New Year’s Eve/Day Bowl Bonanza

I’ve pretty much given up on previews for the foreseeable future. Here are the picks for the next two days:

Today:
Armed Forces Bowl: Houston 37, Air Force 34
Sun Bowl: Oregon State 28, Pittsburgh 21
Music City Bowl: Boston College 24, Vanderbilt 7
Insight (or, as I like to call it, the Glen Mason) Bowl: Kansas 31, Minnesota 10
Chick-fil-A Bowl: Georgia Tech 28, LSU 16

Tomorrow:
Outback Bowl: Iowa 34, South Carolina 17
Capital One Bowl: Michigan State 31, Georgia 28
Gator Bowl: Nebraska 34, Clemson 27
Rose Bowl: USC 28, Penn State 17
Orange Bowl: Cincinnati 27, Virginia Tech 20

Auburn swimming coach has inoperable brain tumor

Some extremely sad news to report as Auburn men’s and women’s head swimming and diving coach Richard Quick has been diagnosed with an inoperable cancerous brain tumor. He will step away from the program for the time being

Here’s the official release from Auburn.

AUBURN—Auburn men’s and women’s head swimming and diving coach Richard Quick has been diagnosed with an inoperable cancerous brain tumor.  One of the most recognizable names in the swimming and diving community, Quick is a six-time United States Olympic coach who has directed 12 teams to NCAA titles.

“We’re currently in the process of looking for the best care possible to fight this,” Quick said. “I want to thank the countless individuals that have passed along their well wishes, thoughts and prayers.”

Quick, who served as Auburn’s head coach from 1978-82, took over the Tiger program for a second time in 2007. He is in his second season and sixth overall at Auburn.

“Richard is such an energetic person, has an incredibly positive attitude, and is bound by his faith,” Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs said. “I know that he’s going to meet this challenge head on, just as he has done with every endeavor he’s encountered. We ask the Auburn Family to keep Richard and his family in their thoughts and prayers.”

While the head coach of both the men’s and women’s programs at Auburn from 1978-82, Quick built the foundation for where the program is today, leading both programs to a combined four top-10 finishes on the national level.

Quick captured seven NCAA titles at Stanford and five at Texas, which is tied for the most in the history of Division I coaching. Internationally, Quick was the head coach of the United States team at the 1988, 1996, and 2000 Olympic Games and also served as an assistant at the 1984, `92, and 2004 Olympics.

Quick, 65, served as the head women’s swimming and diving coach at Stanford for 17 seasons from 1988-2005. Prior to his arrival at Stanford, Quick led the Texas women to a then-unprecedented five straight NCAA titles (1984-88), a string he extended to six in a row in his first season at Stanford.

Quick also served as the men’s head coach at Iowa State during the 1977-78 season and the women’s head coach at Southern Methodist in 1976-77.

Quick earned a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education (1965) and a Master’s degree in Physiology of Exercise (1977) from Southern Methodist.

He began his coaching career at Houston’s Memorial High School (1965-71), guiding his team to six state championships before returning to SMU, where he served as an assistant coach on the men’s side for four years (1971-75) before starting the SMU women’s program in 1976.

In the interim under Quick’s direction, Brett Hawke will oversee the men’s team, while Dorsey Tierney-Walker will run the women’s program.

A 17-time All-American swimmer at Auburn from 1997-99, Hawke has served as an assistant on the Plains since 2006. The Sydney, Australia, native and two-time Olympian served as a Brazilian National Team assistant coach during the 2008 Beijing Summer Games.

Tierney-Walker, who is in her fourth season as the co-head women’s swimming coach, has helped lead the women’s program to a pair of NCAA team titles in 2006 and 2007.  A 16-time All-American swimmer at Texas, Tierney-Walker previously served as the head coach at Indiana for seven seasons.

Marks going pro

Sen’Derrick Marks will skip his senior season and declare for the NFL Draft.

Marks, a Prichard native, will meet with local reporters some time this afternoon.

“I’ve had a great experience during the last four years at Auburn,” Marks said in a statement. “However, I feel that it’s in my best interest to enter my name into the 2009 NFL Draft. It’s always been a dream of mine and I feel that I’m ready to advance to the next level.

“Auburn is, and always will be a special place to me. I want to thank all of my coaches at Auburn for giving me the opportunity to play college football and get an education. The Auburn family and my teammates have always been very supportive of my family and me, and for that I’m very appreciative.”

Playing through a number of injuries, including two sprained ankles, Marks collected 32 tackles, including 10 for a loss this season. He was a Second-Team All-Southeastern Conference selection as voted on by league coaches.

Marks, a big and extremely affable defensive tackle, is definitely NFL ready, standing at 6-foot-2 and roughly 300 pounds. He’s been projected anywhere from mid-first round to mid-second. With the multiple injuries he suffered this season, you can’t blame him for getting out relatively healthy while he can.

Marks’ good buddy and fellow Mobile area native Antonio Coleman will hold a press conference at Williamson High on Saturday to announce whether or not he will return for his senior season. Coleman recently collected his diploma and is projected anywhere from the second to fourth round by multiple draft scouting Web sites.

The day after

Here’s my return to columnizing. Definitely my favorite of the season so far. Too bad it took until I only have one or two left.

And here is my gamer for the AU-Alabama A&M game. A few observations from only my second trip to Beard-Eaves for a game:

- I don’t know that I’ve ever seen fewer people in a building than were in Beard-Eaves about 20 minutes before the game started. There might have been more writers in the media room.

