He either a) loves the state of Arkansas b) views this as a way to move up to get a top tier job quickly, or c) realizes his wife is insane and this is the only place that'll take him.
He's one of these I've always heard conflicting stories about, although I can def see the scumbagness about him. I think one would just about have to be one to be involved with the Auburn program.
What the hell is about to go down at Auburn that he went this route? Seriously, he is taking a substantial paycut, and I am not sure I buy into this "he wants the HC title" stuff. Vanderbilt offered him substantially more than he made for Auburn to go in last year. Hugh Freeze just won the Sun Belt there, so it seems rather risky to take that particular job.
Tubbs is about the only one that's escaped that job with his dignity intact. I've heard a ton of stuff on how he campaigned for Nutt's job about a week after he got settled in as OC, some strange things between he and Mustain's mom and some scummy stuff he supposedly did at Tulsa.
One of many reasons I hate Craig James is because I truly believe Tubs would be the HC in Knoxville if Leach had never gotten canned. Tubs won be over the day he wore his new pair of duck hunting boots on the sideline because he wasn't going to have any other time to break them in.
He's a serious duck hunter. He's got his hand in several lodges that make him enough money he doesn't have to work.
Conspiracy theory today on sports radio is that, Arkansas is the only big job that Gus wants. So he is going to wait that job out at Arkansas St while winning 10 or so games a year, and living in the place he wants to be.
Gus Malzahn to Arkansas State: When it Happened, How it Happened, Why it Happened A quick summary of the situation, as it relates Malzahn: - He was the highest paid assistant in the nation, but wasn’t being allowed to “do what I do.” - He made a huge mistake in not taking one of the offers that came this past January, specifically being head coach in the SEC at Vanderbilt. Blowing off any interest from Maryland, not a great move on his part, either. - If, under decree from the head coach, he continued to slow it down, it was going to hurt his future earning power even more, which means he needed to cash in whatever reputation, panache, etc he still had as soon as possible. - He had a full season to get a very up-close view of Clint Moseley and Kiehl Frazier. It’s a complete guess if either of them will improve enough to give Auburn a legitimate quarterback option for the 2012 season. If Malzahn stayed, there was a very real chance his ability to get a head coaching job would be hurt even more. - His options had already been reduced from SEC and ACC schools calling to a team from the Sun Belt, and not much else, burning up his cell phone. - Coach the Red Wolves, he gets to go home. - $850,000 is a lot of money in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The final part of this reasoning is to win 20+ games over the next couple of seasons, get back on the radar of bigger schools in bigger conferences and move on to the phase of his career that he should have been at already. In the end, it was an easy decision for him. Gus Malzahn to Arkansas State: When it Happened, How it Happened, Why it Happened | College Football News, Opinion and Analysis | Chuck Oliver.Net