AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 29
Monday, December 29, 2008
Auburn made a good hire in Malzahn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hope everybody had a great Christmas! It’s good to be back because we have a lot to discuss between now and the BCS championship game on Jan. 8.
Let’s start with this. We are through the first week of the bowl season. What have we learned?
1. Gene Chizik made a good hire in Gus Malzahn: The Auburn family is clearly divided over the hiring of Chizik as the Tigers’ new head coach. So how do you bring the family back together? You hire assistants to get the family excited again. Chizik made a run at Georgia offensive line coach Stacy Searels, an Auburn grad and one of the best in the business. Searels decided to stay put. But Chizik scored with the hiring of Gus Malzahn as Auburn’s new offensive coordinator. Malzahn comes from Tulsa where his offense this season was second only to Oklahoma in scoring, averaging over 47 points per game. Malzahn was a very successful high school coach in Arkansas who had a cup of coffee with the Razorbacks before getting sideways with head coach Houston Nutt. Now Malzahn comes back to the SEC with a chance to coach against Arkansas AND Nutt, who is now at Ole Miss.
How is this different from the hire of spread guru Tony Franklin, you ask? Simple. Malzahn will start with an offensive staff that has already bought into his system. That was not the case with Franklin at Auburn.
FYI. Malzahn will coach the Tulsa offense in the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6.
2. Florida State is ready to win an ACC championship in 2009: When I visited with the Florida State coaches this summer, I came away thinking that 2008 was the setup year to make a serious run at the ACC championship in 2009. After watching Florida State dominate Wisconsin 42-13 in the Champs Sports Bowl, it looks like the Seminoles are right on schedule. Now Wisconsin was certainly overrated in the preseason but they do have some big time running backs, including P.J. Hill, who had 140 yards against that Seminole defense. Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who turned 79 on Nov. 8, will return next season with 382 career victories. Penn State’s Joe Paterno, who just turned 82, has 383 wins but is not expected to beat Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. Paterno also has a new hip and a three-year commitment from Penn State to keep coaching. It will be interesting watching those two in 2009.
3. I will never bet against Pat White again: I thought North Carolina would beat West Virginia in the Meinke Car Care Bowl because the Tar Heels were playing in Charlotte, which is only a couple of hours from their campus in Chapel Hill, and would have the home crowd advantage. But I forgot that in Pat White, North Carolina was facing one of the truly extraordinary athletes in the history of college football. Except for a big turnover at the end, North Carolina played very well. White, however, was magnificent, completing 26 of 32 passes for 332 yards including a 20-yard touchdown pass which won the game. He finishes his career 4-0 in bowl games and was the MVP in three of them. Don’t tell me this guy can’t play in the NFL. Somebody in the league needs to be creative enough to find a place for White. He’s just too good to quit playing.
4. Steve Addazio will be a head coach in four years or less: Florida coach Urban Meyer has promoted offensive line coach Steve Addazio as the Gators’ new offensive coordinator, replacing Dan Mullen. Mullen, 36, has been named head coach at Mississippi State but will stay on to work the BCS national championship game against No. 1 Oklahoma. Being Meyer’s offensive coordinator is like being Mack Brown’s defensive coordinator. It leads to a head coaching job. Meyer’s three previous offensive coordinators—Mullen (Mississippi State), Mike Sanford (UNLV), and Gregg Brandon (Bowling Green)—have all become head coaches.
But I do have one question. This will be one of the few times when the old offensive coordinator and the new offensive coordinator will both work the same game. Wonder how that is going to work out?
5. Jacory Harris MUST be the Miami quarterback in 2009: I know Miami lost the Emerald Bowl to California, but it wasn’t Jacory Harris’s fault. The freshman from Miami’s Northwestern High School made plays all season when he got in the game but Hurricane OC Patrick Nix stuck with Robert Marve. Well, Marve didn’t play in the Emerald Bowl because he was suspended. He has been inconsistent on and off the field since he got to Miami. Harris came to Miami with a bunch of his high school teammates and if the Hurricanes are going to become relevant again, it’s time to let those guys grow up together. Miami was on the cusp of a very good season after the Hurricanes beat Virginia Tech 16-14 on Nov. 13. But in the final three games against Georgia Tech, N.C. State and California the Hurricanes got outcoached, period. The 2009 season will be the third under head coach Randy Shannon. Everybody in that program needs to take it up a notch next fall.
