Auburn’s Gus Malzahn calls Texas his ‘dream job’
By Mike Dyce
The University of Texas still has Mack Brown as their head coach, but there are reports that they’re considering moving on. Particularly that they’re after Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
They might not be able to get Saban but they could wind up with another coach from the state of Alabama, Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn. According to sources, Malzahn considers the Longhorns gig his ‘dream job.’
Getlin is citing a piece from Sports Illustrated by Pete Thamel, who also said Malzahn would be wise to bolt if offered the job. Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said that they’ll do what they can to keep him at Auburn, and that includes a big raise.
“The Auburn people, me and the president and the leadership, we’re going to do what’s necessary to make sure that he’s reasonably situated in the SEC in coaches’ salaries,” Jacobs told the Montgomery Advertiser.
Getting Malzahn would be a big move if they weren’t able to get Saban and definitely is a top candidate for the job. Thamel suggested Texas would be a more stable job and pointed to ‘meddling boosters’ at Auburn.
"History tells us that Auburn coaches — no matter how successful — don’t have long and stable professional careers. Just ask Terry Bowden, who started 11-0 in 1993. Or Tommy Tuberville, who went 13-0 in 2004 after a failed coup to hire Bobby Petrino. Or Gene Chizik, who got fired two seasons after going 14-0 and winning the national title.Meddling boosters have been a huge problem at Auburn in the past, and the Tigers coach is seemingly always a 7-5 campaign away from a millionaire batting his eyelashes at the next hot name. That booster may just charter a plane to go talk to him."
Given the way things have gone at Texas, and the ‘meddling’ with Saban’s agent behind Mack Brown’s back you have to wonder if that is a valid selling point to pick Texas over Auburn. Brown has been at Texas for over 10 years despite blemishes during his tenure including multiple blowouts to rival Oklahoma and losing streaks as well.