BamaInBham
BamaNation First Team
Join Date: Feb 2007
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Re: Auburn's Offensive Coordinator, Gus Malzahn, getting it done!
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Just a couple of notes about Malzahn.
He did not invent the Wildcat, tooly Nutt did.
He was essentially relieved of his OC duties mid season at Ark because he wanted to throw the ball with Mustain rather than run McFadden and Jones. GM almost cost Ark the Bama game. Nutt replaced an undefeated Mustain with ? and they took off.
GM was co-OC at Tulsa in charge of the passing game in Todd Graham's offense. The same O that Applewhite ran very successfully under him at Rice.
I passed up correcting this jackass initially, but after patronizing happy hour, I can't let it go. Some of you may care, some may not.
I think we all know NEITHER Gus nor anyone with the last name of Nutt invented the wildcat. Gus has NEVER tried to claim credit for it, either. Most do not know this (and most Arkansas fans don't remember this), but the wildcat formation was not used until the 7th game of the 2006 season vs. Ole Miss in Fayetteville. Danny and Houston Nutt claim they ran it pre-Gus, but if that were the case, why did it not see game action until midway through Gus' only season at Arkansas? The bottom line is Gus is the one who brought (not invented) the wildcat offense to Arkansas and taught it to both Danny and Houston Nutt. After Gus left in January 2007 for Tulsa, Frank Broyles publicly stated he told Nutt to rename it to the WildHog. I don't believe this for a second. I think Nutt mentioned it to Frank, Frank ran with it since he is also self-serving, and they essentially took someone else's creation and called it their own.
Here's an article about the wildcat...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574405322525530870.htmlHere's what happened with Gus' transition to Tulsa...and this is the VERY short version...
DC Reggie Herring used to verbally taunt Gus in practice calling him "high school" in front of the players and would run blitzes, etc. while Gus was trying to teach the offense the new system. The result was QB Casey tool getting PLASTERED and hurting his back. Therefore, we opened the season with Robert Johnson at QB vs. Southern California (a FINE Nutt recruit that was FCS quality). Also, remember McFadden had his toe severed after fighting at da club a month before the game, so he was about 60%. After we opened with another embarrassing loss to SoCal 50-14, Frank Broyles went to Houston Nutt and told him to scrap Gus' offense and go back to what Nutt was doing. The ironic thing is Gus was not allowed to run HIS offense he ran at Tulsa or Auburn because Nutt wouldn't let him in the first place. So it was NOT the Gus HUNH that was run in the SoCal loss.
Frank told Nutt to start Mustain in game 2 vs. Utah State. We proceed to run off 7 straight wins with Mustain as the starter (although he was not always great, but still a true frosh). We are 7-1 and playing at SCarolina. Mustain throws an INT on our first possession. Casey tool plays the rest of the game (his back was healed from Herring trying to sabotage Gus in practice) and we win. tool gets the start vs. TN the next week (we win due to McFadden/Jones) and then MS State the next week (tool was horrible). We are now 10-1, 7-0 in the SEC heading into a game with LSU in Little Rock. We lose 30-26. Casey tool goes 3-17 for 29 yards passing and played the ENTIRE game. Nutt said after the game he did not put Mustain in the game because he didn't give him enough reps in practice the week of the game. Nutt had also been quoted in the newspaper (I poop you not) that "Casey was the better hander-offer". Meanwhile, Houston, Danny and OL coach Mike Markuson are clearly in charge of final play calling with some input from Gus. We have a month to prepare for Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl and, I kid you not, Gus was given 14 plays he could call during the game. We lost 17-14. This was also the game Nutt was texting his lover, Donna Bragg, 19 minutes before the damn kickoff (yeah, Nutt was focused). Gus was never able to run his offense and was sabotaged from the start. Gus was NEVER relieved of his OC duties...this would imply he had them in the first place.
Gus then found out Nutt had contacted David Lee towards the end of the season to come on staff as Co-OC or some such BS. Gus shortly announced he was leaving for Tulsa to join Todd Graham. Lee Ziemba committed to Auburn the day after Gus left for Tulsa (he was recruiting Lee).
The "Gus wanted a pass happy offense" is utter BS. At Springdale HS and Shiloh Christian HS, Gus' offense was 50/50 run/pass. If you look at his first year at Tulsa with QB Paul Smith who was better than Mustain has been, Gus' offense averaged 40 run plays and 40 pass plays per game. In his 2nd year at Tulsa, his play calling was 63/37 run/pass. He has a gift for maximizing results out of the talent he possesses, which, of course is something Auburn fans have already figured out. The assertion Gus would have misused McFadden, Jones and Hillis in 2006 had he been given 100% control of the offense is absurd and an insult to anyone with just a layman's knowledge of CFB. I think we all know what happened once Gus was gone and Nutt stripped all the motion and counter schemes out of the offense with all those stud skill players in 2007...back to 4-4 in the SEC.
Todd Graham had already hired an OC when he hired Gus. Hence, the Co-OC titles. However, Graham made no bones about it that Gus had full control. Gus even dictated to Graham the conditioning of the entire team since players on both sides of the ball require excellent conditioning. Graham later admitted doing it Gus' way made him nervous and uneasy, but it worked to perfection. Too bad Tulsa never was able to get ANY defensive talent. To even suggest TU ran a Major Applewhite system under Gus is utter BS.
I am a huge fan of Gus for a number of reasons, most of which have nothing to do with his football abilities. If Auburn gets back to the defensive level of 2004-ish and Gus gets his players, watch out.
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