Malzhan Growth

[corchjay 5,311]

With six years under his belt (1 at AState, 5 at AU) Gus is still a fairly new head coach at the college level.

Here are some substantial growth I think he's had since becoming our coach:

1. Attempting to give up play calling - hoping this is the year that it is complete.  However, I am not of the opinion he needs to be completely hands off like many.  His offensive mind is what has made him a successful coach.

2. Identifying the need for SEC style defense.  Not just trying to out score everyone.

3.  Identifying and making necessary changes in assistant coaches.

4. Balancing the depth chart.  Seems we are now a pretty balanced team with quality players on each side of the ball and each position grouping.  Mild exception is safety but every team has that one spot.  Center scares me going forward.

5.  Detail to every aspect of the team has gotten much better.  Especially with special teams.

 

Now here is the main reason I started the thread...  (And please don't make this a bashing of Gus or any of the players or coaches.  I'll delete the thread if so) Where do you want to see Gus continue to grow and mature as a coach.

3 Things for me:

1. Time management.  Have to give Chizik credit but he was a master at setting up his teams with having the ability to score going into half and at the end of games and not giving opportunity for the opponent any time to counter.  I'd love to see Gus focus on this much more.

2. I love enthusiasm but please stop yelling run it run it run it...  Prepare them during the week and let the players execute it.  If you are having to scream coaching out every possession you haven't prepared your team.

3.  Be more open about injuries at least just a window or some hint of severity.  

  

[SCBusPilot 72]

I for one would like for Gus to be more creative and unpredictable in the red zone. It seems like every time we got there the last couple of years he went ultra conservative on us. It just hasn't worked against the better teams. 

[corchjay 5,311]

Just now, SCBusPilot said:

I for one would like for Gus to be more creative and unpredictable in the red zone. It seems like every time we got there the last couple of years he went ultra conservative on us. It just hasn't worked against the better teams. 

That's a very good one and I agree.  However, in general I think Gus is very conservative and the more pressure on his job the more conservative he seems to be.  

[bigbird 60,460]

To me, he needs to regain that aggression he used to have as an OC...oh yeah, and maybe we should try and run the hurry up...

[McLoofus 35,182]

6 minutes ago, corchjay said:

1. Time management.  Have to give Chizik credit but he was a master at setting up his teams with having the ability to score going into half and at the end of games and not giving opportunity for the opponent any time to counter.  I'd love to see Gus focus on this much more.

Biggest one for me. See the big picture of a football game. Be able to adjust to what the game is giving you (while maintaining your identity as a football team). We recently discussed in another thread that South Carolina game where Tuberville kept the ball the entire 3rd quarter. That was a guy who had been around and who was able to see the entire football game at once. Then go watch our final possession of the '09 IB. Chickens with our heads cut off. Total chaos on the sideline. Like you said, Gus just hasn't been around enough to have that level of experience, but every year he sticks around, he learns and grows and gets better. 

To that end, I agree with your observations on his growth. He's gotten better and learned. He knows that recruiting is the lifeblood of a program. He took a massive step forward on the opposite side of the ball with Muschamp- not just on the field, but in terms of managing the managers off it, i.e. making the PTB stay the hell out of the way- and Steele appears to have been a home run hire by any measure. On offense, we're about to see what he's learned. I'm optimistic.

We knew we were getting a young coach when we hired him. We knew he had some experience to gain in order to transition from "offensive guru who surrounded himself with talent" to "championship caliber head coach and program runner". He's trended to the good in every respect except offensive strategy, and we're about to see if he addressed that. 

At the end of the day, his youth in the profession might serve him better than Les Miles's experience served him. 

[corchjay 5,311]

1 minute ago, McLoofus said:

Biggest one for me. See the big picture of a football game. Be able to adjust to what the game is giving you (while maintaining your identity as a football team). We recently discussed in another thread that South Carolina game where Tuberville kept the ball the entire 3rd quarter. That was a guy who had been around and who was able to see the entire football game at once. Then go watch our final possession of the '09 IB. Chickens with our heads cut off. Total chaos on the sideline. Like you said, Gus just hasn't been around enough to have that level of experience, but every year he sticks around, he learns and grows and gets better. 

