Scarbinsky: Malzahn Already Giving SEC Coaches Nightmares

[AUChizad]

http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2013/06/gus_malzahns_already_giving_so.html#incart_river

Gus Malzahn's already giving some other SEC coaches nightmares (Scarbinsky)

Kevin Scarbinsky | kscarbinsky@al.com
on June 18, 2013 at 5:14 PM

I’ve seen the bogeyman, looked him right in the eye just last week, matter of fact, and he looks nothing like his reputation.

Unlike in the movies, he wears glasses, a visor and a polo, and if that weren’t disarming enough, get this. He doesn’t chase you. He makes you chase him until you drop.

His name isn’t Jason or Freddy or Michael Myers.

Most people just call him Gus.

Gus Malzahn. Yeah, that’s him. If you’re a head coach or a defensive coordinator in the SEC, and he’s not already living in your dreams, he’ll be coming soon to a nightmare near you.

As soon as he finds a quarterback.

With a solid quarterback, he can scare Nick Saban and one of his national championship teams. With a spectacular quarterback, Malzahn can beat Saban and his most talented team.

If you think you've already heard complaining from the likes of Bret Bielema, Will Muschamp and Saban himself about the dangers the hurry-up no-huddle offense presents to their poor little defenders, just wait.

Wait till Nick Marshall or Jeremy Johnson or a quarterback to be named later turns into Cam Newton Jr. Wait till Dameyune Craig and Rodney Garner reel in even more talent to put in Malzahn’s hands.

With the right mix of talent, teaching and scheming, Malzahn’s offense can win a national championship. How do we know? It already has.

Witness. During that 2010 BCS Championship season, behind the Heisman winner at quarterback, Auburn scored a school-record 577 points. In 2011 and 2012 combined, with a grab bag of Barrett Trotter, Clint Moseley, Kiehl Frazier and Jonathan Wallace at the controls, Auburn scored 558 points.

Before you even say it, yes, Malzahn was the offensive coordinator in 2010 and 2011. The difference? Give him the right tools, and get out of his way.

By proposing a rule change that would give the defense 15 seconds to substitute after every first down, whether the offense subs or not, Bielema’s trying to head Malzahn off at the pass.

If you can’t beat ‘em, pass a rule to try and stop ‘em.

By suggesting that the pace of play is hazardous to their defensive players’ health, Bielema, Muschamp and Saban are forgetting that Malzahn’s offensive players aren’t getting to take a nap between snaps, either, when the hurry-up no-huddle is in full flight.

If your players can’t keep up, it’s your job to shape ‘em up.

By expressing concern about the hurry-up no-huddle, one coach after another is admitting that the opponents that run it have gotten into their heads. And no one in college football, especially with Chip Kelly gone to the Philadelphia Eagles, runs it quite like Malzahn.

It’s one thing for Hugh Freeze to run the hurry-up no-huddle at Ole Miss. As impressive as his 2013 recruiting class may have been, the next Cam Newton’s probably not walking through his door.

The last one walked through Malzahn’s door. An exceptionally reasonable facsimile, Johnny Manziel, fell into Kevin Sumlin’s lap at Texas A&M, and Sumlin knew exactly what to do with him to win 11 games last season, one of them in Tuscaloosa.

If Malzahn has a partner in crime, at least in the eyes of the old-school pro-style coaches in the SEC, it’s Sumlin. Give those two coaches some real athletes, the kind Auburn and A&M have proven they can attract, and they don’t need a lot of time to do some real damage.

That’s what the rest of the league is afraid of. That’s why some of their potential victims believe, where the hurry-up no-huddle’s concerned, there oughta be a law.

[Godfather]

Honestly, I think Scarbs is reaching.  I don't think they are scared of shit until we win some games.

[Jumbo]

Honestly, I think Scarbs is reaching.  I don't think they are scared of shit until we win some games.

^^^^^^^this

[Snaggletiger]

We have a Chad Slade

[AUTailgatingRules]

We have a Chad Slade

And Jake Holland

[Tiger Wench]

Does this stupid asshole not know that there are Football Karma Gods too?

Dammit.  He needs to fall up some stairs...

[WiregrassTiger]

He's just selling papers.

[Snaggletiger]

Fortunately...or unfortunately, there's nowhere to go but up for this program. 

