Man, is anyone else itching for college football yet?
I realize it's only March and feels like January, but for me, waiting for what Gus Malzahn, his staff, and their crop of players are going to do next year is agonizing, only because it's so far away.
It's 177 days away to be precise.
I haven't been as excited about an Auburn football team since I started hearing about how good that Cam Newton guy was, and how that offense in 2010 was tailored specifically to him.
Think about the talent that developed on that team, under Malzahn, because despite what the haters say, Newton was absolutely not a one-man team.
He was obviously the best player in football, but if he didn't have an outstanding offensive line to block for him, a solid receiving corps to catch his passes, speedy and powerful running backs to run the QB option with and a defense that could hold fast when the team desperately needed it to, he would have just been another excellent quarterback on an average team.
Oh yeah, Newton also had that genius Malzahn coaching the offense and calling the plays.
Newton has left Auburn football for good, but Malzahn's back, and he's not just coaching the offense, he's in charge of everyone and anything to do with Tiger football, and he certainly seems to be the man who can not only handle the pressure, but exceed under it.
"But dude," you may say, "He's never been the head football coach of an SEC team. In fact, he's only been the head coach of one college team and that was Arkansas State."
That's all true, but he led that team to a conference championship after being there for only one year.
Then he moved to Auburn, hired an elite staff, and I mean one of the best in all of college football, recruiting and coaching wise, and locked in a borderline top 10 recruiting class all in just over three months.
Now Malzahn and his staff have the task of getting this team's confidence back, which won't be easy, but they will do it.
He will get the team's confidence back because there is a ton of talent on the roster, but it was just poorly developed under the former regime.
That may be an understatement, but I'd rather not talk about last season.
There are roughly six months until the football players get to step onto a field again, six months to gain confidence and trust in one another, six months to learn offensive, defensive and special teams schemes, and most importantly, six months to believe they can and will be a force to be reckoned with next season.
I don't mean to suggest that the Tigers are a lock for any titles, but after a 3-9 (0-8 SEC) season they are a lock to improve, and they'll probably score some exciting upsets against big teams along the way.
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