To that end, I agree with your observations on his growth. He's gotten better and learned. He knows that recruiting is the lifeblood of a program. He took a massive step forward on the opposite side of the ball with Muschamp- not just on the field, but in terms of managing the managers off it, i.e. making the PTB stay the hell out of the way- and Steele appears to have been a home run hire by any measure. On offense, we're about to see what he's learned. I'm optimistic.

We knew we were getting a young coach when we hired him. We knew he had some experience to gain in order to transition from "offensive guru who surrounded himself with talent" to "championship caliber head coach and program runner". He's trended to the good in every respect except offensive strategy, and we're about to see if he addressed that. 

At the end of the day, his youth in the profession might serve him better than Les Miles's experience served him. 

Good response.  I do have to give a shout out to coach RG for helping balance the depth chart across the board.  

[lionheartkc 6,150]

17 minutes ago, corchjay said:

Gus is still a fairly new head coach at the college level.  Year 6 I believe.  Here are some substantial growth I think he's had since becoming our coach.

1. Attempting to give up play calling - hoping this is the year that it is complete.  However, I am not of the opinion he needs to be completely hands off like many.  His offensive mind is what has made him a successful coach.

2. Identifying the need for SEC style defense.  Not just trying to out score everyone.

3.  Identifying and making necessary changes in assistant coaches.

4. Balancing the depth chart.  Seems we are now a pretty balanced team with quality players on each side of the ball and each position grouping.  Mild exception is safety but every team has that one spot.  Center scares me going forward.

5.  Detail to every aspect of the team has gotten much better.  Especially with special teams.

 

Now here is the main reason I started the thread...  (And please don't make this a bashing of Gus or any of the players or coaches.  I'll delete the thread if so) Where do you want to see Gus continue to grow and mature as a coach.

3 Things for me

1. Time management.  Have to give Chizik credit but he was a master at setting up his teams with having the ability to score going into half and at the end of games and not giving opportunity for the opponent any time to counter.  I'd love to see Gus focus on this much more.

2. I love enthusiasm but please stop yelling run it run it run it...  Prepare them during the week and let the players execute it.  If you are having to scream coaching out every possession you haven't prepared your team.

3.  Be more open about injuries at least just a window or some hint of severity.  

You forgot my favorite part of his growth. He's realized that you can't rely on a single player at any position, and that you must back-fill. For several years, he got his guy and didn't consider what might happen if his guy left/got hurt/got booted/didn't pan out. He'd never come out and say it, but you know he was planning on having Cam tutor Kiehl in 2011, so Kiehl could take over in 2012. 

As to your three areas of improvement, I agree whole heartedly with 1. I'm not sure that 2 really matters one way or another. Finally, I have a feeling that he has been given strict instructions on 3. Auburn's legal and compliance people are as straight-arrow, by-the-book as they come. They pretty much always error on the side of being overly cautious when it comes to things like HIPPA laws, NCAA regulations, etc.

1 minute ago, corchjay said:

Biggest one for me. See the big picture of a football game. Be able to adjust to what the game is giving you (while maintaining your identity as a football team). We recently discussed in another thread that South Carolina game where Tuberville kept the ball the entire 3rd quarter. That was a guy who had been around and who was able to see the entire football game at once. Then go watch our final possession of the '09 IB. Chickens with our heads cut off. Total chaos on the sideline. Like you said, Gus just hasn't been around enough to have that level of experience, but every year he sticks around, he learns and grows and gets better. 

YES... THIS!  So much this! Gus hasn't been able to adjust in less than a quarter since he came to Auburn.

[McLoofus 35,182]

5 minutes ago, corchjay said:

Good response.  I do have to give a shout out to coach RG for helping balance the depth chart across the board.  

What he did after Muschamp and TRob left... heroic stuff. 

[djg0017 726]

My biggest homework assignment for gus is *drumroll* make our HUNH actually hurry up. So many times I see us run no huddle and then we still snap the ball under 10 secs.