I don't have a clue how we'll do, overall, this year.  I am 100% certain it will be better than last year.  "Better" being all relative.  More wins?  Just more competitive against our rivals?  Who knows? But it WILL be better than that abortion last year.

I'm also 100% certain that like the article says, when Malzahn has something to work with and the freedom to run his own show, he's produced at a high level.  The question is how many pieces he has to work with this year?   

[WiregrassTiger]

Fortunately...or unfortunately, there's nowhere to go but up for this program. 

I don't have a clue how we'll do, overall, this year.  I am 100% certain it will be better than last year.  "Better" being all relative.  More wins?  Just more competitive against our rivals?  Who knows? But it WILL be better than that abortion last year.

I'm also 100% certain that like the article says, when Malzahn has something to work with and the freedom to run his own show, he's produced at a high level.  The question is how many pieces he has to work with this year?

So, such as, in other words, are you on the Gus Bus or off the Gus Bus? Which is it? You can't be like hanging on to the door from the outside.

I'm on it, bitch.

[Snaggletiger]

So, such as, in other words, are you on the Gus Bus or off the Gus Bus? Which is it? You can't be like hanging on to the door from the outside.

I'm on it, bitch.

Keep pushing it, Mister....Keeeeeeep pushing it.

[dallaswareagle]

Keep pushing it, Mister....Keeeeeeep pushing it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gusbus/127118460691110 

http://beeradvocate.com/community/members/gusbus.736090/

https://www.facebook.com/GusBusPhotography

http://www.experienceproject.com/about/gusbus

http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/people/gusbus 

[Townhallsavoy]

http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2013/06/gus_malzahns_already_giving_so.html#incart_river

So if an SEC caliber head coach gets the best players, he's hard to beat?  Wow.  Nice analysis Scarborough.

[The Prowler]

If people think Muschamp, Bielema, & saban are complaining now...just wait till Auburn starts winning, they'll become A Lot louder...especially saban, so much so he'll be in the Mike Slive's & Mark Emmert's ears before the Iron Bowl. And if that doesn't work, he'll go to his next option...the referees.

[AUChizad]

Honestly, I think Scarbs is reaching.  I don't think they are scared of shit until we win some games.

In case it wasn't clear, this is in response to those three coaches specifically whining about the legality of the HUNH this week.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/06/post_494.html

Rise of uptempo offenses prompts widening divide among SEC coaches

Joel A. Erickson
June 17, 2013 at 3:16 PM

The first time that Gus Malzahn installed the hurry-up, no-huddle offense at Auburn, up-tempo offenses were still something of a novelty, particularly in an SEC dominated by pro-style attacks.

A lot has changed in four years.

At the same time that Auburn's return to a pro-style offense sunk the Tigers in 2012, a pair of uptempo offenses at Texas A&M and Ole Miss proved wildly successful for a pair of rookie SEC head coaches.

Now, Malzahn has brought that breakneck style of play back to Auburn, returning the Tigers to an ever-growing group of teams -- Tennessee is also installing an uptempo offense under Butch Jones -- determined to play every snap as fast as possible.

"I think in football, any time you see someone that's successful doing something maybe a little, you see that as a trend," Malzahn said at a Tiger Trek event in Cullman last month. "There's been some other teams that have been very successful playing with pace, and I think now you see quite a few teams use it."

But the trend has met with some resistance from other SEC coaches who want to see rules changes that would slow down uptempo offenses, essentially robbing the scheme of one of its distinct advantages.

First-year Arkansas coach Bret Bielema raised the issue at SEC spring meetings, framing it as a player safety issue and echoing an opinion voiced by Alabama's Nick Saban last season.

"Not to get on the coattails of some of the other coaches, there is a lot of truth that the way offensive philosophies are driven now, there's times where you can't get a defensive substitution in for 8, 10, 12 play drives," Bielema said. "That has an effect on safety of that student-athlete, especially the bigger defensive linemen, that is really real."

Malzahn, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze and Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin, the architects of those no-huddle offenses, disagree with Bielema's concerns about safety.

"No, I'd say that's probably more of an in-shape issue than anything else," Malzahn said.

Ever since Malzahn took over, Auburn has emphasized getting players on both sides of the ball ready to play at a fast pace.

Under new strength and conditioning coach Ryan Russell, the Tigers have emphasized quick recovery and endurance in addition to traditional strength training, and the defense plays at the same tempo as the offense during practice. Defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson wants to practice at that pace; the tempo prepares his players for offenses like Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Tennessee and the other uptempo schemes on Auburn's schedule.

