Gus Malzahn took to social media on Wednesday to react to the announced retirement of legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

Malzahn wished his former Iron Bowl foe well in retirement, calling it an honor to coach against Saban.


Malzahn went 3-5 against Saban in his 8 seasons as Auburn’s head coach. The three victories took place in 2013, 2017 and 2019, all of which occurred at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

From the “Kick Six” to Jarrett Stidham’s heroics to a missed field goal, Malzahn delivered some of Auburn’s best moments in recent memory against Saban’s Crimson Tide. Long known to save some of his more creative, unique play calls for his matchups with Alabama, Malzahn is also known to be generally friendly with Saban.

While Malzahn was highly successful within the friendly confines of Jordan-Hare, he did not have nearly as much success in Bryant-Denny Stadium. He went 0-4 in Tuscaloosa and never lost by less than 11 points.

Overall, Malzahn will be known as one of the coaches that had the most success against Saban. Les Miles is the only man to also have beaten the former Alabama coach on three occasions, although he only lost three times as well.

Malzahn has completed 3 seasons at UCF since leaving The Plains. He has a 24-16 record with the Knights.