Enter Jarrett Stidham, exit Rhett Lashlee: Auburn offense at crossroads
I attended the first three days of practice for Saturday’s East-West Shrine Game in St. Petersburg. A lot of SEC talent is on display.
Talking to a handful of players from the best conference in America, I asked many of them the same question: Who is capable of unseating Alabama this coming season? My only stipulation was that they couldn’t say their alma mater.
While there were a few token votes for LSU, the definitive winner of the anonymous poll was Auburn. The Tigers put together a six-game winning streak in 2016 and looked like a genuine threat to the Crimson Tide, but they stumbled down the stretch — including a 30-12 loss to ‘Bama — and dropped three of their last four.
There’s still a lot to like about Auburn, though. The arrival of JUCO-transfer quarterback Jarrett Stidham is at the top of the list.
That being said, the departure of offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee is a bit of a head scratcher. It’s not like he left to be OC at a more high-profile program or took his first head-coaching job at a Group of 5 school.
No, Lashlee is now coordinating the offense at Connecticut — yes, UConn. While the job description is the same, to call this a lateral move is quite a stretch. The Tigers play in the country’s most competitive league and just went to the Sugar Bowl. Meanwhile, the Huskies are coming off a last-place finish in the lowly AAC.
Not to mention the fact that Stidham chose Auburn over the likes of Florida and Texas A&M in part due to the presence of Lashlee.
More than likely, Lashlee (below) bolted because he needed to spread his wings. Despite everything he’d done on The Plains, he was essentially running coach Gus Malzahn’s system. At UConn, he’ll finally be able to install his own scheme.
Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports
Malzahn, who lost Lashlee more than a week ago, is yet to hire a replacement. Big-name former head coaches like Art Briles and Mark Helfrich have been linked to the gig, as well as current OCs Mike Yurcich of Oklahoma State — he’s no longer a candidate — and Chip Lindsey of Arizona State. Other names have been bandied about, too, including one-time Auburn OC Noel Mazzone.
It’s fair to wonder just how much rope Malzahn will give his new play caller. Perhaps that’s been a sticking point during the interview process.
“The question has been asked if Malzahn can bring himself to turn the offense over to a coordinator,” longtime Auburn expert Phillip Marshall wrote for 247Sports. “And it’s a legitimate question.”
We’ve seen the peaks of Malzahn’s offense. In 2010, as a coordinator under Gene Chizik, he won a national championship with Cam Newton at quarterback. In 2013, as a first-year head coach, he made it to the BCS title game with Nick Marshall.
But we’ve also seen the valleys, particularly the last two seasons. Jeremy Johnson — billed as a bigger and badder Marshall — went from dark horse Heisman Trophy contender to carrying a clipboard in the blink of an eye. Sean White maximizes his ability, although said ability is limited. John Franklin III needs to switch positions, period.
If Stidham is an upgrade at QB, that will certainly help. Still, a new coordinator with new ideas might help save Malzahn from himself.
“Letting the coordinator run the offense doesn’t mean a head coach is not involved,” Marshall wrote. “What most head coaches do is tell the coordinator what is important to him and then let the coordinator implement it.”
We know what’s important to Malzahn: running the ball and running it with pace. He has stressed that point repeatedly during his tenure.
Nevertheless, the elements of his passing game could use a reboot. Newton didn’t make a lot of NFL-type reads, which is why he wasn’t considered a sure thing in the draft despite his once-in-a-generation physical tools.
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More often than not, Malzahn (above) made it work with Marshall. A former cornerback at Georgia — and now playing defense again for the New York Jets — he was a mesmerizing runner but a mediocre passer. If Malzahn had employed a more advanced aerial attack, Marshall’s arm wouldn’t have been equipped to handle it.
But even with Stidham at the controls, don’t expect the Tigers to sling it all over the yard Air Raid-style like he did at Baylor.
“In Malzahn’s case, he would want his coordinator to play up-tempo, have a strong running game and balance between running and passing,” Marshall wrote. “That’s what he believes in first and foremost. I don’t anticipate that changing.”
Whomever Malzahn ends up hiring, he’ll inherit an enviable depth chart. Kamryn Pettway and Kerryon Johnson are in the conversation for the premier tailback tandem in the SEC. Most of the receiving corps is young and gifted.
Of course, Stidham is the key. He can provide a downfield component to the passing game the likes of which Auburn fans haven’t seen in a while. His first career start for the Bears — following an injury to Seth Russell — was at Kansas State in 2015. He completed 23-of-33 passes for 419 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions.
It took only 109 attempts for Stidham to compile 12 TDs passing that season. White had just 9 this past year on 208 throws.
“Surely the new offensive coordinator will have plenty to build around with Stidham as the starting quarterback and a talented class of sophomores at receiver,” senior writer Brandon Marcello wrote for 247Sports. “The talent is there to attack teams through the air unlike the previous years, and the answer here will be Stidham.”
Malzahn appears to have his signal caller. Now he needs a coordinator. The right hire could lead to cries of “War Eagle!” in Atlanta come December.
John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South, a member of the FWAA and a voter for the Heisman Trophy. Send him an e-mail, like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.
