has to ease up using street agents like his Arky ol' bud Walt. He was smart enough to go to a place already loaded with experienced players, that way he doesn't have to rebuild and can use that job to springboard to somewhere that can win FBS games like maybe Tennessee, Notre Dame or even Texas if they don't get back up around 10 wins.