Chris Low: Gus Malzahn to Stay at Auburn
by Christian D'Andrea on Dec 13, 2010 1:59 PM EST
in Vanderbilt Commodores Football
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PrintESPN's Chris Low is reporting that Gus Malzahn will turn down Vanderbilt's offer to become the team's latest head coach. Malzahn, Auburn's offensive coordinator, has decided instead to stay with the team after initial reports suggested that he'd be leaving the Tigers.
Recent speculation is centering on a bidding war between Vanderbilt and Auburn over the chance to get Malzahn. Reports suggest that the two schools traded escalating bids, beginning with a $1.5 million annual salary from Vanderbilt. Rumor has it that the Commodores' final bid was in the $2.5-3 million/year range, but it appears that Malzahn chose loyalty to Auburn over the pay increase and challenge of coaching a perennially disappointing Vandy squad.
Maryland Coordinator James Franklin has been considered the team's second-in-line for the position, though it's unsure if he'll get an offer. News of Malzahn's arrival in Nashville were originally spurred by the report that Franklin had been told that the head coach slot had been filled at Vanderbilt. What happens now is a mystery - though with no official reports on hand yet it is still unclear what exactly the situation is between Gus Malzahn and the Commodores.
UPDATE: Low's article gets upgraded from "Report:" to "Story." Looks like the coaching search will continue after David Williams takes a few minutes to drink a whole bottle of Old Grand-Dad and punch the hell out of one of the spare Mr. C suits.
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Again, just a report
Just more substantiated than any other reports we’ve come across. The real mystery now is what happens to James Franklin if the story is true.
Franklin was a guy I wanted here at a similar level as Malzahn. The Franklin/Hand combination would be very solid for this team. Now that he was essentially told to take his ball and go home for the time being, would he come back if Vandy offered him? How was the situation handled in the first place? All we know is that he interviewed and was then rebuffed right now.
by Christian D'Andrea on Dec 13, 2010 2:02 PM EST reply actions
High school no-punt coach
They should hire the famous high school coach who refuses to punt. That would at least be interesting and attract some publicity. 40 years of apathy is a lot to overcome without some sort of drastic measure.
by The sh*t works! on Dec 13, 2010 2:21 PM EST reply actions
time will tell
We’ll see if this pans out. In the meantime, I feel like MTSU just block Hahnfeldt’s kick like 4,000 times all over again.
On the bright side...
Tinsley can breathe easy now that we have something new to be depressed about.
by ZeroPointZero on Dec 13, 2010 2:32 PM EST up reply actions
This is getting ridiculous
I do believe—all I really believe at this point—that Vandy thought at one point that this was going to be a done deal.
Maybe Auburn got back into it late. Maybe we were getting played all along. I still am not totally convinced it’s all the way dead until we hear more, but at this point it’s just getting frustrating and I want it wrapped up.
It sounds like a combination of both
Malzahn was probably playing both sides much of the time. Auburn jumped in late to save him, as Malzahn probably planned for. He was set either way – either getting a big raise to stay, or a huge raise to leave. He played his hand well.
by Christian D'Andrea on Dec 13, 2010 2:35 PM EST up reply actions
The really frustrating thing...
…is that anyone else is going to feel like a letdown now. Unless there’s some wild-ass deal out there to poach Nick Saban or Jim Harbaugh or someone, we’re going to be out there tonight or tomorrow introducing some other assistant coach that nobody heard of before we started the hiring process, and no matter how much we spin it, everyone in the world is going to know we’re not hiring our first choice.
From a morale standpoint, this is about the worst things could have gone, and the extent to which VCDW has played this close to the vest strongly suggests that we got hosed at the last minute.
"Well, if that ain't a show, I'll kiss your ass." - Gov. Jim Folsom Sr. (D-AL), 1948-52
Mismanagement
This whole process seems to have been mismanaged from the beginning and somebody should lose their job over it if this ESPN report turns out to be true. Florida did this the right way, get the guy signed quickly and make a formal announcement or move on to the next guy. Unfortunately the way this is going down is like how so many other things seem to happen for Vanderbilt fans, you get your hopes up only to be let down again wondering why you keep getting sucked in. I hate to be so negative but this feels terrible.
LEACH WATCH?
Now that Malzahn is gone and Franklin may not want to come, Leach has got to be cheaper than ever! Can we walk down that road?
