Guerry Clegg: Which SEC coach took the anonymous shot at Malzahn in preseason magazine?

Without question, Gus Malzahn is a bit of an odd bird. From his sideline demeanor to his grandiose statements — Exhibit A: replacing the best defensive coordinator in the country (Will Muschamp) with … the best defensive coordinator in the country (Kevin Steele) — to his quirky offense and stubborn play-calling, Malzahn is unconventional.

Yet, there is this:

Malzahn as an offensive coordinator developed Cam Newton into a Heisman Trophy winner and won a national championship, then a few years later took a 3-9 team with a defensive back playing quarterback and darn near won another national championship.

Malzahn has beaten Nick Saban three times while at Auburn, the first time as an offensive coordinator.

There are better head coaches in college football. But there are plenty more who are worse.

Malzahn is, quirks aside, a pretty good football coach.

So it was a bit surprising when one of his fellow SEC coaches took this anonymous shot at Malzahn in Lindy’s College Football magazine.

“Auburn is paying Gus Malzahn $50 million ($49 million over seven years) and he underachieved again. If Nick Saban had Auburn's talent, he'd have won national championships the last two years. Auburn had the best front seven in college ball last year, but the offense sometimes disappears. If Gus would leave Chip Lindsey alone, Auburn would be more explosive. Instead, they lost to Central Florida and got the crap kicked out of them by Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, after beating Georgia a few weeks before. And they give him a new contract? For what? Mediocrity?”

Interesting.

Sounds like something Lane Kiffin would say, but Kiffin isn’t in the SEC. There’s only 13 other head coaches, and it doesn’t sound like something Saban or Kirby Smart would say. So that leaves 11 suspects.

Disclaimer here before going any further: I’ve been a contributor to Lindy’s for almost 25 years. But the messenger isn’t as important as the message.

Why such a blistering assessment of Malzahn?

Coaches love to break down everything, frame by frame. So let’s go to the video screen.

Frame one: “Auburn is paying Gus Malzahn $50 million and he underachieved again.”

Actually, it’s $49 million for the next seven years. Yeah, that’s still a lot of money.

But underachieved? The Tigers lost four games last season. Two of the teams that beat them (Clemson and Georgia) made the College Football Playoff, the latter when Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson was injured. The other two losses were to LSU by four points on the road and to Central Florida in the Peach Bowl.

True, Auburn blew a 20-0 lead against LSU. Many people blamed Malzahn for questionable offensive play-calling. But LSU got back in the game on a 70-yard run to set up the first touchdown, a 37-yard pass to set up the second, and a 75-yard punt return for the third LSU score. So defense and special teams were more responsible for the collapse than offensive play-calling.

Frame two: “If Nick Saban had Auburn’s talent, he’d have won national championships the last two years. Auburn had the best front seven in college ball last year, but the offense sometimes disappears.”

Wait. Stop the tape.

Start with the fact that Saban did win one national championship. The only thing that kept him from winning the year before was being unable to stop Clemson’s Deshaun Watson in the last two minutes.

But to say that Auburn has had more talent than Alabama the past two years — or, for that matter, any time during Nick Saban’s reign at Bama — is pure fantasy. Just look at the last two NFL drafts. Alabama has had 21 players selected; Auburn, seven.

To say Auburn had the best defensive front seven in college football last season is just plain stupid. Five of Bama’s front seven players were drafted. Auburn? Zero.

Do NFL teams sometimes whiff? Sure. But not that much.

The Central Florida loss is hard to reconcile. But was it any worse than Alabama’s loss to Utah in the 2008 season or Bama getting embarrassed by Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl a few years ago? Or Ohio State getting humiliated by Iowa last season?

“And they give him a new contract? For what? Mediocrity?”

No, Einstein, because the odd bird in hand is better than the unknown bird in the bush.

Arkansas forced Auburn’s hand when it fired Bret Bielema. To let Malzahn leave for another SEC West school when the program is on solid footing could have been a monumental mistake. If he left, who would Auburn be able to hire on such short notice that would be a definitive upgrade?

So Auburn overpaid a little to keep Malzahn from leaving. In the process, the Tigers bought stability for the next few years, which is critical with Saban and Smart going strong.

I don’t know who fired the verbal shot. But if Auburn is up by three touchdowns with one second to play and Malzahn goes for two, we might just have our answer. You know what they say about karma.

This story was originally published June 2, 2018 at 3:29 PM with the headline "Guerry Clegg: Which SEC coach took the anonymous shot at Malzahn in preseason magazine?."