Auburn Football: With UNC Calling, Who Replaces Malzahn on the Tigers Staff?

Last season, the Auburn Tigers were closing in on the school's second national championship when rumors began to swirl around the program about the future of Gus Malzahn. With the stellar offensive performance in 2010 and the overachievement in 2009, Malzahn had become a hot name on the coaching circuit.

There were talks of Malzahn departing the Tigers for the head coaching jobs at Maryland and Vanderbilt. After the process took its course, Malzahn ended up sticking with Auburn, negotiating a raise and contract extension.

This season brings a new wave of head coaching vacancies with multiple “big name” schools searching for their new leader. Rumored to be on a few lists is none other than Gus Malzahn.

Despite Auburn’s struggles offensively this season, Malzahn is still one of the more brilliant offensive minds in college football. There is a wealth of schools that are likely to be courting Malzahn at some point, but as it stands today, the University of North Carolina looks to be a real possibility.

With the possible departure of Malzahn to UNC, Gene Chizik will have a decision to make. Does Auburn stick with the no huddle fast paced spread, or do the Tigers change their style and return to the traditional offensive sets? One thing is certain; the Tigers will be looking to run the football.

Here is a list of possible candidates if the need were to arise to replace the ever creative and innovative Gus Malzahn. 

Scot Loeffler: Temple Owls

Loeffler came to Temple after spending two years at Florida as the quarterbacks coach under Urban Meyer. Loeffler came to Florida during Tim Tebow’s final season, helping Florida lead the nation in passing efficiency in that same year.

He previously had a stint in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, coached quarterbacks at Michigan, his alma mater, and coached quarterbacks for Central Michigan. When Steve Addazzio took the head coaching job at Temple in 2011, he brought his quarterbacks coach with him.

Loeffler has taken Temple from 67th in rushing offense in 2010 to ninth in the country this season. The Owls are averaging 254.4 yards on the ground and 28.5 points a game. The Owls aren’t blasting away the passing records just yet, as they are only finding 139 yards a game through the air, but the rushing yardage is a very impressive mark.

Dave Baldwin: Utah State Aggies

Most Auburn fans would like to ignore any mention of Utah State as the Aggies came to Jordan-Hare Stadium this season and almost came away with a season opening upset victory over the Tigers. A large part of that success was from the innovation on the offensive side of the ball for Utah State.

Dave Baldwin brings a wealth of experience to the table, as he has been a head coach in his past and has most recently been an offensive coordinator for Utah State for the past three seasons. His wealth of experience is a huge asset for any team. He brings multiple formations to an offense creating confusion for defenses.

For the 2011 season, the Aggies are averaging 269.9 yards rushing a game and 458.2 yards of total offense a game, all while being led by a freshman quarterback. Baldwin’s ability to adapt talent to his schemes would be a great fit for Auburn. 

Cameron Norcross: Nevada Wolfpack

Norcross has spent his entire career with the University of Nevada as he enters his ninth season as a coach with the Wolfpack. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Nevada in 2000 and began as a graduate assistant the following year.

Norcross is now the run-game coordinator and offensive line coach at Nevada. He has played a pivotal role in implementing head coach Chris Ault’s Pistol offense and would provide a different approach to running the football at Auburn.

Nevada has consistently produced NCAA leading rushing totals in the past five seasons, and the Wolfpack has continued that trend this season with 262 yards a game being churned up on the ground. The Wolfpack also have earned 269.7 yards a game through the air and average 524.7 yards of total offense.

Ken Karcher: Eastern Michigan Eagles

Karcher is a veteran of sorts in the coaching game, as he began his career in 1992 with the Orlando Thunder of the World League. Karcher coached in NFL Europe until 2000, when he took the head coaching job at Liberty University.

In 2009, Karcher took over his current position with the Eastern Michigan Eagles when the Eagles were 119th out of 120 teams in FBS offensively. By 2010, the Eagles rose to 91st and averaged 173.3 yards a game rushing. This season, the Eagles are averaging 229.3 yards a game rushing and are currently 90th in total offense.

Karcher brings a ton of experience to the game and the ability to produce yards on the ground. Granted, the Eagles aren’t barn burners on the offensive side of the ball, but it is Eastern Michigan. Increasing the rushing output by almost 50 yards is impressive. Karcher wouldn’t likely be a first option, but he could be in the conversation. 

Phillip Montgomery: Baylor Bears

Montgomery started in FBS coaching as the running backs and quarterbacks coach for Houston from 2002-07. He became co-offensive coordinator in 2007 and followed Art Briles to Baylor to continue serving as co-offensive coordinator and position coach.

