Bielema/Malzahn Supporters

[Razorfox]

When Bielema was hired, I was pretty happy with it.  He had lots of experience, big name, knew how to win, had a good personality for recruiting, had a defense and smash mouth mentality (traditionally good attributes in the SEC), etc.  For whatever reasons those traits didn't translate to wins at Arkansas.  And because of that we need to go a different direction. 

At the same time, Malzahn was also an option as the HC at Arkansas State.  On paper, it wasn't even close between he and Bielema.  The only thing that Malzahn had going for him was Arkansas ties (not necessarily important) and being offensive minded (that's subjective that it's better than being defensive minded). 

Fast forward five years and Malzahn would be an excellent choice.  He now has similar experience that Bielema had five years ago and has done it in the SEC.  In my opinion, if he's a real option, we'd be crazy not to take it.  That being said I'd be surprised if he would leave Auburn for Arkansas, but I was surprised Bielema left Wisconsin to come here too.   

So my question: Is it strange to be both a former Bielema supporter and a potential future Gus supporter, or am I the only one?

[Mellon Collie]

I feel as though Gus will leverage our interest in him to secure a lucrative extension at Auburn.

[HF#1]

Bielema came out of nowhere so I was in shock and didn't really have an opinion when he was hired. I'll admit I wasn't a fan of Gus's brand of football but there is no doubt you can win with it. If we could get him it would be great but I'd have to question Gus's judgement for leaving Auburn.

[HF#1]

I feel as though Gus will leverage our interest in him to secure a lucrative extension at Auburn.

That is a realistic possibility.

[rusvegashog]

As I see it there is absolutely no reason whatsoever from a football point of view to not want Gus Malzahn as our coach. There wasn't then and there surely isn't now.

[East Clintwood]

When Bielema was hired, I was pretty happy with it.  He had lots of experience, big name, knew how to win, had a good personality for recruiting, had a defense and smash mouth mentality (traditionally good attributes in the SEC), etc.  For whatever reasons those traits didn't translate to wins at Arkansas.  And because of that we need to go a different direction. 

At the same time, Malzahn was also an option as the HC at Arkansas State.  On paper, it wasn't even close between he and Bielema.  The only thing that Malzahn had going for him was Arkansas ties (not necessarily important) and being offensive minded (that's subjective that it's better than being defensive minded). 

Fast forward five years and Malzahn would be an excellent choice.  He now has similar experience that Bielema had five years ago and has done it in the SEC.  In my opinion, if he's a real option, we'd be crazy not to take it.  That being said I'd be surprised if he would leave Auburn for Arkansas, but I was surprised Bielema left Wisconsin to come here too.   

So my question: Is it strange to be both a former Bielema supporter and a potential future Gus supporter, or am I the only one?

I'd say you're clearly identified two coaches that should never have been hired by the UofA and should stay as far away as possible.

[Hawg Life]

I feel as though Gus will leverage our interest in him to secure a lucrative extension at Auburn.

THIS.. Gus is following the Tommy Tubberville pattern to a T.

Hire Norvell!!!

[scaldedhog]

As I see it there is absolutely no reason whatsoever from a football point of view to not want Gus Malzahn as our coach. There wasn't then and there surely isn't now.

I'm hearing that the Gus deal was in the barn a month ago.  Also that his wife has already moved back to be closer to her dad.

[jwreynolds01]

I will root for bama if them winning means we can get Malzahn as our head coach.  If he beats Bama and Georgia again, he will not be available.  And he will win another national championship.  It seems that some of us on this site just ignore how much he wins.

[Mellon Collie]

I'm hearing that the Gus deal was in the barn a month ago.  Also that his wife has already moved back to be closer to her dad.

This type of information is what I call 'misdirection'.  In football terms, if we were running the old Wing T offense, that info is the slow white full back running into the line while the real information takes the handoff and scoots around left end for an 11 yard gain.

[razorbackfaninar]

When Bielema was hired, I was pretty happy with it.  He had lots of experience, big name, knew how to win, had a good personality for recruiting, had a defense and smash mouth mentality (traditionally good attributes in the SEC), etc.  For whatever reasons those traits didn't translate to wins at Arkansas.  And because of that we need to go a different direction. 

At the same time, Malzahn was also an option as the HC at Arkansas State.  On paper, it wasn't even close between he and Bielema.  The only thing that Malzahn had going for him was Arkansas ties (not necessarily important) and being offensive minded (that's subjective that it's better than being defensive minded). 

