Gus Malzahn Retires Effective Immediately

[alabama mike1]

I wish him well in retirement.

 

[Saban4Ever]

All of our September opponents will have a new OC. Our defense and coaches need to be ready!

 

[CB4]

Vested in FL retirement system?

Don’t think so. I think you have to have 8 years in Florida. I think he had four years at UCF and one year at

 

[dtgreg]

Don’t think so. I think you have to have 8 years in Florida. I think he had four years at UCF and one year at

Maybe he's working the Tuberville plan? Living in FL while he worked in Alabama?

 

[davefrat]

I never really had strong feelings about him one way or the other.

Best of luck in retirement.

 

[Joefus]

Would bet rent money he was given the option to retire or be fired. No one wants to end their career with two firings in two years

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I liked the guy's enthusiasm for the game, but he was never half as good as folks wanted to pretend.

He was brought to Arkansas so they could land Mitch Mustain - no other reason - and wound up the OC of the year by "Rivals." He smartly bolted from Houston the Nutt to Tulsa and then got his biggest break when Auburn's head coaching search somehow......SOMEHOW......landed on 5-19 Gene Chizik of Iowa State, probably the worst candidate they interviewed that cycle.

200K and a championship later, Gus was a legend. But he wasn't "that" good, he hung around for 2011 and the same Auburn team that easily would have been about 7-6 without Cam Newton was (wait for it) 8-5 and dropped from #4 overall in team offense to #70. Funny how he got credit for when they were good on offense but no blame when they were bad.

Gus might be the Lane Kiffin Lite of CFB as he made the smart decision to get the hell out of town after his powerhouse offense didn't score a single point against the 2011 Alabama defense. Let Chizik burn down his own village, which he did, and let Gus come back and save it, which he did.

Excluding his first-year "wow, look at us!" Gus was 32-26 in the SEC, which (for context) is basically the same six games over .500 that Jimbo Fisher managed at aTm (27-21) and slightly better than the peak of Mark Stoops at UK (25-25), who had 1/10 the resources Gus had. In all honesty, he had one stellar season (2013), two really good ones (2017, 2019) and mediocrity every other year.


His entire offense was based upon running the game so fast that even the officials couldn't keep up, and it's no accident that the moment they added an 8th official, his team pretty much was average at best. (It's like the Michigan fans nowadays who want to insist that Connor Stallions had nothing to do with them winning.......funny, they stunk before he was spying and they've stunk afterwards).


My favorite was when Gus insisted there was no evidence that running more plays led to more injuries, as if your odds of injury are the same just standing around as they are actually playing football. But then I saw several of his players suddenly suffer serious injuries during huddles and now I understand he was right.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

I read over on Warchant that his Mom is sick and he retired to spend more time with her and his family.

 

[LeBron47]

Goodbye Hughie we hardly knew thee… it seems like old times…

RTR!!!

 

[cdub55]

Excluding his first-year "wow, look at us!" Gus was 32-26 in the SEC, which (for context) is basically the same six games over .500 that Jimbo Fisher managed at aTm (27-21) and slightly better than the peak of Mark Stoops at UK (25-25), who had 1/10 the resources Gus had. In all honesty, he had one stellar season (2013), two really good ones (2017, 2019) and mediocrity every other year.

And what would Awbarn give to have been 32-26 again...

 

[BamaMoon]

Timing probably related to contract

Glad we dont have to deal with him again!

I too wonder how this might impact our opener with them. On one hand, we have a "clue" based on his history of what to expect...although he always had a wrinkle for Bama and he was highly motivated to beat us. On the other hand, a new OC leaves more question marks.

For optics sake, I really think CKD needs an impressive opener against FSU to quite concerns.

We don't need to win by 6 TDs, but we surely don't need to lose or struggle to win it.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Gus and Freeze hit the SEC with their hyper fast paced offenses and took advantage of DC's and players never having to play at that speed. But as the game adjusted, it was obvious the offense was just a gimmick. But they sure did make a lot of money while it lasted.

 

[bamajas]

I too wonder how this might impact our opener with them. On one hand, we have a "clue" based on his history of what to expect...although he always had a wrinkle for Bama and he was highly motivated to beat us. On the other hand, a new OC leaves more question marks.

