The 2013 Auburn Tigers are back into focus, given Gus Malzahn's recent retirement from coaching, opting not to return to the Florida State Seminoles as Mike Norvell's offensive coordinator for the 2026 season; essentially leaving Norvell in lame-duck territory.
Perhaps it's fitting that Malzahn's coaching career ended with FSU. Not only did the Noles erode his passion for coaching, which was greatly assisted by how his UCF Knights tenure ended when the program switched to the Big 12, but Florida State stole his best chance at a championship season.
Even though AU didn't win it all in 2013, though, the players who wore the orange and blue that year will forever be heroes and should never have to pick up a tab within Auburn city limits. USA Today's Matt Hayes gave three a particular shoutout: the position-switching, dual-threat quarterback extraordinaire, Nick Marshall, the ankle-breaking, fool-making weapon Tre Mason, and the big-play, big-moment-maker on the outside, Sammie Coates.
The "Prayer at Jordan-Hare" and receiver Ricardo Lewis also received a mention, though Hayes certainly was shining the spotlight on Marshall's heave. Of course, so was the "Kick Six," with Chris Davis's touchdown return and special teams' brilliance blocking for him being secondary to Nick Saban setting up his own demise by complaining about T.J. Yeldon getting out of bounds, which set up the most famous missed field goal in history.
Truly, the focus was on the revolutionary offense Malzahn engineered. Hayes celebrated Saban looking like a fool for complaining about it.
"...that one season at Auburn, when everything that could go right did, won’t be far from his mind. A season when he took a defensive back-turned-quarterback (Nick Marshall), an undervalued running back (Tre Mason), and an afterthought wide receiver (Sammie Coates), and turned the SEC sideways with his hurry-up, no-huddle offense," Hayes wrote.
"Fair or not, that season is what Malzahn will be remembered for. The SEC championship in 2013 that followed the Kick Six, and the near miss in the Rose Bowl."
Auburn conspicuous by its absence in giving Gus Malzahn a shoutout
Several Tiger fans pointed out that the official Auburn Football X account hadn't tweeted about Malzahn's retirement the day it happened. As of Wednesday morning, that remains the case. Malzahn retired on Monday.
It's unclear what's delayed an announcement, or really just any recognition at all. Let's hope there's something AU knows that others don't about Malzahn's involvement in College Football going forward.
If Malzahn has anything left to give to the sport, he might as well do it for the school that will always cherish him for what he accomplished as an offensive coordinator with Cam Newton and the 2010 title team, and the modern glory years of 2013-2019.