Over the last several years, the Arkansas-Auburn divisional rivalry has had its fair share of animosity. Dating back to early days of the Bret Bielema era in Fayetteville, the former Razorback coach and Gus Malzahn seemed to be at odds on a number of topics.

That division carried over to the field and resulted in some great games until Auburn ran away with the annual series, winning by a combined score of 108 to 23 over the last two seasons. Those results likely played a big part in Bielema’s exit from the conference which, of course, ushered in the Chad Morris era to Fayetteville.

While the series should return to competitive balance once Morris gets his program rolling, don’t expect the two coaches to ever feud publicly like the Bielema and Malzahn once did. In fact, the chance of any feuding behind closed doors seems unrealistic at this point given the history between the two coaches.

During his first appearance at SEC Media Days, Morris was asked about his relationship with Malzahn and what it would be like competing against his longtime friend on the field — something that’s actually happened once before.

“Absolutely, Gus and I have had a relationship going back to the very early 2000s. And I consider him a very dear friend for 364 days a year,” Morris said in Atlanta. “But, you know, we’ve played against each other before, and — but he — he’s been very instrumental into me standing on this stage today.”

You could even argue Malzahn played a small part in Morris landing the Arkansas gig. The Razorback coach touched on the fact that Auburn’s coach helped him following a rough season during their high school days.

“And so from a time way back from a high school football coach that had been successful and had fallen on a bad year and needing to look at the change that was happening in football and to reach out to someone that didn’t know me and I didn’t know him and him to lend a helping hand to me really allowed me to continue to progress my career,” Morris continued.

“And since then, he and I have been friends. We’ve talked ball every year. And I definitely consider him and his wife Kristi, Paula and I consider them very dear friends and have helped me get to where we are today. You know, I’m excited for his career, and I’m excited for the matchup, obviously being in the same division. But it’s — you know, it’s unique. This is a fraternity. It’s a great fraternity, and you get to really interact. And that one time a year, you get to go against each other.”

When Malzahn arrived in Atlanta for SEC Media Days on Thursday, he issued similar respect for the Arkansas coach.

“I’m very proud of Chad, you know, coming from a high school coach and being a head coach in this league. Chad is one of the smarter coaches I’ve ever been around. He’s one of the hardest workers that I’ve ever been around,” Malzahn said. “I consider him a true friend.”

According to Malzahn, the relationship began with a cold call from Morris.

“It goes way back. I think I was coaching a state championship game. I think he called me and asked if he could bring him and the staff. I didn’t know him at all,” Malzahn continued. “After that we got together I think for the next two years and just talked offensive football.”

As for his outlook as an SEC coach, Malzahn has little doubt that his friend will find success at the college game’s highest level of competition.

“He did a super job at Tulsa. Obviously when he was at Clemson he really got that thing going. When he got to Clemson, there was a little bit of instability. I think he was the guy that put them over the top to get them where they’re at right now, ” Malzahn said of Morris. “Then you’re talking about a guy that goes to SMU and he took over a very, very tough situation, and to get those guys to a bowl last year was big.

“Now he’s in our league. He’ll be very successful. He’s a great coach, but he’s an even better person.”

Things sure have changed in the Arkansas-Auburn rivalry in a short span of time.