Malzahn leaves Hogs to join Tulsa staff

By: Jamie Barnhill

Posted: 1/17/07

Less than three weeks ago, Head Coach Houston Nutt addressed the media at his annual end-of-the-season press conference. He stated that he hoped to keep this year's staff intact, although he understood that some schools would attempt to sway an assistant from the staff.

It was known that quarterbacks coach Alex Wood, offensive line coach Mike Markuson and defensive line Tracy Rocker had been interviewed, offered or applied for positions at different universities. All of them had either not been chosen or declined to accept the new jobs.

Then the news came Sunday night that fresh off of his first year of being Arkansas' first ever offensive coordinator under Nutt, Gus Malzahn had opted to take the position of co-offensive coordinator and assistant head coach under newly-hired Tulsa University head coach Todd Graham.

Malzahn helped guide the Razorback offense to a 10-win season that featured a Heisman Trophy runner-up in Darren McFadden and an offense that ranked in the top 35 nationally in total offense and scoring offense. He was recently named as Rivals.com 2006 Offensive Coordinator of the Year.

Prior to coming to Arkansas as offensive coordinator, Malzahn was head coach at Hughes High School, Shiloh Christian High School, and most recently Springdale High School, where he coached three current Razorbacks, Mitch Mustain, Ben Cleveland and Andrew Norman.

In total he led his teams to five state championship games and won three state titles, the most recent being in 2005 with Springdale.

Nutt is out recruiting and was not available for comment on the recent departure, but he did release a statement concerning Malzahn's departure.

"Gus Malzahn has resigned his position at the University of Arkansas to become the assistant head coach and co-offensive coordinator at the University of Tulsa," Nutt said. "We are very appreciative of the many contributions Gus made to our staff and to our program during his tenure with the Razorbacks. In his first season as a coach at the collegiate level, he was an integral part of a team that won 10 games and won an SEC Western Division championship. I wish him nothing but the best both personally and professionally as he takes on his new role."

Malzahn will co-coordinate Tulsa's offense with former West Virginia assistant Herb Hand. Graham is excited about the hirings and plans to employ Malzahn's hurry-up, no-huddle offense next season, he said.

"I'm excited to have Gus join our coaching staff," Graham said. "He has a great offensive mind and his no-huddle spread offense style is exactly what we want to employ at Tulsa.

"Together with Herb Hand from West Virginia, we have added two coaches as co-offensive coordinators who were instrumental in their teams being among the top 15 teams in the nation in 2006 and their offenses among the NCAA's best," Graham said.

Malzahn played a critical part in Arkansas swaying Mustain and Cleveland to commit to Arkansas in 2006. Cleveland and former Razorback receiver Damian Williams were committed to the University of Florida during their high school senior seasons, but decided to switch to Arkansas upon the hiring of Malzahn.

Mustain, who was a Parade and U.S. Army All-American, initially committed to Arkansas, then de-committed, and finally re-committed upon Malzahn's hiring as well.

Following the regular season, the parents of the Springdale students, with the exception of Norman, had a meeting with Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles to discuss the direction of the football program and the future of their sons as Razorbacks. Following the meeting, Williams decided to transfer to Southern California, while Mustain and Cleveland decided to stay with the Razorbacks.

With the departure of Malzahn, there has been speculation that Mustain might follow suit. Mustain's mother, Beck Campbell, acknowledged that speculation on Monday.

"This breaks my heart," Campbell said. "We're going to have to sit down and talk about it. Classes start tomorrow and I don't know what he'll do."

"He and Gus are not tied at the hip," Campbell said. "But he knows what he's capable of and what his vision for offensive football at Arkansas was. Now you'll have to wonder if that will go by the wayside."

It is rumored that Dallas Cowboys' quarterbacks coach David Lee is the front-runner to replace Malzahn as offensive coordinator. Lee was interviewed prior to last season for the same position, but chose to stay with the Cowboys. Lee previously worked at Arkansas under former coach Ken Hatfield as offensive coordinator from 1984-88 and more recently was the Hogs' quarterbacks coach in 2001.