Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn is no stranger to historic games.

In 1999, Shiloh Christian and Junction City squared off in the third round of the Arkansas high school football Class AA playoffs. Shiloh fell behind 24-0, then 38-14 in the first half, but rallied to win 70-64.

Malzahn — then the head coach at Shiloh — called the game “the wildest experience” of his coaching career in his book, “The Hurry-Up, No-Huddle: An Offensive Philosophy.”

Auburn’s wizard head coach may want to revise that statement after 2013’s “Prayer at Jordan-Hare” and “Kick Six.”

Malzahn is widely regarded as the game’s most innovative offensive mind, but his career began on the opposite side of the ball.

His coaching career began in 1991 as the defensive coordinator at Hughes High School in Arkansas. Malzahn began to rise up the staff ranks quickly. The very next season, he was promoted to head coach.

“I didn’t have a clue what I was doing,” Malzahn said in a 2010 interview with Sports Illustrated.

He had never led an offense before, so Malzahn turned to a book titled “The Delaware Wing-T: An Order of Football.” Though Malzahn’s early offenses began with the Wing-T, he soon began experimenting with new trends.

By the time of that historic state playoff game in 1999, Malzahn’s offense had evolved into the up-tempo spread we know today. His scheme is still based off the book he looked to early, with Wing-T principles at the foundation of what Malzahn does at Auburn.

Malzahn and his offense coordinator, Rhett Lashlee — a former Shiloh Christian quarterback under Malzahn — have taken the offense and built it around the personnel the two have, specifically their quarterback. Malzahn has led pass-heavy and run-heavy offensive attacks.

Malzahn cites being a high school coach as a big contributor to his success at the collegiate level. Specifically, he attributes that wild playoff win as a key moment to his belief in his offensive system.

The place he got his start — Hughes High School — dedicated its field to him earlier this summer.

“I’m humbled, I’m honored. I’ve got great memories of this place,” Malzahn told Fox13 in Memphis. “This place helped me, really laid a foundation for me about coaching.”