- Having seen that A&M gave Alabama some trouble earlier this season, I forecasted a close game when the beatwriters and SID types were discussing it. As soon as they walked out for the tip and I saw that Auburn, which is a small team by virtually any measure, towered over the Bulldogs, I knew they were probably in for a long night.

- In watching the parade of assistant coaches, trainers, support staff and everything else, I kind of got a kick out of the fact that it seemed it was a rule that AU head coach Jeff Lebo had to have the nicest suit. Lebo wore a nice, shiny black ensemble and everyone else wore muted earthtones, except Lebo’s father, Dave, whose black ensemble was not so shiny.

- That play in the first possession that I referenced was really worse than I made it sound in the gamer. Barber stretched one arm out to rip the ball from the guy right at the baseline, went up and all the guy could think to do was lightly tap him for the foul. A&M coach Vann Pettaway removed the guy from the game less than a minute in. Talk about a walk of shame.

- The crowd wound up not being all that bad, by Auburn standards. At least from what everyone else there was telling me.

Also, you can read sports editor Mike Szvetitz’s stories from the Gus Malzahn introductory press conference here and here.

And, finally, I’m doing the domestic thing today so I probably yet again won’t have time for bowl previewing, so here are my picks:

Humanitarian Bowl: Maryland 27, Nevada 24
Texas Bowl: Rice 38, Western Michigan 31
Holiday Bowl: Oklahoma State 45, Oregon 42

Malzahn = ‘Smashmouth’ offensive coordinator

Good evening, I’m Mike Szvetitz. Andrew Gribble has the week off.
But with his permission, Gribble’s allowed me to post on his blog this evening. So here we go ....

Here’s my story that will appear in tomorrow’s Opelika-Auburn News on what new Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn plans on bringing to the Plains next season.
If you haven’t heard, Malzahn was introduced, officially, as Auburn’s offensive coordinator Monday evening. He likes to score points. Lots of them.

It’s not what you think.
Gus Malzahn doesn’t run the spread. Well, maybe a little. But, again, it’s not what you think.
He’s a “smash mouth” offensive coordinator, who likes to throw deep.
He also likes to score points, and, well, win.
And that’s why Gene Chizik hired him to run the offense at Auburn.
“I know a lot of people categorize me as a spread team, and if you really look back at my history, we’re going to play smash mouth football,” said Malzahn, who was officially introduced as Auburn’s OC on Monday evening at a press conference, making him just the second official assistant coach on Chizik’s staff, joining James Willis. “We’re going to set up the pass with the run, and I really think the difference is with most run/play-action teams from what we’re going to do is we’re going to throw the ball vertically down the field and we’re going to do that quite often. So that’s sort of what you’ll see from our offense …”
And Chizik likes it. Actually, he’s liked it for a long time. Even while at Iowa State, and while interviewing for the Auburn job.
“When we went to pursue this, it was really neat because when (Auburn athletics director) Jay (Jacobs) and I talked about this job a couple of weeks ago, I told him … ‘I have a plan,’” Chizik said. “And part of that plan was your hires. … And as we talked about it, one of the guys I was very adamant about was Gus.
“When you look at everything, and you look at a football coach, to me, a football coach really has three parts: How are they as an ‘X and O’ guy, how are they with their players and how are they when they go into a living room and have to convince a young man to come to their university? And at Auburn, I don’t feel like we’ve got to go for 2-for-3 or 1-for-3 with the guy we’re going to hire.
“I’m very pleased as I went to hire this particular position, Gus brings it all to the table. So that’s why I’m really excited about today.”
Malzahn’s numbers as an offensive coordinator are dazzling. In 2007, his first year at Tulsa, Malzahn’s offense led the nation in total offense with 543.9 yards per game. This past season, the Golden Hurricane was second in total offense, averaging 565.1 yards per game, while scoring 47.4 points, which is also good enough for second-best in the nation.
And Malzahn’s “power” offense has had success in the SEC, too. In 2006, while at Arkansas, the Razorbacks were fourth nationally in rushing yards per game with 228.5. Malzahn and Arkansas did have Darren McFadden and Felix Jones in the backfield that season.
But even at Tulsa, Malzahn’s running offense was able to put up top-10 numbers, ranking eighth overall with 254.9 yards per game on the ground this season.
“I think if you go back and you really do your homework on this, one of the things I found out – and it’s easy to look at the stats and be able to tell that – but, philosophically …we’ve got to start with the running game,” Chizik said. “As Gus and I talked through this process, it was very evident to me that I had the right guy in all of those ways. Now, obviously, it’s not just about running the football. It’s about moving the football. I wanted an offense that was going to be very productive in every way – an offense that moves the football and scores points. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”
Malzahn, who has already started watching film on current Auburn players and potential and current recruits, knows his offense is going to hinge on who’s running it. And because of that, he’s not going to commit to what exactly it will all look like come spring practice.
But he does know two things – the Tigers will be balanced, and they will be physical.
“Well, you got to be balanced, and you’ve got to take what the defense gives you,” Malzahn said. “People tell me, ‘Hey, do you want to run more than throw?’ Really, it matters on what the defense is going to give you.
“Obviously, you’ve got to be able to run the football. We are a run-play action team. You won’t see a whole lot of straight drop-back pass. It’s just not who we’re going to be. We’re going to run downhill. We’re going to have a physical, hard-nosed approach. I’m not talking about just the offensive line and just the backs. I’m talking about the receivers and quarterbacks, and I think that’s very important to establish that early.”
In the meantime, Malzahn will continue to coach the offense at Tulsa, as the Golden Hurricane prepares for its GMAC Bowl game against Ball State on Jan. 6 in Mobile. After that, Malzahn will be on Auburn’s staff full-time.