As for the "close" part, I'm with him 100%.
Explain it to me. How are we close?
Do the linemen need to hold their blocks just a little longer so the fullback can do a full revolution?
Does Sean need to call an audible on every play signaled in from the sidelines?
Do we need to run the quadruple reverse pass instead of just the triple reverse pass?
I've been on the genius Malzahn bus. Hell, I drove it for a while. Once upon a time there was a guy who could see the whole field, figure out where the holes were and find a way to exploit them. That guy was always one play ahead, moving quickly, taking advantage of all the things he could see even before they unfolded. He enjoyed what he did, thought fast, talked fast, worked fast, reacted faster.
When Marshall and Dismukes failed to connect on the snap and the drive against A&M failed to score the touchdown every single one of us -- him included -- knew was inevitable? That guy died.
The next week we scored seven fucking points against Georgia. Seven.
That guy flickered briefly to life against Alabama, but left so many scoring opportunities unfulfilled or only partially realized, that he began to question himself.
The dead guy cropped up in the red zone with alarming frequency a year ago. Even when we moved the ball, his butthole puckered in the red zone and he outthought himself. He stopped believing in his own magic and began to panic coach. Reacting after the fact, too slowly, hesitating when he once would have driven the dagger in and twisted it.
Today's guy? There is confusion where there once was decision. There is hesitation where there was once determination. There are questions where there was once confidence. There is doubt where there was once certainty.
I can climb right back on the bus if the old guy resurrects himself. But I've seen this many times in people who worked for and with me. Something goes wrong, they overreact and start trying to change things that maybe didn't need changing, and then it spirals out of control to the point they can't ever get it back. Hell, I've been there. I've done it. I've driven my own bus into a ditch and had to walk away. Thankfully didn't have the whole world looking at me when it happened. I learned from it. Didn't make the same mistakes in my next job.
I think he's worked himself into a box from which there's no extraction. Mark my words, the next place he goes, freed from this (self-inflicted) pressure, he will be a different and even better coach. I still believe, though, it's too late for him here. Thinking more, working more, studying more isn't going to get it done. That's what he's doing though.