LOOK: Gus Malzahn welcomes ‘good friend’ Chad Morris to the SEC West
By Keith Farner
Published:
Gus Malzahn didn’t waste any time making a comment on the new coaching hire at Arkansas — a position he was long rumored to take as recent as a few days ago.
With Morris’ pending hire at Arkansas, the two coaches have similar careers as former successful high school coaches who landed offensive coordinator jobs at Power 5 schools, and now are together in the SEC West.
Before Morris was hired at Clemson, Malzahn reportedly recommended Morris to Dabo Swinney, according to AL.com.
“He’s a great person. He’s a wonderful coach. He’s an old high school football coach like me, and he’s worked hard and he’s been successful everywhere he’s been,” Malzahn told Swinney.
Until a day after Auburn’s loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, Malzahn was rumored to return to his native Arkansas and coach the Razorbacks. But then Malzahn signed a contract extension at Auburn after reports surfaced that he wanted $50 million contract over seven years at Arkansas, figures that Auburn appeared to deliver on, at least to Malzahn’s satisfaction.
Congratulations to my good friend Chad Morris. Great coach, great person. Welcome to the SEC West.
— Coach Gus Malzahn (@CoachGusMalzahn) December 6, 2017
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