Throw on first down.. I know it's scary bc 2nd and 10 sucks but if they know we are running it then 2nd and 8 isn't much better. Teams that can at least throw check downs on first down every once in a while are a lot more efficient without having to be too gutsy.

Figure out who our 5 or so best kick returners are before the season starts!!!

[abw0004 10,110]

1 hour ago, corchjay said:

Gus is still a fairly new head coach at the college level.  Year 6 I believe.  Here are some substantial growth I think he's had since becoming our coach.

1. Attempting to give up play calling - hoping this is the year that it is complete.  However, I am not of the opinion he needs to be completely hands off like many.  His offensive mind is what has made him a successful coach.

2. Identifying the need for SEC style defense.  Not just trying to out score everyone.

3.  Identifying and making necessary changes in assistant coaches.

4. Balancing the depth chart.  Seems we are now a pretty balanced team with quality players on each side of the ball and each position grouping.  Mild exception is safety but every team has that one spot.  Center scares me going forward.

5.  Detail to every aspect of the team has gotten much better.  Especially with special teams.

 

Now here is the main reason I started the thread...  (And please don't make this a bashing of Gus or any of the players or coaches.  I'll delete the thread if so) Where do you want to see Gus continue to grow and mature as a coach.

3 Things for me

1. Time management.  Have to give Chizik credit but he was a master at setting up his teams with having the ability to score going into half and at the end of games and not giving opportunity for the opponent any time to counter.  I'd love to see Gus focus on this much more.

2. I love enthusiasm but please stop yelling run it run it run it...  Prepare them during the week and let the players execute it.  If you are having to scream coaching out every possession you haven't prepared your team.

3.  Be more open about injuries at least just a window or some hint of severity.  

  

Very well written, and in my opinion, accurate.  Many in the past year wanted to bash Gus for things that were not in his control.  This spring I saw a lot of good adjustments that made me believe he would continue to grow as a coach.  If anyone remembers my thread from 6 months ago detailing how Saban was not made into the coach he was overnight, I think that was a good example.  Onwards and upwards!

[Gowebb11 9,313]

1 hour ago, corchjay said:

5.  Detail to every aspect of the team has gotten much better.  Especially with special teams.

 

First @corchjay, greg job. You pretty much nailed this topic in my opinion. Regarding number 5, I would like for Gus to talk more about the culture and goals he has for his team. He's very tactical in his thinking, but I would like to see him express a more strategic side. Examples would be proclaiming bold goals publicly: 'we expect to contend for the playoffs every year', 'our goal is always double digit wins', 'we intend to be elite every year', etc....Great leaders have high aspirations and clearly announce them for all to see. 

[Rednilla 5,383]

1 hour ago, corchjay said:

However, I am not of the opinion he needs to be completely hands off like many.  His offensive mind is what has made him a successful coach.

This times 1,000. Yes, I want to see Gus continue to evolve into a CEO who delegates to his assistants, but everything starts at the top, and Gustav has proven over and over again that he DOES know a pretty good bit about running the football.

As for other areas of improvement, I'd like to see him learn from his assistants, picking up on their good characteristics so he can pass them along to future assistants when the current ones move on. This is especially true with Chip Lindsey, who I believe can broaden Malzahn's overall grasp of passing route trees and how to successfully establish balance in the offensive unit.

One other thing that I think he has done with Steele but that he didn't do previously is to allow the defensive coordinator a larger measure of autonomy on that side of the ball. While I do think he should be learning from defensive minds like Steele, as I mentioned above, I also think it is a good strategy to give the reigns over when it comes to defense, because I believe it will lead to DCs remaining here longer. I would imagine some coaches might be okay with not moving upward on the coaching ladder quite so quickly if they know they don't have to worry so much about interference from the head man.

[triangletiger 1,599]

Two things:

1.  As much as possible, have better handle on the players he has and their abilities prior to Game 1 so that is doesn't take us 4 games to figure out who we are.

2.  This has been alluded to already, but improve performance in the 3rd quarter.  We seem to go into a lull in the 3rd quarter.  Whether this is because our opponents make adjustments and we don't, I'm not sure.  But he and his coaches need to figure it out and fix it.  

