52 Days
“Run it! Run it! Hurry! Run it! Run it! Now! Run it!”
The alarm clock chirps its first call. It’s 5:30 in the early morning, and the sun has yet to show its face.
He would usually want to stay in bed. That’s how he felt years ago when he still living in his parents’ house attending grade school. He was the superstar then. Every morning was the start of another humdrum day of being the big man on campus. The most athletic kid on the teams of multiple sports. Another normal day of success in the classroom and praise from his elders.
But that was then. That was all usual.
Now, things are peculiar. At 5:30, he feels the incessant need to hurry.
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Just call him the QB making machine.
It stares at them from the minute they step into the room.
Gus Malzahn’s history of molding quarterbacks assaults Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley whenever they set foot in the Auburn offensive coordinator’s office, in the form of five framed pictures, complete with a plaque of accomplishments underneath each.
Mitch Mustain and his 8-0 record as a true freshman starting at Arkansas. Paul Smith, David Johnson and their back-to-back 4,000-yard passing seasons at Tulsa. Chris Todd and his then-school-record 21 touchdowns at Auburn.
And, of course, Cam Newton. He had a pretty good year.
Malzahn doesn’t even have to speak the question they represent for Trotter and Moseley: “Which one of you is next?”
“That’s just him,” Trotter said. “He’s kind of funny sometimes.”
Malzahn often says his goal is to stress his quarterbacks enough during practice that they don’t feel pressure in the games.
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Gus Malzahn and Ted Roof will have their jobs cut out for them.
Gus Malzahn has to find his sixth different starting quarterback in six years coaching collegiate football, and his third in three years at Auburn.
Ted Roof is looking at only three returning starters on his defense, one of whom won’t be playing the position at which he started the past two seasons.
Gene Chizik presides over a team that is missing 34 scholarship players from its run to the national championship, one that sported only 52 scholarship players at the start of spring practice Wednesday.
Well, 53 if you count offensive lineman Shon Coleman. But he’s not expected to play this year.
“First day,” Malzahn said Wednesday. “A lot of new faces out there. ”
Even Chizik wasn’t there to take in the first 25 minutes of Auburn’s practice at the Hutsell-Rosen Track/Soccer Facility, the Tigers’ temporary home while their new indoor practice facility is being completed.
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Gus and Gene stay together!
Gus Malzahn is staying put at Auburn, and his salary will more than double for next year, the Opelika-Auburn News has learned.
Tigers head coach Gene Chizik said through a statement Monday that Malzahn would be receiving a raise and contract extension.
“Gus Malzahn has played a large role in the success of our football program the last two years and we’re very pleased to be able to give him a raise and extend his contract,” Chizik said. “In my opinion we have the best staff in the country, and while we want our coaches to strive to become head coaches, retaining them as long as we can is important to me and the entire Auburn family.
“Gus is a very bright and talented coach and we are looking forward to beginning preparation for the BCS National Championship.”
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