Vanderbilt is rumored to be very interested in hiring Gus Malzahn as its next head coach. While I’d be happy to see Malzahn buried at a place that isn’t ever going to attract the kind of talent that Auburn gets, I honestly don’t think that’s going to happen, mainly because he’s going to be one of the hottest, if not the hottest, names out there this offseason.
But what’s really puzzling about this is that if Vanderbilt is looking for an offensive guru to revive its football fortunes, it’s already got somebody on staff who fits the bill in Herb Hand. Hand would seem to have an ideal resume: he’s a Rich Rodriguez protegé who worked with Malzahn at Tulsa and per Brophy, taught Gus a thing or two about the power running game.
Besides, isn’t a guy who says something like this worthy of consideration? I’d sure line up an interview.
Get The Picture 
If you went to work for Herb, would that be considered a “Hand job”?
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I think Malzahn can do better than that.
Miami seems like a good fit for him. If not, however that job gets filled will likely start the ball rolling to other moves.
I could easily see Malzahn at MSU or Texas Tech if their head coach takes the UM job.
Speaking of Texas Tech, somebody’s agent never sleeps. I chuckled when hearing TT mentioned for the UM job.
Have a good day,
BD
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I saw Petrino’s name mentioned for the Miami job, too.
Wouldn’t that be priceless.
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Well, I would chip in on the moving costs to get him out of the SEC West. 🙂
Long term I think he is much more of a problem than Malzahn. Auburn hit the jackpot with Newton (no pun intended), but next year he’ll be gone and we’ll get to see how good they are when defenses can totally focus on Dyer.
I think we saw a little foreshadowing of Auburn 2011 in Gainesville this year.
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+1
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I can not imagine Malzahn going to Vandy. There are a lot of indications Vandy, institutionally, is not committed to even improving their football program, let alone improving it drammatically….Malzahn MAY be an offensive genius (the OGOTY?), but he was a high school coach just five years ago. I doubt Trooper’s recruiting style would be appreciated in Nashvegas. If Mike Slive wants something to do to help rid his mind of Cam Newton, maybe he should visit Nashville and have a little talk with the folks at Vandy about improving their vision.
I might also point out Vandy may still be suffering from the influence of Gordon Gee, who at one point in his tenure suggested Vandy should drop football.
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Off the topic, but here’s an interesting stat from the Georgia high school playoffs: Carver-Columbus 40, Thomasville 14: Isaiah Crowell rushed for 305 yards and five touchdowns on 20 carries for Carver, which led 13-6 at halftime and broke the game open with Crowell TD runs of 84 and 55 yards in the third quarter.
I guess he will make a great backup for Trent Richardson in a couple of years.
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I don’t know if I’d want to risk Vandy if I were Malzahn. His offense puts the ball in playmakers’ hands five to seven yards behind the line of scrimmage so frequently that it would be a terrible fit for the players he could get in at Vandy. You’d have SEC defenses blowing up the backfield right and left and they’d be operating in third-and-19 every other series.
He’s above Vandy anyway. Much like VanGorder at UGA, we’re going to see a steep drop-off at Auburn on offense as soon as Malzahn leaves.
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If Malzahn did go to Vandy, I wonder if he’d wind up fighting Chizik over Hand, who’d be a logical choice for OC at either school, ironically enough.
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