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Auburn Football: Gus Malzahn Develops Support Staff Into Full-Time Coaches

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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In the Auburn football program, support staff members play a big behind the scenes role – and many have done such a great job, they have moved on to bigger and better roles elsewhere. Since he became the head coach of the Tigers in December 2012, Gus Malzahn has helped nine former support staffers become full-time assistants at other schools.

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The most recent staff member to leave the Tigers, Kenny Ingram, was the Director or Player Development at Auburn and took a job as the defensive tackles coach at Cincinnati under former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville. Ingram was Malzahn’s defensive line coach at Arkansas State and also coached at Memphis from 2006-09.

Ingram had prior experience as a college assistant, but because Malzahn had an opportunity to coach in college after a successful career at the high school level, many of the staffers he has brought on board have a similar background as high school coaches. 

Earlier this month, Auburn offensive analyst Brent Dearmon was hired as the offensive coordinator at Arkansas Tech.

“The positon at Auburn has been a phenomenal situation for the high school guys and college guys who are looking to elevate their careers,” Dearmon said. “Look at the number of the guys who have moved on with opportunities. I know it opened the door for me to get into the college game from high school.

Nov 15, 2014; Athens, GA, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn reacts during the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. Georgia defeated Auburn 34-7. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

“I appreciate Coach Malzahn and how he values high school coaches. I’m appreciative of him and his staff for taking all of us guys in and trying to help us move on to the next level.”

Additionally, Chip Lindsey was an offensive analyst for the Tigers in 2013 who left to become the quarterbacks coach at Southern Miss. Lindsey joined the staff after a two-year stint as the head coach at Spain Park High School. He coached quarterbacks at Troy in 2010 and was a high school head coach at Lassiter High School in Georgia and Colbert Heights.

Prior to Lindsey leaving the Plains, Al Pogue left his role as the Director of High School Relations at Auburn to coach cornerbacks at Troy. Pogue spent more than a decade coaching high school football in Alabama before becoming an offensive quality control coach with the Tigers in 2011.

Around the same time, Dell McGee became the running backs coach at Georgia Southern after a stint as an offensive analyst on Malzahn’s staff. McGee was a very successful high school coach at Carver-Columbus in Georgia.

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    • Furthermore, Wes Murphy held the Assistant Director of Player Development role at Auburn and left to become the offensive line coach at Virginia Union, Brandon Hall was a defensive analyst that was hired as the co-defensive coordinator at Jacksonville State, and former Auburn football player Kodi Burns was an offensive graduate assistant for the Tigers and moved on to coach running backs at Samford.

    Finally, Phillip Lolley worked at Auburn from 1999-2014. Lolley served as a cornerbacks coach for Tuberville and former Auburn head coach Gene Chizik and most recently held the Director of External Relations title on Malzahn’s support staff before becoming the linebackers coach of the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. 

    Gus Malzahn is a noted offensive innovator, and it’s no coincidence that many of the staff members mentioned here have offensive backgrounds. However, there are multiple defensive coaches in the mix as well. It goes to show that Malzahn has a great eye for coaching talent, and does as good a job of developing coaches as he does players.

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