Good Article on Malzahn and Nutt

[AUChizad]

http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/15984/malzahn-making-the-most-of-his-shot

Malzahn making the most of his shot
October, 25, 2010

By Chris Low
In the old days, coaching feuds weren’t too hard to find.

They were out there front and center, and coaches weren’t shy about hiding their disdain for the guy on the other sideline.

Every once in a while, a coach will still pop off. See Mike Zimmer’s tirade last week concerning Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino.

Zimmer, though, is coaching in the NFL and Petrino in college. They won’t be facing each other any time soon.

This Saturday, though, a couple of guys who’re not especially fond of each other (and that’s putting it mildly) will face off when No. 1 Auburn travels to Ole Miss.

And like Zimmer and Petrino, they once worked together on the same staff.

Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn spent a year on the Arkansas staff as offensive coordinator in 2006. Of course, the Hogs’ head coach at that time was current Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt.

To say it was one big, happy family would be a wee bit disingenuous.

Nutt, coming off a 4-7 season, felt pressured into hiring Malzahn, who was putting up ridiculous numbers with his spread offense at nearby Springdale High School and had several big-time prospects on that team, including quarterback Mitch Mustain.

The Hogs lost 50-14 at home to Southern California in Malzahn’s first game as offensive coordinator.

Needless to say, it was more Nutt’s offense the rest of that season than it was Malzahn’s.

Malzahn was one and done, off to Tulsa after the 2006 season. And before Nutt left under pressure following the 2007 season, there was a near mutiny with several of the Springdale players and their parents, all of whom were upset about the direction of the offense.

They wanted to open it up and throw the ball and said that’s what they were promised.

Never mind that the Hogs had Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis in the backfield at that time.

Publicly, Nutt and Malzahn won’t re-visit what was a turbulent time for both of them. In fact, prior to last season’s game, they said they really hadn’t spoken since Malzahn went to Tulsa following the 2006 season.

Nutt, though, didn’t hold back two summers ago when I asked him how it all went south for him at Arkansas.

Asked if he would have done anything differently, he said pointedly, “I probably wouldn’t have hired a couple of people. I probably would have just stuck to my niche.”

Well, the fact remains that he did hire Malzahn, giving him a shot in college football, and it’s an opportunity Malzahn has taken and run with at Tulsa and now Auburn.

He led the country in total offense at Tulsa, but the knock against him was that he was a gimmicks guy. Plus, it was Tulsa.

Now in his second season at Auburn, the Tigers lead the SEC in just about every statistical category.

And most importantly, they’re No. 1 in the BCS standings.

Malzahn is unpredictable, and he’s the kind of offensive coordinator who loves to keep you off-balance with misdirection, some zone-read and a trick play mixed in here and there.

But his calling card at Auburn has been running the football. The Tigers are fourth nationally in rushing offense (303.2 yards per game). They’re doing it with quarterback Cam Newton leading the way this season. Last season, it was with tailback Ben Tate.

One more thing: This isn’t Tulsa, either. This is the SEC, and they’re scrambling all over this defensive-minded league trying to figure out how to stop Malzahn’s offense.

Newton would make any offense look good. That’s a given.

Malzahn, though, is the one who put it all together. He’s also the one who called the sweep to Onterio McCalebb that popped wide open against LSU and was the difference in that game.

The bottom line is that his offenses move the ball and score points as well as anybody. And if you want to call rushing for 300 yards a game gimmicky, something tells me Malzahn won’t care what you call it as long as he continues to get that kind of production.

The fact that it was Nutt who gave him his shot in the college game doesn’t bother him, either.

Sometimes, all anybody needs is a shot.

[boartitz]

The Hogs lost 50-14 at home to Southern California in Malzahn’s first game as offensive coordinator.

Needless to say, it was more Nutt’s offense the rest of that season than it was Malzahn’s.

We ran one series of the HUNH that game with a true freshman QB and WR and scored half of our points in the game.
Don't forget the Wildcat that year, even if Danny Nutt invented it.

[djsimp]

We ran one series of the HUNH that game with a true freshman QB and WR and scored half of our points in the game.
Don't forget the Wildcat that year, even if Danny Nutt invented it.

Yep, Danny Nutt and Houston are the inventors of the HUNH. The Miami Dolphins are so grateful.

[bakervscarrr]

I thought Low seemed like a credible journalist until I read that article today. 

The Arkansas drama from 2006 is so nuanced that you're better off either not recognizing it at all or delving into all the details.  Low half-assed it and got it completely wrong, just like 90% of his peers.  I thought he was better than that.

[djsimp]

I thought Low seemed like a credible journalist until I read that article today. 

The Arkansas drama from 2006 is so nuanced that you're better off either not recognizing it at all or delving into all the details.  Low half-assed it and got it completely wrong, just like 90% of his peers.  I thought he was better than that.

Why don't you explain (this is not an attempt at sarcasm).

[bakervscarrr]

Why don't you explain (this is not an attempt at sarcasm).

The offense wasn't more Nutt's than Malzahn's after the USC game.  Nutt definitely took over playcalling at times, but if you were to look back at that season, it would be impossible to miss the Malzahn signature.

Not just the Wildcat.  Remember "Woody", the trick play that we ran against y'all in 2006?  Damn sure wasn't Nutt.  We ran a sort of swinging-gate type trick play against Alabama that was out-of-the-blue and nothing like Nutt had ever attempted before.  Back shoulder throws.  Utilizing the tight end.  You name it. 

The Springdale parents didn't mutiny.  They did have a sit-down with Broyles.  They probably should have gone to Nutt first.  They were concerned about things other than the direction of the offense.  Some of them were admittedly kind of nutty, but there were things going that they had legit beefs with. 

He demeans the Springdale folks for wanting to "air it out" despite having DMac, Felix, and Peyton...he should be mentioning that Gus went took the exact position at a lesser school.  He took a cut in prestige and in pay.  In visibility.  That's how bad things were behind the scenes.  Why else would he leave a winning program?  Why else would those kids leave?  It wasn't because they weren't getting playing time.

I wouldn't expect Low to get into the dirty laundry, but the insight he gives shows how little of an idea he has.  If he DID know, he wouldn't have spun it so positively for Houston.  He gave no reason for them to dislike each other except that we got blown out by USC in our first game.  Which had zero to do with why they dislike each other.

It's just shitty journalism.

[djsimp]

I think I remember some rumblings about some things back then but vaguely. I always heard Nutt was up to no good with things and people. I'm sure if the topic was opened up over on woopig, there would be all kinds of "nice" responses. Nutt must have really screwed some shit up.

[djsimp]

I yanked this from woopig. This picture says a thousand words.