Combining the poise and demeanor of a seasoned veteran with an intimate knowledge of Gus Malzahn's offensive system, new Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee established himself as the protege of Auburn's newest head coach.
A star quarterback before his coaching career, the Arkansas native won two state titles and set virtually every state passing record while playing for Malzahn at Shiloh Christian High School. Overall, Lashlee spent six of the last nine seasons coaching and studying Malzahn's offensive system.
"That's our philosophy, a tempo and no huddle system," Lashlee said. "That's what we've been good at for some 15 years plus, and that's what we're going to continue to do."
Lashlee was the offensive coordinator under Malzahn at Arkansas State in 2012. The Red Wolves' offense finished the season ranked in the top 20 for total offense and captured their second consecutive Sun Belt championship.
Lashlee garnered national recognition for his achievements when he was nominated for the Broyles Award, an annual award given to the nation's top assistant coaches.
In addition to coaching under Malzahn, Lashlee spent the 2011 season as the offensive coordinator of the Samford Bulldogs under their current head coach, Auburn legend Pat Sullivan.
"I really learned a lot (from Sullivan)," Lashlee said. "He let me take the offense and run with it. When you're coaching quarterbacks and you've got a Heisman trophy winning quarterback watching you at practice every day, that can be intimidating a little bit."
Sullivan also imparted Lashlee with wisdom on how to encourage and build up the players and staff around him.
"He has a great way of motivating and communicating the expectations he wants and being demanding at the same time," Lashlee said. "He was incredibly encouraging and empowering for you to go out and make a mistake, but to know you're going to get better and to improve at what you're doing. I consider him a great friend, and I was very blessed to work with him for a year," Lashlee said.
Prior to coaching at Arkansas State and Samford, Lashlee spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons as an offensive graduate assistant at Auburn.
With a Southeastern Conference championship, a BCS National Championship and a Heisman trophy winner all coming in 2010, it's difficult to describe Lashlee's first stint at Auburn as anything less than a total success.
Lashlee and his staff are now tasked with rebuilding an offense that struggled to create big plays and sustain drives after a failed attempt to convert to a pro-style offense in 2012.
Despite swirling rumors about the quarterback situation and recently raised concerns over the safety of his offensive system, Lashlee is determined to keep the focus on returning Auburn's level of play to what it once was.
"All I'm worried about right now is Auburn and how we're doing," Lashlee said. "We're going to do what we do."
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