For optics sake, I really think CKD needs an impressive opener against FSU to quite concerns.

We don't need to win by 6 TDs, but we surely don't need to lose or struggle to win it.

At least it'll be both teams' third games of the season, and they will have played SMU already, who should challenge/beat them

Our week 2 game vs UK could set up like last year's FSU game ... new offensive system, new & upgraded talent, on the road, we're heavily favored ... we better make more use of the offseason/fall camp than this past year

 

[BamaMoon]

At least it'll be both teams' third games of the season, and they will have played SMU already, who should challenge/beat them

Our week 2 game vs UK could set up like last year's FSU game ... new offensive system, new & upgraded talent, on the road, we're heavily favored ... we better make more use of the offseason/fall camp than this past year

Thanks for the headsup. I just assumed it was our opener. Glad we have East Carolina to open.

You are right about UK, although I feel much better about going there on the road than some places. It will surely be our first big test.

 

[22Musso22]

He now has more time to spend with his crazy wife...

 

[dtgreg]

Gus and Freeze hit the SEC with their hyper fast paced offenses and took advantage of DC's and players never having to play at that speed. But as the game adjusted, it was obvious the offense was just a gimmick. But they sure did make a lot of money while it lasted.

And officials who had never reffed the triple option.

 

[Padreruf]

I liked the guy's enthusiasm for the game, but he was never half as good as folks wanted to pretend.

He was brought to Arkansas so they could land Mitch Mustain - no other reason - and wound up the OC of the year by "Rivals." He smartly bolted from Houston the Nutt to Tulsa and then got his biggest break when Auburn's head coaching search somehow......SOMEHOW......landed on 5-19 Gene Chizik of Iowa State, probably the worst candidate they interviewed that cycle.

200K and a championship later, Gus was a legend. But he wasn't "that" good, he hung around for 2011 and the same Auburn team that easily would have been about 7-6 without Cam Newton was (wait for it) 8-5 and dropped from #4 overall in team offense to #70. Funny how he got credit for when they were good on offense but no blame when they were bad.

Gus might be the Lane Kiffin Lite of CFB as he made the smart decision to get the hell out of town after his powerhouse offense didn't score a single point against the 2011 Alabama defense. Let Chizik burn down his own village, which he did, and let Gus come back and save it, which he did.

Excluding his first-year "wow, look at us!" Gus was 32-26 in the SEC, which (for context) is basically the same six games over .500 that Jimbo Fisher managed at aTm (27-21) and slightly better than the peak of Mark Stoops at UK (25-25), who had 1/10 the resources Gus had. In all honesty, he had one stellar season (2013), two really good ones (2017, 2019) and mediocrity every other year.


His entire offense was based upon running the game so fast that even the officials couldn't keep up, and it's no accident that the moment they added an 8th official, his team pretty much was average at best. (It's like the Michigan fans nowadays who want to insist that Connor Stallions had nothing to do with them winning.......funny, they stunk before he was spying and they've stunk afterwards).


My favorite was when Gus insisted there was no evidence that running more plays led to more injuries, as if your odds of injury are the same just standing around as they are actually playing football. But then I saw several of his players suddenly suffer serious injuries during huddles and now I understand he was right.

I thought he had a gimmicky offense at the time...but later realized that he pushed the limits of the rules which in and of itself is not illegal. Did they have linemen downfield...of course...most teams do at one time or another. Did they have the QB pass the ball at or past the LOS at times? Yes...their offense pushed that edge...which is how he could compete in a time when their overall talent could not compare with UA. He would put his best athletes at QB (see Cam Newton) and go from there.

Many teams picked up aspects of his offense and used them to advantage...including no huddle, speed offense, and the run/pass option...including Bama.

I put the blame for "no or missed calls" on the SEC officials...many of whom were past 50 and could not run 50 yards if they had to do so. Like another poster I still don't understand why they felt like they had to speed up placing the ball, etc.

Glad he is going into the sunset to rest and relax. He has caused me enough stress to last 2 lifetimes.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

And officials who had never reffed the triple option.

One of the biggest issues I had with the refs were, them helping the offense run their type of offense by sprinting to spot the ball, and hurrying to get into position. That's not their job. Their job is to keep control of the game not help the offense run at hyper speed.