Cameron Newton Wins the Heisman, Malzahn Leaves the Plains For Vandy

Cameron Newton - The Heisman Trophy Award Winner

The voting should have been the biggest landslide in history. There was no player statistically better than Cameron Newton, and there was nobody who meant more to their team.

The Heisman winner should be a leader and Cam has lead Auburn to the BCS National Championship Game. He didn't just take the team to the title game, he willed an Auburn Nation back into believing.

In 1993 and 2004, Auburn was undefeated, yet couldn't prove they were the best. This season, Newton brought something back to wounded nation.

Auburn knew they had a chance to win every time they played.

I found it ironic that Florida announced the hiring of Will Muschamp right about the time Newton was announced the Heisman Trophy winner. Florida wouldn't want to try and overshadow a former Gator winning a Heisman at Auburn, would they?

Newton is the most dominating player I've ever watched play college football. Before him, Michael Vick or Tim Tebow comes to mind; they both possessed the duel threat attributes.

Because Newton could dazzle us with runs, few realize the guy has a rocket-arm and pin-point accuracy; from that standpoint, he reminded me of Peyton Manning: A very quick release with good throwing mechanics.

Newton played with the same explosiveness as Barry Sanders, the same wow factor too—when you watched them play, you knew you were watching greatness.

I don't know if it translates into a good NFL career, so what we saw with the 2010 Auburn football team could be the end.

I believe he will do well at the next level.

I don't think they'll use him like the Eagles use Vick. Newton throws the ball better than anyone I've ever seen at Auburn. Newton is a mobile version of Peyton Manning.

Gus Malzahn- The New Head Coach at Vanderbilt

It's not going to be easy for Auburn to replace an offensive mind like Gus Malzahn, and remember that Gene Chizik is a defensive minded head coach.

I think Chizik knows many of the philosophies used in the fast paced offensive style; I also believe the next man will come from another fast paced offense.

Auburn didn't win games from defense; in fact, they managed to win despite having one of the worst defenses.

If the defense improves over the next two seasons, Auburn will become a national power.

For some reason, I thought Malzahn might hold out for a better job. I thought Georgia was going to fire Mark Richt and then hire Malzahn. Some of their fan base might wish they had.

Vandy had expressed interest in Malzahn, but I thought he'd use that for leverage at a bigger job. For six weeks, the Vanderbilt fan-board showed many who thought he'd go there. It turned out not to be wishful thinking.

It's not going to be easy to turn that program into anything relevant. The high entry requirements to attend Vandy eliminates many of the elite high school prospects chances to going there.

If Malzahn can get them to 5-7, that would be incredible.

Good Luck, Gus!