Coaching Carousel (Gus Malzahn)

One of the hottest names in college football coaching the past few years is Gus Malzahn. Through stints at Arkansas, Tulsa, and most recently Auburn Malzahn's offenses were some of the best. His offense was run perfectly by Cam Newton and that allowed Newton to win the Heisman and Auburn to win a National Title. With all the notoriety, Malzahn was rumored to be the favorite for jobs at Vanderbilt, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Kansas. However it was Malzahn that "shocked" everybody and took a job at Arkansas State of the Sun Belt. This was the same guy that turned down Vanderbilt in the SEC for a job in the Sun Belt???? Now it was a surprised, but I'm not shocked by this. Let's take a look at why this makes perfect sense.

Gain Head Coaching Experience

Look at all the successful coaches in college football now. All of them got their start as a head coach at a lower level or another job. Urban Meyer was at Bowling Green and Utah before he want to Florida. Les Miles was at Oklahoma State before LSU. Brady Hoke was at Ball State and San Diego State before Michigan. By going to non BCS conference coaches are able to work through mistakes or a bad year without having too much pressure on them. Malzahn will be able to have years of practice running a FBS program before he takes his next job.

Talented Team

Malzahn is taking over an Arkansas State team that just won the Sun Belt with a 8-0 conference record and 10-2 overall. Now they don't necessarily have BCS caliber talent, but they have the ability to contend for the conference for the next couple of years. Plus previous coach Hugh Freeze ran a spread offense that has similarities to the system that Malzahn runs. Arkansas State also has junior QB Ryan Aplin who also lead the team in rushing. And we know from his time already, Malzahn system works when he has mobile QBs.

Location, Location, Location

Malzahn has a long history in the state of Arkansas. He grew up in the state, walked on at Arkansas, coached and won state titles in Arkansas, and was the offensive coordinator at the University of Arkansas. So it's safe to say that Malzahn knows the state. It is where he is the most comfortable. This allows him to have vital recruiting ties within the state and area to better his chance to be successful.

Future

We all know that Malzahn isn't going to coach at Arkansas State for the rest of his career. He is preparing himself for the next job. Whether that job is his "dream job" or another stepping stone. I don't have any sources, but I see one place that I feel he would take in a heart beat. The University of Arkansas. Currently Bobby Petrino is the head coach, but we all know that he isn't known for sticking around at a school for too long. Malzahn probably is aware of that and could be taking the steps to prepare himself for that job. He can be at Arkansas State and gain his head coaching experience, develop even more recruiting ties, and then when Petrino leaves he is ready to take over.

But who knows, maybe he just really likes Arkansas State. But he isn't as crazy as others might think.