Pretty cool piece from Brandon Marcello. I mean cool, bro.
Meet Gus Malzahn, a Swole Football Dad Listening to Kodak BlackGus Malzahn is not sitting around on his hot seat.
The seventh-year Auburn coach knows his job is on the line this season. He's also not shy talking about it. He's also not sitting still, allowing the world to dictate his next moves, whether it is taking over play-calling on offense, lifting weights and cardiovascular workouts, or listening to rap music.
Oh, yes, this Auburn coach is trying to redefine his tenure at Auburn, and not just his legacy among the fans. He told players, eye to eye, he wants to be more open with them. He wants to share his feelings, his past and listen to some rap music along the way.
"He’s been in the weight room when we're down there for player-run practices," senior defensive end
Marlon Davidson said. "He’s doing curls and stuff, and I’m like ‘Man? Am I seeing this?’ He’s just different, he’s a different person now. Like, coach Malzahn in 2016 to 2019 is totally different."
Malzahn began a new workout routine in April, just as the Auburn basketball team was making its run to the Final Four and his football team was wrapping up spring practices. Video of him performing a core workout surfaced via Auburn's official social media accounts. He joked he didn't know the camera was there, and openly blushed and wished he could wipe the images from the Internet.
"I’m trying to get in shape," Malzahn said at the SEC's spring meetings in May. "I hadn’t worked out in about two years."
Malzahn could be seen on a treadmill or riding a stationery bike early in his head-coaching tenure at Auburn. One wouldn't confuse him for an out-of-shape, 50-something has-been, but the man accustomed to being an athlete his entire career, and playing basketball with coaches and players in the past wanted to change his most recent unhealthy habits.
That means no more Taco Bell runs during the day or night to grab a cheese-covered burrito, but his routine of drinking up to 10 cups of coffee remains. There are cheat days, however. The super fan of Mexican food admitted last week he was headed to a famous Mexican restaurant in his hometown of Fort Smith, Arkansas after wrapping up SEC Media Days.
Oh, and his expanding palette for music? Malzahn is not afraid to crank up the music in the weight room or on the practice field. It started during Auburn's preparations for the Music City Bowl in December. Rap music blares across the speakers before, during and after practices.
Yes, the man whose favorite musical group is The Cars, a relic of 1980s pop, is trying to connect more with his players. Like a man trying to be hip for his teenage son, Malzahn realizes he has to be more like a father to his players.
"This old head coach, I'm going to start sharing my heart," he told the team in the spring. "You're going to know me better than you've known me before. I'm going to put everything out there. That's what you deserve."
He might also be the goofiest dad in the SEC. Every dance move or silly moment of the coach caught on tape goes viral. Video surfaced in 2014 of the high school coach dancing at an amusement park to MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This." It was a family moment,
an attempt to entertain his daughters in the mid-1990s, but the video shared at a high school function at Shiloh Christian in Springdale, Arkansas more than 20 years ago
.
And apparently that side of him is popping up more often in the Auburn Athletics Complex. He's comfortable being who he is around the Tigers, but he's also trying to broaden his tastes.
"We were in a team meeting right before practice and we always play music right before to get our mind ready," Davidson said. "And we were listening to it and he was like, ‘Ain’t that Kodak Black?’ He said, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve listened to that before.’ It was funny."
The most important season of Malzahn's tenure begin Aug. 31 against Oregon in Arlington, Texas. With him solely running the show on offense for the first time since early 2016 and a revitalized connection to his players, he hopes it produces a winning formula.
"At the end of the day, coach Malzahn, he’s there for us, and he knows that his players have his back, regardless," defensive tackle
Derrick Brown said. "So I mean, we’ll go in Week 1, and hot seat talk, it is what it is. We’re going to play for each other, we’re going to play for coach, and we’re going to do what we do.â€
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