LITTLE ROCK — Seated at a table with an array of recorders taping every word, Arkansas State Coach Gus Malzahn f ielded the same question three times at Sun Belt Conference media day a month ago.
In all honesty, it’s the same question he’s faced since his hiring in December after three seasons as Auburn’s offensive coordinator.
Why Arkansas State?
All Malzahn could do was take a deep breath, fiddle with the starched collar of his shirt and give the same reply.
“It’s a program you can win at,” he said. “It’s a real comfortable atmosphere for me in the state, and I really feel like we can build something special in Jonesboro.”
Malzahn’s arrival at Arkansas State coincides with a period where the Sun Belt touts a coaching roster mixed with stalwarts but also could serve as a rung on the ladder for up-and-coming coaches being eyed by programs from power conferences.
“I don’t think people are using the league as a steppingstone,” Middle Tennessee Coach Rick Stockstill said. “They may have thought that seven or eight years ago: ‘Hey, I can come in, have a couple good seasons and get out.’ That might have been the mind-set then. Not now.”
ASU fans didn’t have to look outside of Jonesboro for evidence of that. Hugh Freeze left for Ole Miss and $1.5 million — a sizable jump from his $221,520 salary at ASU — after a 10-victory season, a conference title and a bid to the GoDaddy.com Bowl.
In the hunt for the same job was Louisiana-Lafayette Coach Mark Hudspeth, who led the Ragin’ Cajuns to nine victories and the program’s first bowl bid and victory in the New Orleans Bowl, which translated into a hefty fiveyear contract worth $750,000 per season.
Florida International Coach Mario Cristobal, who has guided the Golden Panthers to back-to-back bowl bids and eight victories last season, stayed put after reportedly negotiating a contract with Rutgers that would have paid the sixth-year coach $1.3 million to replace Greg Schiano after he left to coach the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Cristobal received a contract extension through 2017 worth up to $550,000 annually.
Even Stockstill has had chances to leave the Sun Belt behind, turning down offers from Memphis and East Carolina.
“All of us had chances to leave throughout career,” Stockstill said. “I’ve had chances, too. Hugh Freeze had a chance to leave, he did. Mario Cristobal had his shot, but he stayed. For everybody, the reason you stay or go is different.”
Malzahn has clearly laid out his rationale for choosing ASU after being mentioned as a candidate for openings at Maryland, North Carolina, Kansas and Vanderbilt, which offered him the job only to be turned down.
The Fort Smith native believes he can recruit enough talent within Arkansas to build the base of a program that he hopes becomes the “Boise State of the South.” ASU has thrown its support behind the vision with up to $25 million to overhaul facilities.
“I’ve always been a dreamer, and that sounds crazy to a lot of people,” Malzahn said. “But I really believe if we can fast-forward two, three, four years, we can be successful because of the area we recruit, the commitment the school has made and the staff we’re putting together.”
Pulling off such a transition isn’t unheard of in the Sun Belt.
In Cristobal’s first season at Florida International in 2007, the Golden Panthers went 1-11 to end a 23-game losing streak. But his plan was similar to Malzahn’s idea.
The Florida International staff mined the deep high school ranks of south Florida, unearthing talents such as former wide receiver T.Y. Hilton and preseason conference defensive player of the year Tourek Williams. Two years ago, the school opened a 14,000-square-foot weight room loaded with $250,000 in equipment — a far cry from Cristobal’s arrival.
Before that, the facility staff had converted two racquet ball courts in the student recreation center by taking down glass doors and putting up chain-link fence and then “scoured for any weights we could,” Cristobal said. He said they found a leg press, three weight benches, three squat racks, a Bowflex and “that thing Chuck Norris sold.”
Now he has his training facility and a new $54 million, 25,000-seat stadium and the Golden Panthers are coming off a season in which they defeated Louisville and lost 38-35 to Duke.
“I’m not kidding when I say, thank God, we had committed kids and coaches come into the program,” Cristobal said. “They just believed and stayed the course. It’s easy to jump of the boat in that situation.”
It also raises the question: How long will coaches stay?
For now, Malzahn is pledging allegiance to the Red Wolves.
“I’m committed to seeing this thing through,” Malzahn said. “That’s our goal, that’s our vision and our dream. It’s a tough league, there’s no doubt, but I’m excited.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 08/16/2012