[triangletiger 1,599]

@corchjay, Good thread topic, by the way.

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

3 minutes ago, triangletiger said:

Two things:

1.  As much as possible, have better handle on the players he has and their abilities prior to Game 1 so that is doesn't take us 4 games to figure out who we are.

2.  This has been allude to already, but improve performance in the 3rd quarter.  We seem to go into a lull in the 3rd quarter.  Whether this is because our opponents make adjustments and we don't, I'm not sure.  But he and his coaches need to figure it out and fix it.  

Oh boy yes a million times yes

[lionheartkc 6,150]

3 minutes ago, triangletiger said:

1.  As much as possible, have better handle on the players he has and their abilities prior to Game 1 so that is doesn't take us 4 games to figure out who we are.

Another big one that he has never been able to do since he set foot in Auburn. You have to wonder how many coaches would take 4 games to figure out what Cam was capable of. I'm hoping that Chip fixes this.

[gr82be 14,422]

One big thing for me is running a red zone offense without multiple substitutions. When the defense is playing on their heels you can't give them time to substitute and reset. If you have situational players your tendencies give you away. And forget the Wildcat, I hate being predictable. 

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

Damn, I thought this thread was about Gus growing an inch b/c his chest was now poked out...

[gr82be 14,422]

Just now, ValleyTiger said:

Damn, I thought this thread was about Gus growing an inch b/c his chest was now poked out...

Lol, made me think how Bama fans would react to a little Nicky growth thread. 

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

To me, he needs to regain that aggression he used to have as an OC...oh yeah, and maybe we should try and run the hurry up...

I was reading an article the other day about Matt Canada, and he was explaining how change of pace, fast to slow to fast to slow et al, was even more difficult on defenses. His reasoning was that it kept them guessing and that they could get used to always fast or always slow. Makes even more sense when I hear Casey Dunn and Wilson Bell talk about their struggles with our pace in practice and our guys that have been here it's just second nature. 

Bird, you're a defensive guy, have you experienced that back and forth pace at all?

Still, I agree that it'd be nice to put the throttle down and quit sub'n so friggin much. When we are pacing a team, a glaring thing to me is how ineffective the play after an opposing player "has" an injury. Seems to always happen near the goal line. 

[alexava 6,973]

Get better qb development from chip. Or just get luckier with qb recruits. Add some ideas in the passing and red zone offense from what chip has done. But as far as knowing when to hurry up and seeing holes in defenses that is Gus's strength. Keep it. 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

46 minutes ago, gr82be said:

One big thing for me is running a red zone offense without multiple substitutions. When the defense is playing on their heels you can't give them time to substitute and reset.

That's purely a function of personnel. We should have the multi-roll players now for that not to happen.

[bigbird 60,460]

35 minutes ago, ValleyTiger said:

 

Bird, you're a defensive guy, have you experienced that back and forth pace at all?

 

Kam Martin's school, Port Arthur Memorial, does that some of the time. It is difficult to get used to and even harder to get calls made and aligned to.  That said, AU hasn't run much hurry up lately. More of hurry to the line and wait.

[LKEEL75 2,566]

Just now, bigbird said:

Kam Martin's school, Port Arthur Memorial, does that some of the time. It is difficult to get used to and even harder to get calls made and aligned to.  That said, AU hasn't run much hurry up lately. More of hurry to the line and wait.

Will this change this year?  I have assumed that this was more due to personnel issues so we really couldn't.  But with our current talent, will we be able to actually call 5-6 plays and have QB audible if necessary?

[MaxP 137]

59 minutes ago, gr82be said:

One big thing for me is running a red zone offense without multiple substitutions. When the defense is playing on their heels you can't give them time to substitute and reset. If you have situational players your tendencies give you away. And forget the Wildcat, I hate being predictable. 

This is a good point and I would limit "trick" plays to 3 per season MAX. We all want to see growth, but I'll say after last season it's hard to say Malzahn has grown any. I hate to negative about the guy. We look to have a good team this year, let's hope Gus can maximize their potential.