Super Bowl Update

And his name is Gus Malzahn.

Malzahn, the former Auburn offensive coordinator, is the new head coach at Arkansas State, replacing Hugh Freeze, who is now at Ole Miss.

A lot of excitement in Jonesboro. Auburn's offense was great with the superhuman Cam Newton last year, but was really, really bad this year. We'll find out if Gus is the real deal or if his head coach was really holding him back during this football season. I think he's pretty legit and he'll have a pretty good cast to work with, including Sun Belt Player of the Year Ryan Aplin at QB and some talented receivers.

But the key part, according to al.com, is the pay scale: $850,000. Freeze was barely making $200,000. How does Arkansas State have that much money to spend?

Based on what I could find HERE - a list of Sun Belt coaching salaries, from lowest to highest. This link also indicates that Hudspeth is supposed to get a raise. Based on how much more Larry Blakeney has accomplished, he doesn't deserve to be at the bottom of this list and it makes you wonder if Troy is taking him for granted. If and when he leaves, does Troy have the big bucks to shell out for a new coach? Remember that no one has been able to secure naming rights for a stadium since Movie Gallery went kaput, and must raise some money ($5 million, I believe) to even put shovel to the ground on a new football building to enclose the north end zone.

UL-Monroe: Todd Berry, $225,000
UL-Lafayette: Mark Hudspeth, $360,000
Troy: Larry Blakeney, $380,000
Florida Atlantic: Carl Pelini $450,000
WKU - Willie Taggart $475,000 (very recent raise)
Florida International: Mario Cristobal, $497,183
North Texas: Dan McCarney, $545,000
Middle Tennessee State: Rick Stockstill, $588,780
Arkansas State: Gus Malzahn $850,000

Troy certainly is spending the money, building the new basketball arena and other dorms, dining hall, fraternity village, etc. You have to wonder how much is there for athletics.

On another note, again a WOW on getting Malzahn for $850K, if that number ends up being true. When I saw ASU go to 8-0 in Sun Belt play with a win over Troy on Dec. 3, there were 14K fans. When I saw Troy improve to 3-7 with a win over a winless FAU, there were 12K at Troy. Not much of a difference given the quality of the two teams this year. Now, it was hunting season when ASU was hosting Troy, but you can't really say that ASU's fanbase is any stronger than Troy's. But maybe they're (fans, boosters) just spending more money.