AUBURN - Nothing will be certain until all the open head coaching jobs have been filled, but offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn has told people close to him that he expects to return to Auburn for his fourth season in 2012.
Malzahn has been mentioned prominently as a candidate for jobs at North Carolina and Ole Miss. Last December, he turned down an offer to become Vanderbilt head coach and declined to interview for an opening at Maryland.
Malzahn offense has been the least productive this season of any in his six seasons - one at Arkansas two at Tulsa and three at Auburn.
Asked after last Saturday's 42-14 loss to Alabama about his future plans, Malzahn said, "Like I've said before, someday I want to be a head coach. It has to be the right time, the right place, all that stuff. Right now, what I'm going to do tomorrow is figure out how we can get this stuff fixed, get us ready for this bowl game, to play well."
In Auburn's national championship run in 2010, Malzahn's offense shattered nine school records, including points in a season (577), points per game (41.2), total yards (6,989), total offense (499.2), rushing yards (3,987), rushing touchdowns (41) and passing touchdowns (31).
Quarterback Cam Newton threw for 2,908 yards and 30 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,586 yards and 20 touchdowns en route to becoming the third Heisman winner in school history.
In 2009, Malzahn's first season, the Tigers made a dramatic turnaround from the previous season.
The improved from a tie for 110th to 7th in the nation in scoring offense (from 17.3 to 41.2) and from 104th to 7th in total offense. It took Auburn just six games in 2009 to score more points than it did in all 12 games in 2008.
The 2008 Tulsa offense averaged 569.9 yards per game and was second nationally averaging 47.2 points per games. Tulsa's offense in 2007 established nine team school records and 12 individual records. The Hurricane also set nine Conference USA team records, while Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith broke an NCAA record by throwing for at least 300 yards in 14 consecutive games.
During Malzahn's one season at Arkansas in 2006, the Razorbacks finished with a 10-4 record and were SEC West Division Champions.
Two of Malzahn's first three collegiate offenses ranked in the top 10 nationally in rushing, including the 2008 Tulsa team that was fifth, averaging 268.0 yards per game, and his 2006 Arkansas offense that was fourth nationally (228.5 ypg) behind Heisman Trophy runnerup Darren McFadden and fellow All- American Felix Jones.
After losing eight starters from last season's team, theTigers have struggled this season, averaging 24.2 points and 328.2 yards per game.
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