He recruited to Lubbock, graduated everyone, and is an offense genius. What am I missing? We’re gonna let Craig James affect our decision making? ESPN just aired a special where he all but admitted accepting money to play at SMU.
We can come out of this without a black eye is Leach is the guy.
by Commodorable on Dec 13, 2010 2:47 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I agree,
get the Pirate in Nashville.
"When a hurricane damaged my father's house, my brother rushed over with a gas grill, three coolers of beer, and an enormous F**k-It Bucket - a plastic pail filled with jawbreakers and bite-size candy bars. ("When s*** brings you down, just say 'f*** it,' and eat yourself some motherf****** candy.")"
— David Sedaris
It's a Dowhowerful Life
Rod Dowhower: I wish I’d never been born.
Sam Kinison: I’m your guardian angel. Here’s what life would be like without you.
(Footage of Chris Miller and Gerald Riggs in the Falcons’ 42-13 romp of the 49ers in the 1988 NFC Championship, followed by Gus Malzahn Jablonsky leading Vanderbilt to an Outback Bowl victory over Penn State)
Rod Dowhower: I want to live!
FIN
by parlagi on Dec 13, 2010 2:43 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
Do you think...
Vandy is not coming out and saying, “We got turned down,” because:
a) we are too ashamed we got turned down and would rather hide in embarassment.
b) negotiations are actually going on and to do so would be hurtful to the process.
c) VCDW is a dick and wants to see my cry.
Why would Vandy make that announcement at all?
It’s not just a shame thing, but a common sense thing. Why would David Williams have a press conference to announce that we lost out to an OC offer from a fellow SEC school?
d) both A and C
To Vandy Dan: Does anyone else feel completely alienated? I think at some point its on Vandy to do right by its fan base. To leave us hanging in the wind so precariously is especially dangerous when I’m already hanging on by a thread to whatever semblance of a football team VU just fielded this past fall. Nearly jumped ship back to my hometown Miami and am now closer than ever.
To do right by its fanbase? What does that even mean?
If reports are true, Vandy offered a fantastic package to an up and coming assistant coach. What more do you want?
What possible good is going to come from a press conference describing another near miss? At most, they will say “we are still looking for a head coach.” Will that make you feel appreciated? Maybe Williams and Zeppos can offer handjobs to disgruntled fans?
Please jump to Miami – just in time for basketball season. Seriously. Then, you can jump somewhere else when Al Golden either gets fired or leaves that program for Penn State in a few years. Sorry, but losing out on Malzahn – if Vandy lost out – is hardly the worst thing to ever happen to Vandy football.
wowza
Well first of all, I know you’re upset so I’ll look past the strong words.
I never said anything about a press conference. How about just a kind word to a Rival sports reporter? Anything to help us through this tough time. Saying something to reporters besides no comment is all I really wanted to hear. Furthermore, the report cited by doredarling from the tennessean adequately covered any questions I had. I just wanted some response from them to know that VCDW was still alive, breathing, and aware that there were GM rumors swirling.
Mostly reacting to your statement that you nearly "jumped ship" to Miami
That’s everything that is wrong with Vandy students. They spurn their shitty hometown school for a better school and then refuse to support Vandy sports. It’s just funny when it’s someone threatening to support a barely .500 Miami football program.
I’m actually not as upset by Malzahn as most seem to be. I’m willing to sit back and wait for Vandy’s next move. Hell, I’m not even sure that Malzahn is out as a candidate yet.
Vandy did exactly what I said they would do if they were not ready to make a hire. They announced that the process was ongoing. Why would they possibly announce that they got turned down? Do your friends who ended up at Miami announce that they got turned down by Vanderbilt?
I wasn’t aware I signed a pledge guaranteeing my support for Vandy sports. When I said I’d nearly jumped hip, i meant I was down to 80-85 percent support due to several factors. Hell, the administration screwed me over an a number of issues during my time at Vandy, from housing to greek life. Guess who got stuck on main campus while all of my classmates were at Peabody due to the renovations to Peabody? This guy! Their policies changed drastically from 05-09, and I would not have gone there had I been born four years later. The activities I held important to me were becoming decreasinly important to the administration. Yet here I am, stuck cheering for Vandy. I have no problem cheering for the team. Look at Stokes. Great story, but watching him blitz was like watching one of those wind up cars running into a wall over and over agin. Painful, yet great to cheer for a true-student athlete. Festus, JJ, JT, Larry Smith and his deer in the headlights look. Earl Bennet. DJ Moore. Great great stories and they make me incredibly proud to cheer for VU.
