Here's a small portion of an Eric Bailey article on Gus Malzahn. In this excerpt, Gus talks about his time in Tulsa. The remainder of the article is at the link...
Shortly after Graham took the Tulsa job in January 2007, he called Malzahn seeking a recommendation for a playcaller.
Malzahn gave his own name.
Those two seasons — 10-4 and 11-3 campaigns — helped him grow as a college coach.
“That was real critical,” Malzahn said. “I was offensive coordinator at Arkansas for one year. My second year coaching college was at Tulsa. Todd Graham allowed me to run our offense and run it fast and it really gave me a chance to establish myself as a college coach at Tulsa.”
Malzahn’s offensive staff at TU included co-coordinator Herb Hand (who is now Auburn’s offensive line coach), wide receivers coach Bill Blankenship (a Conference USA coach of the year at Tulsa) and graduate assistant Mike Norvell (currently Memphis’ head coach).
In back-to-back years, Malzahn tutored quarterbacks Paul Smith and David Johnson to record-setting seasons. Could they and others on that Tulsa team have made it on Auburn’s roster?
“I look back at the skill guys that we had during the time that I was at Tulsa and they probably could have played anywhere in the country,” Malzahn said. “Charles Clay, Paul Smith, David Johnson, all those guys were phenomenal players … Slick Shelley, Tre Johnson …”
Tulsa grasped Malzahn’s offensive concepts in only two seasons and the new style fueled the team to 21 victories.
Shortly after Graham took the Tulsa job in January 2007, he called Malzahn seeking a recommendation for a playcaller.
Malzahn gave his own name.
Those two seasons — 10-4 and 11-3 campaigns — helped him grow as a college coach.
“That was real critical,” Malzahn said. “I was offensive coordinator at Arkansas for one year. My second year coaching college was at Tulsa. Todd Graham allowed me to run our offense and run it fast and it really gave me a chance to establish myself as a college coach at Tulsa.”
Malzahn’s offensive staff at TU included co-coordinator Herb Hand (who is now Auburn’s offensive line coach), wide receivers coach Bill Blankenship (a Conference USA coach of the year at Tulsa) and graduate assistant Mike Norvell (currently Memphis’ head coach).
In back-to-back years, Malzahn tutored quarterbacks Paul Smith and David Johnson to record-setting seasons. Could they and others on that Tulsa team have made it on Auburn’s roster?
“I look back at the skill guys that we had during the time that I was at Tulsa and they probably could have played anywhere in the country,” Malzahn said. “Charles Clay, Paul Smith, David Johnson, all those guys were phenomenal players … Slick Shelley, Tre Johnson …”
Tulsa grasped Malzahn’s offensive concepts in only two seasons and the new style fueled the team to 21 victories.
