Auburn's football team has found great success in the last seven weeks. Few can complain about a 5-0 start, so I won't.
The program's recent success can be attributed to a fantastic coaching staff, among other things, but primarily it's the leadership and vision of head coach Gus Malzahn.
If you're an Auburn fan, right now is about as good as it gets as far as the regular season is concerned. Alabama lost to Ole Miss, and the Tigers beat down the No. 15 team in the country at Jordan-Hare.
However, something else that comes with success is that others start to take notice, and Malzahn has had arguably the best offense at every level at which he's been The NFL will have noticed by now.
The success of Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, whose offense was ranked first last season, leads me to believe that next on the list of college coaches to be called on to make the jump to NFL is Malzhan.
Kelly and Malzahn's offense are different, but their hurry-up style of play is becoming more and more potent in the NFL, and there are almost always head coaching jobs available at the end of each season.
Nick Saban tried to make the jump, Pete Carroll has successfully made the jump and Jim Harbaugh, even with talks of disdain between him and the San Francisco front office, seems to have cemented a place in the NFL.
I'm not saying Gus Malzahn is the next Bill Walsh, but there are few people who turn down the NFL when it comes knocking, and Auburn needs to be prepared to lose Malzahn in the next few years.
The NFL is moving to a more spread attack with a quarterback who can run and throw.
Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Cam Newton and possibly Andrew Luck could all fall into the category of quarterbacks who can run if need be.
The league is still dominated by pass-first quarterbacks like Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, but with the constantly improving speed of pass rushers in the NFL, the need to escape the pocket is becoming more and more of a necessity.
It's unknown whether Malzahn wants to go to the NFL, but if he were to answer the bell, I'd look to San Francisco. He and quarterback Kaepernick could be lethal with a defense that's still top of the league.
I'd be watching for other college teams to swoop in and take Rhett Lashlee in the next couple years. Then where will Auburn be?
Patrick Lucas is a sports writer at The Plainsman. He can be reached at sports@theplainsman.com
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