At Houston, Montgomery assisted in producing one of the most prolific offensive attacks in the country. That reputation has continued at Baylor, where the Bears are averaging 211 yards on the ground and 369.8 yards through the air.

He is also the position coach of Heisman candidate Robert Griffin III. Assisting the development of an offense that averages 567.9 yards a game should be enough to put Montgomery to the top of any teams list of candidates for offensive coordinator.

Matt Campbell: Toledo Rockets

In 2003 Matt Campbell began his career in college coaching as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green. In ’04 he took over as offensive coordinator at Mount Union before returning to Bowling Green in 2006 as the offensive line and running game coordinator.

In 2009, Campbell took over as offensive coordinator for the Toledo Rockets, helping guide them to a No. 16 total offensive ranking despite losing their starting quarterback to injury at mid-season. In 2010, he helped coach Toledo back into a bowl game as the Rockets finished the season 8-5.

In 2011, the Rockets are averaging 217.8 yards on the ground and 278.3 through the air. They also average 41.8 points a game. Campbell was able to take a Toledo offense that ranked 85th in 2008 to 13th by the end of 2009.

Dana Dimel: Kansas State Wildcats

Dana Dimel started his college coaching career in 1987 as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Kansas State. Dimel served as an assistant there until receiving the head coaching position at Wyoming in 1997. After a stint at Wyoming and then Houston as head coach, he returned to Kansas State as an assistant in 2005.

Dimel then left to coach at Arizona in 2006 under Mike Stoops until 2008, returning for a third time to Kansas State in 2009 as the co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach.

Dimel now oversees one of the most prolific rushing offenses in college football, as the Wildcats average 208.5 yards on the ground and 35 points a game. Dimel has been a part of the Wildcats resurgence that has occurred under coach Bill Snyder.

The way that the Wildcats have been able to utilize quarterback Collin Klein this season has been impressive, and it bears some similarities to how the Tigers utilized Cameron Newton’s abilities during his 2010 Heisman campaign. 

Pep Hamilton: Stanford Cardinal

Hamilton has only been in college coaching for two years, as the majority of his coaching career has been spent in the NFL. After a stint at his alma mater from 1997-01, Howard University, as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator he went to the New York Jets until 2005.

In 2010, Hamilton came to Stanford as the wide receivers coach. In 2011, when then-offensive coordinator David Shaw was promoted to head coach, Hamilton was promoted to quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.

Under Hamilton, the Cardinal have racked up 215.1 yards rushing a game and 283 yards a game through the air. The Cardinal also average 46.4 points a game. To the credit of Stanford, Hamilton walked into a great situation, but he has been able assist David Shaw in forming one of the most potent offenses in college football.

Rhett Lashlee: Samford Bulldogs

Rhett Lashlee is the closest that Auburn could come to keeping the Malzahn system of offense without simply promoting from within. In fact, Lashlee may have a better grasp on the offense that is currently ran by the Tigers than any other assistant currently serving under Malzahn.

Lashlee played his high school football for Malzahn and was a part of the Arkansas offensive staff when Malzahn coached there. He then followed Malzahn to Auburn, where he spent the 2009-10 seasons as an offensive graduate assistant.

Lashlee took over the offensive coordinator position at Samford this season and has the Bulldogs averaging 396.6 yards a game, but only 168 come on the ground. If Gene Chizik wanted to keep the offense as close as possible to the current system, Lashlee would be a great addition.

Promote from Within?

Typically, when a coach leaves a program for a different opportunity, a school will reach outside the program to bring in a new coach to fill the vacancy. At some level, this has to occur to replace what was lost on staff.

On occasion, schools will promote from within, as was the case with Pep Hamilton at Stanford. Auburn has been burned from the dreaded “promote from within” bug, as experiments with Hugh Nall and Steve Ensminger turned disastrous for Tommy Tuberville.

There is a wealth of talent currently found on Auburn’s staff with guys like Curtis Luper and Trooper Taylor being intricate parts of the offensive coaching staff. Trooper Taylor is already listed as the assistant head coach and receivers coach, while Luper is currently running backs coach and recruiting coordinator.

If Auburn were to hire from within, I would be surprised, but if they did, I would suspect either Luper or Taylor would be the promotable coach. Jeff Grimes may also play a role in the decision, however. There would still be a need for the Tigers to bring in a quarterbacks coach to ensure that all offensive bases were covered.

The only way that a hire from within type scenario makes sense is if Gene Chizik is trying desperately to not change a thing for the Tigers offensively. Of all the options, this seems to be the most unlikely to occur.

It is worth mentioning that Malzahn has yet to announce his departure, but it is never too late to start looking for replacements. Even Chizik admits that “You have several guys in the back of your mind” at all times.