Gäste Forum » there, Molitor said.WAY BACK

Gus Malzahn still remembers the 2006 season, his first in college football. He remembers the wow moment when he stood across the sideline from Steve Spurrier, one of his coaching heroes. Malzahn wore a visor that game, a look that began when he was a high school coach and continued until just recently, because he wanted to emulate Spurriers trademark look.That same season, Malzahn also matched wits with Pete Caroll, Les Miles and Urban Meyer.It was a dream come true for Malzahn. He had made the jump straight from coaching high school football to calling plays in the SEC as the?Arkansas?offensive coordinator. That type of jump was rare back then, and its almost unheard of today.However, by the end of the season, Malzahn was ready to move on. He left Arkansas, an SEC school in his home state to take the same position at Tulsa.Why? It wasnt a promotion. It wasnt even a lateral move. I think it was a deal of having common philosophy in our values and how we run a program and what we believed in, and it was great combination,?former Tulsa and current Arizona State coach Todd Graham said.Ten years later, Malzahn hasnt forgotten that season. Those experiences, both good and bad, helped make him the coach that he is today.To understand what happened in 2006, you have to first understand how Malzahn arrived in Fayetteville. Before taking the job, he was one of the winningest high school football coaches in the state of Arkansas. He won at every stop during his 14 years as a high school head coach -- Hughes, Shiloh Christian, Springdale -- and turned down college job offers after the 2003 and 2004 seasons. In 2005, his Springdale team went 14-0, outscored their opponents 664-118 and captured the Class 5A state championship.?At Arkansas, head coach Houston Nutt was coming off back-to-back losing seasons in 2004 and 2005. He had served as his own offensive coordinator his first eight seasons with the Razorbacks, but there was pressure to make a change. People inside the program, including athletic director Frank Broyles, wanted to bring Malzahn in to run the offense.[Broyles] said the thing that would be really good for this state right now would be to hire Gus Malzahn, Nutt said. I visited with Gus. I was impressed with him. I was impressed with some of the things he did in high school. I said OK, thats probably going to work.He also had five good players with him.Those five players, or the Springdale Five as they were called, played no small part in why Arkansas hired Malzahn. Nutt couldnt afford to let elite-level recruits leave the state, and they were planning to leave. Mitch Mustain, the 2005 Gatorade National Player of the Year, wanted to commit to either Notre Dame?or Texas. Ben Cleveland and Damian Williams both committed early to Florida, and Bartley Webb was already committed to the Fighting Irish.Malzahn changed all that. Mustain, Cleveland, Williams and fellow Springdale teammate Andrew Norman all signed with the Razorbacks in 2006 as a result of his hire. Only Webb stuck with his original commitment and signed with Notre Dame.The only reason we went to the University of Arkansas was because of Malzahn, Cleveland said.If the 2006 season was to be judged solely by results, then it wouldve been a smashing success for Malzahn and that entire Arkansas team. After losing the opener to USC, the Razorbacks won 10 straight games, won the SEC West and played in SEC championship game.No Arkansas team has made it to Atlanta since.But nobody realized what was going on behind the scenes. The arrival of Malzahn led to a division in the locker room between the Springdale group and other members of the team. There were unhappy players and unhappy parents, who complained about playing time, which often was not Malzahns call. It was not what he signed up for when he left high school football to take his shot in college.You were the God of Arkansas and now youre the offensive coordinator, Cleveland said. Thats a lot of pressure. And then on top of that, you brought in four of your kids that look up to you, trusted you and he has no control over it. It makes him look like a bad person.It was hard. You could see he was frustrated.On the field, it wasnt much better. Malzahn wanted to run his hurry-up, no-huddle offense on every drive, but Nutts style had always been to huddle and he wasnt willing to give up on that. So they did it both ways. At times, theyd go fast and run Malzahns tempo. Other times, theyd slow it down and huddle.We never really had an argument, Nutt said, because I would always say, Hey this is what we want. I know the ideas that you had. You want to be a little bit more up-tempo and you want to throw the ball. But here are your playmakers.Even though everybody might have had a different opinion on what was the best way to go about doing it, when we got to practice and we got to Saturday, everybody was extremely professional, added Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, a graduate assistant at Arkansas that year. There were never any blowups or anything like that. We all pulled in the same direction, and I think thats why we were able to win the West.After the bowl game, Malzahn resigned and left for Tulsa. Andrew Norman, one of his former players, followed him there. Both Mustain and Williams transferred to USC. The only Springdale player who remained at Arkansas was Cleveland.On Saturday, Malzahn will coach against the same Arkansas program that gave him his start in college football 10 years ago.It feels like a long time ago, Malzahn said recently. Maybe a couple years ago it didnt, but now it feels like a long time ago.Any time you do something new, you learn on the