AUBURN NOTEBOOK: No rush for Chizik in filling out his coaching staff

Gene Chizik isn’t in a hurry to fill out the rest of his coaching staff.

Sure, he knows it has to be done — the sooner the better. But Auburn’s new head coach said he isn’t going to let “time” distract him from getting the best “fit” for his staff.

“People want to say, ‘What’s your timeline?,’” Chizik said Monday. “I don’t have a timeline. When it’s the right fit and the right person and I know I’ve got what’s best for Auburn, then we’ll pull the trigger on it and make the hire.”

Currently, Chizik has only hired two assistant coaches. On Friday, Chizik announced he would retain James Willis as part of his staff. Willis, who coached linebackers under Tommy Tuberville for the past three seasons, was also on AU’s staff as a graduate assistant from 2002-03 while Chizik was the defensive coordinator.

Chizik hasn’t publicly announced what position Willis will coach in the upcoming season.

The only position with an actual coach is quarterback, as Gus Malzahn, who was officially announced as Auburn’s offensive coordinator Monday, will be in charge of the signal-callers. That leaves Chizik with a lot of hiring to do in a short period of time, with the recruiting dead period ending this coming Monday and National Signing Day coming up Feb. 4.

While it’s not mandatory for Chizik to have an entire staff in place by either of those two dates, it would certainly help from a recruiting standpoint.

But, again, Chizik’s not going to let that dictate anything.

“I think there’s always urgency to a degree,” the head coach said. “What you can’t let happen is the urgency of that over-ride you getting the right fit. And there is a fine line in there. But, again, as you lay out a plan and you’ve got to see that plan through, you’ve got to do what you think is the best thing to get the right people.

“Obviously, if I could, I’d have them here already. But that’s not realistic. … I’m not putting a timeline, because I’ve got to get the right guy – the sooner the better. But that’s not the deal breaker at all for me.”

Chizik did say that Malzahn have input on who he hires for the offensive staff, and that “familiarity” with a “system” isn’t as important.

“Gus will be in on every facet of that decision-making process,” Chizik said. “… There are so many great coaches out there. What’s more important to me is just finding the right fit now. Whether that’s somebody more familiar with the system, less familiar with the system – I don’t know. That’s where Gus and I will go with making the rest of the hires on offense. At the end of the day what I need to make sure of is that I have the right fit for Auburn in so many ways. I’m very adamant in making sure that happens.”

And that’s a big selling point for Malzahn, as well.

“I think that’s so important — anytime you can get in on the front end and you actually can establish your plan and build it like you need to build it,” the offensive coordinator said. “I think that’s very important.”

Malzahn ‘Tickled to death’
It didn’t take long for Malzahn to figure out what he wanted to do.

Even before he was contacted by Chizik for the offensive coordinator opening, Malzahn knew Auburn was a place he would like to coach.

That’s why it only took about 60 minutes of talking it over with his family.

“It happened pretty quick,” Malzahn said. “I got with my wife and I got with my two daughters and we prayed about it. And it probably took about an hour.”

Malzahn said it was “sometime around Christmas, just a little bit before” when he was contacted about the job.

And when he was, it was almost a no-brainer.

“I would say that’s something that was kind of in our mind,” Malzahn said. “As a coach you kind of look for places that you think you’d be a good fit, and this was one of those places that three years ago when I came through, I was very impressed … that’s why I’m just tickled to death to be here.”

Double duty
Malzahn will be working two jobs over the next eight days, recruiting, preparing and watching film for his new gig as offensive coordinator at Auburn, all while trying to prepare Tulsa for the GMAC Bowl vs. Ball State on Jan. 6.

That right, Malzahn will be two coaches in one over the next week.

He started Monday watching film on and talking to current Auburn players, while trying to familiarize himself with current and potential Tiger recruits. Today, he’ll head back to Tulsa, Okla., to continue his day job with the Golden Hurricane.

“We’re going to work till late tonight, trying to get as much information as I can targeting our (Auburn’s) main recruits,” Malzahn said Monday. “(I’m) going to go back to Tulsa tomorrow and have practice, probably get through with that around 6. Then, that evening I’m going to go back to work recruiting, making calls (for Auburn).

“And kind of do that until Jan. 2 when we (Tulsa) actually fly to Mobile and kind of the same routine all the way through. And then as soon as the bowl game’s over with, I’ll be full-time here.”

The GMAC Bowl in Mobile, will be a showcase of sorts for Malzahn, as he’ll bring his offense in to the living room of anyone who wants to see what he’s all about.

“Coach (Todd) Graham was great to me at Tulsa. I really feel like it’s important for me to finish with the players. I’m extremely close to my players, I always have been. So I’ve got a chance to do that and do everything in my power to help Tulsa win that bowl game.

“At the same time, I believe Auburn recruits could get a visual of exactly what they’re going to see next year on the field.”

mszvetitz@oanow.com | 737-2513