My problem is and always will be with the administration. I don’t particularly like the direction the school is headed toward, and I definitely do not like being asked for money every two weeks. In my mind I saw VCDW eating a Rotier’s grilled cheeseburger and shrugging off the Malzahn denial while he wiped his face with some poor kid’s 55000$ undergrad tuition. Now having said that, I don’t really think thats true, and despite my best efforts, I think I’ll be 75 years old talking about how we went to that MusicCity bowl game that one year in 08. 99 percent of my frustration stems from Tebow tweeting about Muschamp and how we couldn’t just nail Malzahn like that. Oh well, thats UF vs. Vandy in football – its gonna happen that way.
/rant
Sorry for that, but I think it somewhat pertains to this. And no, I’d prefer not to have a handjob from Williams or Zepps. And no, I don’t want a press conference, just a shoutout to us fans who actually have invested emotion into this search. And no, my friends who ended up at the U mentioned things didn’t work out and they were going to look elsewhere. Just like VCDW did in the tennessean article that I didn’t know about, and his response that he actually is alive and can say something other than no comment is all I wanted. I’m already skeptical of the entire administration (largely due to Kristin Torrey, but heck I’ll lump the whole group in there), so thats just my personal opinion. Take it as you may, but thats where I stand. Sports are important to me, and if the administration follows through with a VU commitment to football, heck, I’m 100 percent back on board.
Sorry your sorority experience was so negative...
enjoy watching Miami struggle to finish in the middle of the ACC.
I didn’t read everything that you wrote, but I’m glad that David Williams’s non-comment to The Tennesseean made you feel better.
Just cycled through to Acceptance twice.
I’m going back to my old tried and true coping mechanism of making absurd predicions about the success of Vanderbilt Football. Time to get started…
We are going to blow the doors off the SEC East next year. We’ll definitely win the conference championship, but probably have one loss and get snubbed for the BCS championship. It’ll be something to build on.
I'm not believing anything till Zeppos gets in front of a camera
This morning my head felt like it was being invaded by cavemen with spiked clubs and now my stomach feels like it did right before gallbladder surgery. Who’s f-ing responsible?!? Show your face now!!!
"There are going to be days when you think you've got no more to give and then you're going to give plenty more. You are going to have pride and class. You are going to be very special. You are going to win the national championship for the University of Alabama." - Coach Paul Bear Bryant
The statement from DW
made it seem like he had no clue that he was actually looking for a new head coach. very disappointing.
Whoa, wait.
Bobby Johnson retired? The past season happened?
On the brighter side, basketball! Baseball! (I swear if Corbin/Stallings try to leave any time soon, I will need major therapy)
Did anyone else watch "Pony Excess" and think...
that it might be worth it for a few years of solid football and a shot at a national title?
I've been saying this for years.
Open up the checkbook and let’s ride. Sure it’ll all get stripped in 3 years, but those of us who were throwing up on Bourbon Street after romping to a national title will know it happened.
Unfortunately, it looks like Auburn beat us to the punch with that plan…
"Well, if that ain't a show, I'll kiss your ass." - Gov. Jim Folsom Sr. (D-AL), 1948-52
Those boosters, players, coaches sure do talk pretty glowingly about all the crap they did. It’s like they don’t regret doing it in the first place, they just regret not stopping after they got in trouble the first time (and they all blame someone else for that part).
So maybe we could just do it for a while, then we go on a little probation and we’ll be all set to be a mediocre SEC team when we get back.
YES!
Granted, I only watched the commercial for it, then spent the rest of the day singing “sooner or later gonna hunt you down”, but yes this was my first shameful thought about the whole thing. Integrity be damned, let’s pay the shit out of these guys.
by ZeroPointZero on Dec 13, 2010 3:49 PM EST up reply actions
GLOOOOOOM!!! DOOOOM!!!
Yeah, I’m annoyed. Yes, I thought we’d at least know by now one way or the other. Yes, it is embarrassing for the school if we end up having to go through scrap to find someone we didn’t alienate enough to be our fall back.