But Malzahn isn't sure every defense has to follow the same template. Asked if defenses had to start practicing at a breakneck pace to stop lightning-quick offenses, Malzahn pointed out there's no tried and true formula to slowing down schemes like his own.

"You know, I don't know, that's a good question," Malzahn said. "Some defenses are pretty good no matter who they play or what kind of philosophy."

Freeze responded to the safety concerns by pointing out that his offensive linemen are playing at the same pace for the same number of snaps as the defense.

"Offensive players are playing, too, the same number of snaps," Freeze said. "Are they in danger also? I mean, offensive players get hurt, too, and if we don't substitute, they're having to play the same number of plays."

Bielema, who is a member of the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, proposed a rules change that would allow a 15-second substitution period after every first down to allow defenses to make substitutions.

 "I'm not for that at all," Freeze said. "If the offense doesn't sub, the defense shouldn't sub, and that's the way the rules are."

Implementing such a rule doesn't appear to be on the immediate horizon -- Bielema said there have been discussions -- but Bielema and Saban's concerns about safety had support from at least one other coach.

Florida's Will Muschamp cited the threat posed by playing in the region's heat.

"That's something you've got to really watch as far as those things are concerned and guys getting lined up and getting themselves in position where they can defend themselves," Muschamp said. "That's something that does not always happen sometimes with as fast as these teams are moving."

Normally outspoken on just about everything, South Carolina's Steve Spurrier acknowledged  that "rapid-fire plays" were a topic of discussion during the coaches' meeting with SEC coordinator of officials Steve Shaw in Destin. For his part, Spurrier would be fine with a rules change similar to the one Bielema mentioned.

On the other hand, Spurrier also pointed out that there is already a way teams can slow down uptempo offenses and get rest for defensive players.

"Of course, the answer is for the other team's offense to stay on the field and get the other fast-paced team stay on the sideline," Spurrier said.

For the moment, the debate is only rhetoric, centered around an offensive scheme that has been successful at all levels of football, all the way up to the NFL.

Teams like the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers regularly mix in uptempo attacks from series to series.

"We think there's an advantage in playing fast if you can execute your offense effectively," Malzahn said. "I think you see it, really at all levels, and you see in the college game, it's getting more and more relevant, and more and more teams are doing it."

And that means the fast-paced, uptempo offenses are here to stay.

Saban started this pussy-assed mindset 8 months ago.

http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2012/10/is_this_what_we_want_football.html

[The Prowler]

In case it wasn't clear, this is in response to those three coaches specifically whining about the legality of the HUNH this week.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/06/post_494.html
Saban started this pussy-assed mindset 8 months ago.

http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2012/10/is_this_what_we_want_football.html

^this^

[WiregrassTiger]

Interesting that the 3 complaining coaches are defensive minded.

[Godfather]

In case it wasn't clear, this is in response to those three coaches specifically whining about the legality of the HUNH this week.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/06/post_494.html
Saban started this pussy-assed mindset 8 months ago.

http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2012/10/is_this_what_we_want_football.html

Oh I realize what his point was.  I just think using Malzahn was stupid seeing as how we haven't even played 1 fucking game as our leader.  They ain't sacred of Auburn in the least bit...now....if we start making waves with this system yeah.

They may be afraid of Jonny Fooseball and Kevin Sumlin but that's another story all together.

[The Prowler]

Oh I realize what his point was.  I just think using Malzahn was stupid seeing as how we haven't even played 1 fucking game as our leader.  They ain't sacred of Auburn in the least bit...now....if we start making waves with this system yeah.

They may be afraid of Jonny Fooseball and Kevin Sumlin but that's another story all together.

They know exactly what Malzahn brings to the table, they also know that Coach Chizik had to throttle him down a number of times throughout the '09 & '10 seasons, not to mention the '11 season. So, yeah, they know exactly what's coming as far as pace and conditioning is concerned.

[Godfather]

They know exactly what Malzahn brings to the table, they also know that Coach Chizik had to throttle him down a number of times throughout the '09 & '10 seasons, not to mention the '11 season. So, yeah, they know exactly what's coming as far as pace and conditioning is concerned.

Sorry Prowler they ain't fucking scared.

[Buzz Killington]

Sorry Prowler they ain't fucking scared.

Well they should be, because certain death awaits them...with huge pointy teeth!