Fast forward five years and Malzahn would be an excellent choice.  He now has similar experience that Bielema had five years ago and has done it in the SEC.  In my opinion, if he's a real option, we'd be crazy not to take it.  That being said I'd be surprised if he would leave Auburn for Arkansas, but I was surprised Bielema left Wisconsin to come here too.   

So my question: Is it strange to be both a former Bielema supporter and a potential future Gus supporter, or am I the only one?

Think about this, what if 5 years ago we had hired Gus and Auburn had hired Bielema?  It's likely that Bielema's style would have done well with the recruits he could have gotten at Auburn, and how do you think Gus would have fared with the Allen brothers running his system?

[scaldedhog]

This type of information is what I call 'misdirection'.  In football terms, if we were running the old Wing T offense, that info is the slow white full back running into the line while the real information takes the handoff and scoots around left end for an 11 yard gain.

Hey sometimes that old slow white fullback stumbles into the end zone!

[DoctorSusscrofa]

The Gus supporters are writing under as many names as possible these days.

[bville_hog]

My initial concern with BB was trying to completely change from an offensive system that was really working for us into a run first big 10 offense.  It looked promising with his first recruiting class, but BB was unable to retain quality assistant coaches and even though he said, he always looked at it as an opportunity to upgrade, hind site, says he rarely did upgrade.

[Razorfox]

Think about this, what if 5 years ago we had hired Gus and Auburn had hired Bielema?  It's likely that Bielema's style would have done well with the recruits he could have gotten at Auburn, and how do you think Gus would have fared with the Allen brothers running his system?

Like I said, I think the right choice was made given what we knew at the time. 

That's a pretty serious hypothetical, but I'll give it a shot given the benefit of hindsight:

2013 - I think Malzahn probably would have done slightly better, maybe two more wins, than CBB did.  I say this because looking back, it seems like CBB has a tendency to start slow and blow leads.  I doubt Malzahn would have done that. 

2014 - Ditto.

2015 - I think Malzahn would have had similar success that year, i.e. 8-5.

2016 - I think Malzahn would have won 7-9 games.

2017 - Malzahn would have done much better; his system and players would be firmly established and we'd be realistically winning anywhere from 8-10 games. 

Disclaimer: I don't know for certain that the Allen brothers would have been starting QBs under Malzahn.  There is certainly a chance that he would have used someone else on the roster or would have recruited someone else better for his type of play.

[rusvegashog]

Think about this, what if 5 years ago we had hired Gus and Auburn had hired Bielema?  It's likely that Bielema's style would have done well with the recruits he could have gotten at Auburn, and how do you think Gus would have fared with the Allen brothers running his system?

"I" think Gus would have won here because he is in fact one of th best coaches in the game. Mustain wasn't running all over the field. Gus would have adapted to the players he had.

[rude1]

I feel as though Gus will leverage our interest in him to secure a lucrative extension at Auburn.

Extension? Don't be fooled, drop the iron bowl and they will want his hide once again. It might be the reason he would want out, no matter the big wins, if he can't get by Bama and win the conference, they aren't likely to be happy with him, and  that is a tall order for any coach.

[DeltaBoy]

Gus showed he can win with what ever players he got.

[OneTuskOverTheLine™]

When Bielema was hired, I was pretty happy with it.  He had lots of experience, big name, knew how to win, had a good personality for recruiting, had a defense and smash mouth mentality (traditionally good attributes in the SEC), etc.  For whatever reasons those traits didn't translate to wins at Arkansas.  And because of that we need to go a different direction. 

At the same time, Malzahn was also an option as the HC at Arkansas State.  On paper, it wasn't even close between he and Bielema.  The only thing that Malzahn had going for him was Arkansas ties (not necessarily important) and being offensive minded (that's subjective that it's better than being defensive minded). 

Fast forward five years and Malzahn would be an excellent choice.  He now has similar experience that Bielema had five years ago and has done it in the SEC.  In my opinion, if he's a real option, we'd be crazy not to take it.  That being said I'd be surprised if he would leave Auburn for Arkansas, but I was surprised Bielema left Wisconsin to come here too.   

So my question: Is it strange to be both a former Bielema supporter and a potential future Gus supporter, or am I the only one?

No, I'm all for it. What people often fail to realize, myself included, is that he was a pretty damn good recruiter before Auburn, but now he's known and when he goes into a living room selling Arkansas he can show DMAC, Felix and P. Hilly highlights and say, "Not only have I done it at Auburn, but I've already done it HERE TOO."...