go. You learn a lot about college football. That first year, I learned a lot about myself. Any time you take the next step to the next level, youre confident but you have questions. Will this really work at this level? Well you dont know until you do it. You dont just tell nobody that.It did work. It might not have worked the way he wanted at Arkansas that first year, but it worked at Tulsa in 2007 and 2008 when his offenses put up more yards than any team in the country. It worked the first time at Auburn when he was offensive coordinator and played an integral role in the Tigers 2010 national championship. It worked at Arkansas State in 2012 when he won a conference championship his first year as a head coach.And its still working for Malzahn, now in his fourth year as Auburns head coach.When youre in this competitive league, one of the toughest leagues in America, its not easy, Nutt said. If you look now, hes not calling plays. That was what he was known for. So hes delegating responsibility, and hes trying to do the best he can.Handing the playcalling duties over to Lashlee was the latest proof that Malzahn has evolved as a coach. He better understands the rigors of recruiting and the daily grind it takes to do this job. Hes even letting his players wear wristbands and gloves, and letting them listen to music in the locker room. He never wouldve done that when he was coaching in high school.In a lot of ways, though, hes the same coach he was 10 years ago.To be honest with you, the thing about Coach that probably stands out the most is hes very consistent, Lashlee said. He is who he is. Hes business. Hes focused on pretty much the one thing that hes doing at the time. And hes a perfectionist. Thats the way he is and thats the way he kind of coaches, and it carries over to his players.He was that way in high school, and he never really changed when he went to college. I think thats probably one of the main reasons hes been successful. Hes stayed true to himself.Adidas Ultra Boost España . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Adidas NMD R1 Hombre Baratas . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. http://www.baratasnmd.com/adidas-gsg-baratas.html . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. Adidas Gazelle Hombre Baratas . The Masters champion and winner of last weeks Australian PGA has a three-round total of 14-under 199 at Royal Melbourne. "Im in a really good position for tomorrow," Scott said. Adidas NMD Mujer Baratas . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield.NEW YORK -- Brian Dozier remains the brightest light in yet another dismal season for the Minnesota Twins.Dozier extended his career-best hitting streak to 20 games with an infield single in Friday nights 3-0 loss to the New York Mets and Bartolo Colon.At the end of the day, kind of doesnt mean anything, to be honest with you, Dozier said.Minnesota is a major league-worst 55-93, losing 92 games or more for the fifth time in six seasons. Dozier, whose 41 home runs rank second in the majors behind Mark Trumbos 42 for Baltimore, watched across the field with envy as the Mets pursued an NL wild card.The opportunity to kind of learn these last couple of weeks, to see these teams and how they play when they are in the running for something special, thats what you have to take from these games right now, he said.The 43-year-old Colon (14-7) won for the fourth time in five decisions, allowing three singles in seven innings. Rookie pitcher Jose Berrios singled softly to right in the third in his first big league plate appearance, and Dozier reached on a slow bouncer to third that left Jose Reyes with no throw. Colon then retired Jorge Polanco on a flyout to escape a bases-loaded jam.Polanco singled in the sixth for the Twins last hit. Jeurys Familia worked around a pair of walks in the ninth to complete the three-hitter, retiring pinch-hitter Kennys Vargas on a flyout to deep left for his 49th save in 53 chances.Really, we hit one ball hard, said Minnesotas Paul Molitor, managing on the 20th anniversary of his 3,000th hit.Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera hit consecutive home runs against Berrios in the third, and Yoenis CCespedes added an RBI single in the seventh off Pat Light.ddddddddddddThe 22-year-old Berrios (2-7) was 2 when Colon made his big league debut in April 1997. Berrios allowed two runs and four hits in four innings and has given up 12 home runs in 48 2/3 innings. He dropped to 0-6 in seven starts since beating Cleveland on Aug. 1 in his return from the minors.After walking the bases loaded in the first, Berrios retired T.J. Rivera on an inning-ending flyout.I went over and I told him it might not be the prettiest zero youve ever put up, but it was a zero and regroup and get yourself back out there, Molitor said.WAY BACK WHENBerrios said the hit was his first since high school.It was a beautiful moment, he added. It was something that you sometimes dream about.DIFFERENT TYPE OF JAMMinnesotas second bus from its hotel arrived at Citi Field about 2 hours, 40 minutes ahead of game time after getting stuck in traffic.TRAINERS ROOMTwins: Joe Mauer, a DH on Thursday after missing four games due to a sore quadriceps, started at first base and went 0 for 1 with three walks. ... C Kurt Suzuki took a foul ball to the mask with Curtis Granderson batting in the seventh. Suzuki needed five stitches to close a cut after taking a foul ball off the mask from Detroits Cameron Maybin. Thankfully his stitches held, Molitor said.UP NEXTRHP Ervin Santana (7-10) is to start Saturday for the Twins and RHP Seth Lugo (4-2) for the Mets. Santana is 1-2 in four interleague starts this year despite a 2.96 ERA. ' ' '