Within only a few hours of Florida State’s firing of head coach Willie Taggart, one national college football pundit said he thinks Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn should be the choice to fill the vacancy.
In a series of tweets on Sunday evening, USA Today columnist Dan Wolken outlined his case for why Florida State should hire Malzahn.
Once you get past the Urban/Stoops pipe dream, there’s only one coach FSU could hire who has
A) Won at the highest level
B) Recruited at the highest level
C) Fits the school
D) Might be gettable
That coach is Gus Malzahn. Every other candidate is a massive gamble— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) November 4, 2019
Wolken considers the likelihood of Florida State finding a coach better than Malzahn to be low.
Malzahn every year plays the toughest schedule in the toughest league and has won a lot of games. The odds of Florida State hiring a coach who is actually better than him are very low.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) November 4, 2019
Wolken even pointed to Malzahn’s record against Alabama head coach Nick Saban to support his argument.
He won an SEC title and played for another. Came within seconds of a national championship. Only active coach besides Dabo, Les Miles and Hugh Freeze to have multiple wins over Saban. I’d say that’s the highest level. https://t.co/wJ8RlOHNQq
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) November 4, 2019
Florida State made the decision to fire Taggart in the middle of only his second season leading the program. The Seminoles’ record this season stands at 4-5 overall and 3-4 in the ACC. Taggart held a 9-12 record as Florida State’s head coach, including a combined 0-5 against rivals Florida, Miami and Clemson.
Malzahn signed a 7-year, $49 million contract at the end of the 2017 season. Malzahn’s 2019 salary of $6.8 million places him sixth among the nation’s head coaches, according to USA Today’s annual survey of coaching salaries.
Malzahn possesses a prohibitive $27 million buyout as of December 1, 2019, making Wolken’s scenario unlikely unless both sides were to agree separation was in their best interests.
Tim Howe is an owner of Yellowhammer Multimedia
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