[OneTuskOverTheLine™]

Think about this, what if 5 years ago we had hired Gus and Auburn had hired Bielema?  It's likely that Bielema's style would have done well with the recruits he could have gotten at Auburn, and how do you think Gus would have fared with the Allen brothers running his system?

Why in the HELL do you root for a stank assed state school that is full of idiots and is not allowed to win.!?

[bphi11ips]

When Bielema was hired, I was pretty happy with it.  He had lots of experience, big name, knew how to win, had a good personality for recruiting, had a defense and smash mouth mentality (traditionally good attributes in the SEC), etc.  For whatever reasons those traits didn't translate to wins at Arkansas.  And because of that we need to go a different direction. 

At the same time, Malzahn was also an option as the HC at Arkansas State.  On paper, it wasn't even close between he and Bielema.  The only thing that Malzahn had going for him was Arkansas ties (not necessarily important) and being offensive minded (that's subjective that it's better than being defensive minded). 

Fast forward five years and Malzahn would be an excellent choice.  He now has similar experience that Bielema had five years ago and has done it in the SEC.  In my opinion, if he's a real option, we'd be crazy not to take it.  That being said I'd be surprised if he would leave Auburn for Arkansas, but I was surprised Bielema left Wisconsin to come here too.   

So my question: Is it strange to be both a former Bielema supporter and a potential future Gus supporter, or am I the only one?

You're not the only one.

[FutureMan]

When Bielema was hired, I was pretty happy with it.  He had lots of experience, big name, knew how to win, had a good personality for recruiting, had a defense and smash mouth mentality (traditionally good attributes in the SEC), etc.  For whatever reasons those traits didn't translate to wins at Arkansas.  And because of that we need to go a different direction. 

At the same time, Malzahn was also an option as the HC at Arkansas State.  On paper, it wasn't even close between he and Bielema.  The only thing that Malzahn had going for him was Arkansas ties (not necessarily important) and being offensive minded (that's subjective that it's better than being defensive minded). 

Fast forward five years and Malzahn would be an excellent choice.  He now has similar experience that Bielema had five years ago and has done it in the SEC.  In my opinion, if he's a real option, we'd be crazy not to take it.  That being said I'd be surprised if he would leave Auburn for Arkansas, but I was surprised Bielema left Wisconsin to come here too.   

So my question: Is it strange to be both a former Bielema supporter and a potential future Gus supporter, or am I the only one?

To answer the question, I was also a Bielema supporter and a potential future Gus supporter.  I was a Bielema supporter because of all the reasons you stated above.  Plus, you should always give a coach a fair shake.  There were some posters on here that never gave Bielema a chance.  They hated the hire from the beginning and would only come out after a loss just to complain.  I hate that behavior.

I truly think Gus would do amazing here.  He's a good coach, he can recruit, he knows this landscape better than anyone.  I would truly support Gus.

[Mellon Collie]

Extension? Don't be fooled, drop the iron bowl and they will want his hide once again. It might be the reason he would want out, no matter the big wins, if he can't get by Bama and win the conference, they aren't likely to be happy with him, and  that is a tall order for any coach.

You are a correct.  The irrational faction of their fanbase only cares about the Iron Bowl result, and thus will never be happy.  They got a taste of true incompetence with Chizik and I feel they realize that Gus is a quality coach and will want to keep him long term.

[RexMentor]

I feel as though Gus will leverage our interest in him to secure a lucrative extension at Auburn.

I think this is exactly what's going on. Only thing is that Gus hasn't bothered to tell his Arkansas acolytes.
And we get yet another Gus thread that will, based on responses, reveal the fault lines in Razorback Nation.

[tzthib]

I feel as though Gus will leverage our interest in him to secure a lucrative extension at Auburn.

I suspect this is the case, and if it is I hope one day in the future it's a terrible loss to razorbacks that ends his career at Auburn.

[ipigsooie]

I suspect this is the case, and if it is I hope one day in the future it's a terrible loss to razorbacks that ends his career at Auburn.

Me too! He will be a very rich(er) man after sexton plays his flirtation game. 

[RazorPiggie]

I'm hearing I read on Hogvillethat the Gus deal was in the barn a month ago.  Also that his wife has already moved back to be closer to her dad.

FIFY

[Paul]

I'm hearing that the Gus deal was in the barn a month ago.  Also that his wife has already moved back to be closer to her dad.

This could be a reason that Gus stays in Allbarn!