Arrow's Final Play Call is Very Puzzling

One day after the winningest basketball coach in Sun Belt and South Alabama history Ronnie Arrow announced his retirement, the reasons surrounding his abrupt decision are still unknown.  Arrow has not spoken with the media and today we found out his meeting with the players was very brief.  He basically told them he was not going to be their coach anymore, shook hands with the players and left the room.  "We were just all stunned honestly, everybody was just in awe didn't know really what to expect it was just out of the blue because we were getting ready for practice," senior forward Javier Carter said.  "It was surprising it happened all of a sudden," junior forward Augustine Rubit said.  The fact that players were not given the opportunity to ask questions certainly seems out of the ordinary.  The players dismissed the idea that there may have been any friction with the coach that could have lead to the decision.  "Everybody has their ups and downs of course like anybody does with a head coach but we all loved Coach Arrow and we enjoyed him as a coach," Carter said.  Just last week Arrow spoke to the media before practice about how grateful he is to have been at two special universities Texas A&M Corpus Christi and South Alabama.  The team was off to a 2-0 start in the Sun Belt and everything was business as usual.

Interim coach Jeff Price has known Arrow for more than two decades.  Athletic Director Dr. Joel Erdmann notified him of the news, and Price says he isn't sure what lead to the surprising decision.  "I don't know, have not spoke with him up to this point. I'm sure he had his reasons whatever they are I try not to speculate.  I'm sure a lot of people try to speculate. At this point obviously he felt like it was time to do that," said Price. 

The Jags don't have much time to dwell on the news as they resume conference play on Saturday when Arkansas-Little Rock comes to town.  Of course not having Coach Arrow on the bench will be quite a change.  "It was kind of awkward just sitting back thinking like the first game coming up how it will be without him, " Rubit said.  "I think our team has a lot of promise and they know that.  They are smart enough to understand you can't let something drag on you've gotta refocus and get back to work and hopefully you'll see some results of that on Saturday," Price said.  Arrow's results on the court speak for them self.  Two hundred eleven wins, which is the most in school history and the only NCAA Tournament win in school history.  Coach Price has told the team "it's part of the business" in an effort to help them get past this. But for a coach who has been with the university a total of 14 years it's hard to get past such a puzzling business decision by Arrow.

Malzahn Hiring at Auburn Is What You Think-Mediocre

So at least Auburn didn't go and hire a head coach with a 5-19 record.  Instead, they hired a guy who has only been a head coach for 12 games.  "Gus Malzahn is a proven winner," Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs said.  One winning season in the Sun Belt seems to be an interesting definition of a proven winner.  Gus Malzahn is coming off a 9-3 season as the head man at Arkansas State.  Of course Tigers fans have fond memories of Malzahn as the offensive coordinator when Auburn won the national title in 2010.  He's also directed some pretty high powered offenses at Tulsa and Arkansas.  However, those stints were as an assistant coach.  Keep in mind Gene Chizik won 29 straight games during a stretch at Auburn and Texas as an assistant coach.  With Auburn officials hiring Malzahn to replace his former boss at Auburn you would think the search committee knows something the public doesn't.  "We got the right man," search committee member Bo Jackson said.  Bo knows football, but I'm not sold on the idea that Auburn got this one right.

Gus Malzahn may be an offensive guru but running a program is an entirely different animal.  The success hinges on recruiting and he will be going toe-to-toe with one of the most ferocious animals on the recruiting trail in Alabama Coach Nick Saban.  Whether or not Malzahn can land top recruits on a consistent basis remains to be seen.  What is clear is that Auburn went for the safe choice.  After swinging and missing on a couple of other big time coaches maybe this was the best available option.  What you have in Malzahn is a coach who will likely provide consistency to the program but probably not championships.  According to reports Malzahn agreed to a five-year contract worth $2.3 million annually.  I would expect him to guide Auburn to a few 8-5 seasons, maybe even a 10-3 season.  But a three loss season will not deliver championships.  As it turns out Gene Chizik was the head coach we all thought he was.  In time Malzahn will turn out to be the hire people think he is.  A great guy, offensive guru, but not of championship caliber.