Arkansas 2019 Coaching Search: Making the case for, against Gus Malzahn

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Arkansas’ search to replace Chad Morris is underway, with athletics director Hunter Yurachek’s search firm already putting out feelers to agents and coaches. Yurachek released a statement a week into the search calling for patience as the administration attempts confidentiality in the search.

A full list of possible candidates can be found on the HawgBeat Hot Board, we'll take a closer look at a single coach in the case for/case against series. A coach who is always in the mix for the Arkansas job due to his extensive ties to the university is current Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn.

Check out other candidates we've reviewed cases for already: Mike Leach, Matt Campbell, Bobby Petrino, Lane Kiffin and Sam Pittman.

“Order… Order in the court. We’ll now hear the case of Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn…”

- A lot of SEC experience

Of all the potential candidates to be Arkansas’ next coach, only one is a sitting head coach in the SEC. Malzahn has been at Auburn since 2013 and was the offensive coordinator for the Tigers from 2009-11. Including his one year as the Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator in 2006, Malzahn is in his 11th season as a coordinator or head coach in the SEC.

- Successful at every stop

Not only has he been the Tigers’ head coach for seven years, but Malzahn has had a lot of success on the Plains. Auburn has won exactly two-thirds of its games under him, plus his 60-30 overall record includes a 32-23 mark in conference play.

In his first season as Auburn’s head coach, Malzahn was seconds away from beating Florida State in the BCS National Championship Game. In 2017, the Tigers captured the SEC West title by knocking off No. 1 Alabama in the Iron Bowl. Malzahn has won at least seven games each season and - assuming Auburn beats FCS Samford on Saturday - will have won at least eight games in all but one season.

Success has followed Malzahn everywhere he’s been. Before taking the Auburn job, he went 9-3 and helped Arkansas State win the Sun Belt in 2012. As a coordinator with the Tigers, Malzahn received a lot of credit for the 2010 national championship as the Broyles Award recipient and helped them go 26-10 over a three-year span. In two seasons as Tulsa’s offensive coordinator, the Golden Hurricane went 21-7. At Arkansas, he helped the Razorbacks win the SEC West and go 10-4 in 2006.

As a high school coach, Malzahn led three different schools to seven state championship games in 14 years - winning three titles with two of the schools. His combined record as a high school coach, college coordinator and college head coach is 262-87-1 (.750), with his lone losing season coming in 1992 - his first as a head coach in the high school ranks.

- Extensive ties to the state

Most people probably know about Malzahn’s ties to the state, but here’s a quick recap…

~Malzahn grew up in Fort Smith and graduated from Fort Smith Christian, where he earned All-State honors in basketball, baseball and football and was named the Southwest Times Record’s Athlete of the Year Award as a senior.

~For college, Malzahn decided to walk-on at Arkansas and play receiver for Ken Hatfield. After a couple of seasons, he transferred to Henderson State in Arkadelphia, where he was a two-year letterman as a receiver and punter.

~Interestingly enough, his first job was actually as a defensive coordinator at Hughes High School in east Arkansas. After just one year, Malzahn was promoted to head coach and took the Blue Devils to the 1994 state championship game, which they lost in the closing seconds.

~He’s probably best known for his time at Shiloh Christian and Springdale High, as he developed the “Hurry-Up, No-Huddle” offense that set national records at Shiloh. He won two state titles and was runner-up twice with the Saints, then led the Bulldogs to a runner-up finish in 2003 and a state title in 2005 - a team that was ranked No. 2 nationally. His overall record as a high school coach was 136-33-1 (.803).

~After that last state title, Malzahn broke into the college ranks as an offensive coordinator for the Razorbacks in 2006 and his first college head coaching job was at Arkansas State in 2012.

- Exciting offense

Malzahn literally wrote the book on the hurry-up, no-huddle offense when he was the head coach at Springdale High. Although the Tigers have had some struggles on that side of the ball in recent seasons, Malzahn has typically led very good offenses that consistently rank in the top 50 nationally and spike into the top 10 on a regular basis.

It’s also the offense that former Arkansas head coach Chad Morris modeled his philosophy after, so most of the pieces he recruited over the last two years would still fit the system.

- Proven recruiter

All seven of Malzahn’s recruiting classes as a head coach at Auburn have ranked between 7th and 14th nationally, and that doesn’t include his 2020 class, which is currently No. 10. He has signed 10 five-star and numerous four-star prospects.

It’s also worth noting that his 2020 class includes three junior college offensive linemen - all rated as 5.7 three-star prospects and among the top 22 JUCO players available - who could provide immediate help in a desperate area of need for the Razorbacks if flipped. The Tigers have been a reported player in the recruitment of Morrilton three-star quarterback Jacolby Criswell, as well, which could help a possible flip from North Carolina if Malzahn is hired.