Reasons why Gus would leave Auburn for Arkansas

Most of the national media thinks Gus Malzahn would be crazy to leave Auburn for Arkansas.

Which is why the depth for many of them is paper thin. Usually one sheet of paper is what they read, then spout off about.

Remember, these were the same guys telling us Bret Bielema was a home run hire at Arkansas when a combination of research and logic clearly showed it wasn’t.

It’s also why they obviously are simply using one-way thinking … again.

The reason Gus would be interested in leaving Auburn for Arkansas is actually stupid simple when you think about it.

No matter what Gus did at Arkansas State when he was the coach there in 2012, nothing would put him higher than anything the Razorbacks accomplished.

He was going to be No. 2 in the best of times.

The same thing has happened at Auburn. No matter what he accomplishes down on The Plains — short of ripping off four straight national titles — will put him above Nick Saban in the state of Alabama.

Even when he made it to the national championship game in 2013 by beating the Crimson Tide, it was generally regarded by a majority in the state that it was a complete fluke. The truth is Auburn took advantage of an Alabama mistake and won the Iron Bowl that year.

Everyone seemed to ignore Oklahoma’s 45-31 win in the Sugar Bowl as, well, due more to a lack of interest from the Tide than anything the Sooners did.

Shoot, even when the Tigers won the national championship in 2010 with Cam Newton running Gus’ offense where he was the offensive coordinator, Auburn was still No. 2 in the state in terms of interest.

They also fired Gene Chizik as coach two years later. That’s a precedent for how long the grace period is at Auburn following a national title these days.

Malzahn didn’t exactly deny anything about the Arkansas job when asked after the Tigers’ win over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday except to say he ignores rumors.

“You ignore it because one week you’re getting fired and the next week you’re going to take another job,” Malzahn said. “I’m worried about the durn SEC West championship.”

Which is precisely what a coach would say when asked about “rumors.” There are some in both states that believe it’s not a rumor and that people connected to Arkansas have talked with people connected to Gus and both sides are interested in talking some more.

And all of that is about how it does with these coaching searches where the coach being sought is employed and the school searching already has a coach gainfully employed and at least acting oblivious to any problem.

With the Arkansas job, it’s easy to see why Gus would view it as a better situation:

• It is his home state. He knows the people, the tradition, the culture. The current coach hasn’t figured out half of it.

• It is one of two “dream jobs” he’s always wanted (coaching the Dallas Cowboys is the other one).

• In Arkansas, he is widely respected by many high school coaches in the state. Very few don’t think that way. None would talk their players out of going to the Hogs.

• At Arkansas, he is like Nick Saban in Alabama … even before he coaches a single game.

• He can come to Arkansas, bring his Auburn staff with him and owe Auburn exactly ZERO. Don’t believe it? Our friends at AL.com had this Monday:

If Malzahn, who is signed at Auburn through 2020, were to leave for another job, he would owe Auburn the sum of any payments owed to the assistant coaches who either don’t follow him to a new employer or are not retained by the new coaching staff.

Talk about a set of circumstances all falling into place at once.

Auburn’s athletic director Jay Jacobs is the one who would be negotiating a contract extension with Malzahn … which will be interesting considering many in Auburn have told us the two don’t have a cozy relationship to start with.

One thing might remain similar, though.

At Arkansas there will be an old coach who pops in from time to time.

At Auburn it’s Pat Dye, when he’s sober enough to find the door.

At Arkansas it would be Ken Hatfield, who would probably stick his head in the door to drop off a particular Bible verse he finds inspirational. If Gus wanted to chat, it would be quick and to the point, because that’s just how Ken is.

And, in case you didn’t know, Hatfield was the coach Gus wanted to walk on and play for at Arkansas in 1984.

As we said, Arkansas is, well, a natural and comfortable fit for Gus.

I’m guessing Auburn never has been.

And you can’t put a price on a comfortable fit that comes naturally.