But I also think it’s ridiculous to crucify the Athletic Chancellor. No reports came from here. None. He did a good job keeping it out of the press, so good that for 4 days, no one here had any idea what was going on.
It does make you wonder what exactly happened in Maryland to make Bonesteel and Prisbell think that Franklin was out (i.e. did we ever really tell Franklin he was out, or did he just think we were going to?). If we did tell Franklin we were set, when as DW says, no deal was in place, then that was a mistake, but it’s not worth getting out the stake and torches to go witch hunting.
In any case, as far as I can tell, the only people we have to tell us that we did tell Franklin no thanks are the same guys who told us we were getting Gus. So not exactly a strong source.
BTW, I don’t mean to say that it wasn’t a huge F-up if we actually did tell Franklin no when we were still negotiating with Gus, I just mean that we have very little proof that that is what happened.
And “no deal to be dead” could mean a lot of things ranging from, he said yes in principle and before we could get it on paper he backed up to we were negotiating and still are and not much has changed one way or the other.
In any case, I still haven’t seen anything from VU, Auburn, Maryland anywhere saying who is or isn’t still in play. Until that happens, I don’t think we have any idea at all where we stand, certainly not a good enough idea to hammer Williams over a report in a Maryland beat blog from a paper 12 hours drive away.
Not saying he didn’t screw up, but we still are a long way from knowing who is at fault here (other than the WaPo guys, it looks like they are at fault).
Shirley Povich is dead
and the WaPo sports section has been a bad joke for years, what with all the guys wanting to do radio and TV and phoning it in. I wouldn’t exactly consider them a reliable source.
That said, is there anything official that we DO know? Who said “thirty days”? Who said “there will be an announcement Monday”? Hell, was VCDW’s comment this morning the first actual official acknowledgement that Malzahn was in play?
"Well, if that ain't a show, I'll kiss your ass." - Gov. Jim Folsom Sr. (D-AL), 1948-52
Agreed...
those guys look terrible. I’m surprised because they still are one of the go-to sources for pro sports and their basketball coverage is pretty solid. I have to admit that I don’t spend much time reading about ACC football.
The Tennessean sure looks a lot better reporting nothing than running a story that ended up being wrong.
I know for sure
That DW at least planned on getting this all done before Friday. He said weeks ago on the radio on 3HL that he hoped to get it done before the Winter Break starts, which is this Friday.
Agree
Plus, things that have been far more embarrassing in recent seasons:
1. Losing to MTSU (2005 stands out, but they were all special in their own way)
2. Jay Cutler losing to a phone booth and getting chased down by a Vandy Cop
3. “No swearing” policy receives national coverage
4. Offense coached by Ted Cain, Jimmy Kiser, Des Kitchings
5. Vagrant Woody found in a toll booth in Destin
And another thing
I’m gonna be PISSED if we turn into the opening that every OC in the country uses to leverage a fat raise. I don’t want to get jerked around on this one (one more reason I keep hoping they’ll throw some of this sick cash at a known good BCS-conference head coach at some point).
"Well, if that ain't a show, I'll kiss your ass." - Gov. Jim Folsom Sr. (D-AL), 1948-52
There's not much we can do about that...
I doubt that Williams will be able to get guys to take a polygraph before their interview.
I’d rather get used for a few raises than have them turn to Deuce Johnson II or some Woody-like retread.
Dear Vanderbilt Football,
How dare you toy with my hopes and dreams in the offseason too! This is beyond disappointing. I’m pretty sure I’m more disappointed about this than I am about this whole last season.
By the way, the band is on call for the press conference, and we’re hearing that it’ll be very very soon. Here’s hoping VCDW puts us out of our misery before Wednesday.
Oh dear.
Now that would be a nightmare. Caldwell’d start to look real good real soon, haha.
by doresandhogs on Dec 13, 2010 5:38 PM EST up reply actions
Tell me about it
I want the Missouri nightmare out of my mind. I worked hard to not have exams for the last 13 years and they’re still killing me. ;]
"Well, if that ain't a show, I'll kiss your ass." - Gov. Jim Folsom Sr. (D-AL), 1948-52
Seriously in need of a win of some sort. If Adrian Peterson doesn’t outscore Bradshaw by 3 points tonight, it’s all over and my fantasy team is going to fire me.
by ZeroPointZero on Dec 13, 2010 5:27 PM EST up reply actions
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