Auburn Gets It Right With Malzahn Hire

 The Southeastern Conference is already looking like a much stronger football league following the off-the-field activity which has taken place over the course of the past couple of weeks.

Fans, coaches and administrators of rival leagues such as the Big 10 and Big 12 surely did not need to hear that observation.  Of course the SEC is already gunning for its seventh consecutive national title on Jan. 7 when Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide battles the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the BCS title game in Miami.

But besides the championship success, the dandy television contract and the many other spoils that come with being the nation's most prolific and hyped conference,  the league now arguably has the best collective group of football coaches in the nation.

Of course the presence of Saban is enough to keep the conference in the thick of the national spotlight by itself, but the addition of three new proven coaches and the possibility of a solid fourth one should only make the league even that much more ridiculously strong, and only ensure continued major success on the national level for many more years to come.

Former Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops began the whirlwind of coaching activity by replacing Joker Phillips at Kentucky, with Bret Bielema then leaving Wisconsin for Arkansas, and it was still expected as of Wednesday that either Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy or Louisville's Charlie Strong would replace Derek Dooley at Tennessee.

Closer to home, the Auburn University program also made big news on Tuesday when it hired 47-year-old Gus Malzahn to be the 26th head football coach on The Plains, replacing Gene Chizik. It was a move which I consider to be a slam-dunk, and a very solid and safe choice by a search committee that included former Auburn Heisman Trophy winners Pat Sullivan and Bo Jackson.

Malzahn, who has just finished leading Arkansas State to a 9-3 regular season and a berth in the GoDaddy.com Bowl in his first season, is best known by the Auburn family for being the Tigers offensive coordinator from 2009-2011, and playing an integral role along with quarterback Cam Newton in leading the Tigers to the 2010 national championship.

I watched Malzahn's introductory press conference Tuesday night and noted a couple of things immediately.

First of all, the press conference seemed particularly rushed and perhaps Auburn should have waited until Wednesday to hold it and at least give Malzahn a chance to talk to the players in more detail and at least catch his breath before meeting the local and national media.

Secondly, instead of being eloquent and charismatic to the point of almost being syrupy as you see from most coaches at these introductory sessions, Malzahn was very short and direct with his answers, not stopping to go into a lot of detail with his responses and basically answering in a style which would lead you to believe that he needed to leave and maybe get to work.

That is perhaps a very good sign, as make no mistake, Malzahn has much work to do as he will not only attempt to revive the fortunes of the Tiger program after a hapless 3-9 season, but he will also seek to re-energize the spirits of not only the Auburn family and supporters but of his own players.

The Auburn fan base had become so disenchanted and discouraged that paper bags and empty seats had become a more common occurrence than touchdowns and cheers at Jordan-Hare Stadium this season, and the Auburn players themselves seemed to also basically quit on this season late in the campaign and showed little to no fight at all in season-ending debacles against hated rivals Georgia and Alabama.

Malzahn said at his press conference that, "It is a new day" relative to the Tiger football program.

I know that the Auburn faithful strongly hopes this is the case, because as Saban's Tide program is seeking a third national championship in four years, the divide between Alabama and Auburn is continuing to only grow, and the Tigers definitely needed a popular hire to not only come in and unite the AU family, but also one that could sooner than later compete in this state again with the dynasty that is taking place in Tuscaloosa.

That being said, I feel that Auburn accomplished its goal with the hiring of Malzahn, a coach who will no doubt excite the Tiger fans with his exciting offensive and defensive style, and will also captivate recruits in this state.

With a dismal season just ended and more uncertainty ahead, including a continuing NCAA investigation, I feel Auburn needed a friendly, positive and familiar presence back in the fold, and Malzahn definitely fits that description.

What the Auburn program did not need at this point, contrary to the opinion of many observers, several who are friends of mine, was a coach with a whole pile of baggage like Bobby Petrino.

Many had campaigned for the former Arkansas, Atlanta Falcon and Louisville coach to get the job, including legendary Auburn figures such as Charles Barkley, I think sentiments toward Petrino were the product of desperation, and I guess you really cannot blame Auburn fans for getting into this mindset following the woeful turn of events over the past two seasons following the national championship campaign.

I got the sense that Auburn fans wanted Petrino because they felt he could immediately compete and recruit against Saban, and that he would be a splashy and sexy hire on the same level of the Alabama coach. Such thinking has been a longtime problem with the Tiger Nation.

I feel that at times Auburn supporters become so distracted by and focused on what is transpiring in Tuscaloosa, that they are not concentrated enough on what is happening right in their own backyard.

Auburn has its own issues to deal with, and Tiger fans need to be united in supporting Malzahn as he will no doubt work endlessly to help the Tiger program regain its footing again, both in the SEC and nationally.

A hire of Petrino would have generated some controversy in terms of some of his past exits and of course the situation which led to him being ousted at Arkansas.  Fellow coaches would have used all of this endlessly in their recruiting efforts against him and there is always the question of how long Petrino would have stayed anyway if things did not go well immediately or if the next best job just happened to come along once again. I have no respect for Petrino and would have lost a degree of respect for the Auburn administration had it stooped to hire him.

I have talked to a few Auburn supporters who are not totally buying in just yet in terms of the hiring of Malzahn, but I think once they take a little time to reflect on the hiring, while also clearing their heads just a bit more from the disastrous season that just ended, it will not be long before the majority of them find it a little more easy and palatable to get fully comfortable on the "Gus Bus."