Gus Malzahn nearly joined Nick Saban at Alabama. Imagine the offensive fireworks, the rivalry implications—a monumental "what if" still echoes in college football.
College football is built on rivalries, emotion, and moments that shape entire eras.
Few rivalries carry the weight of Alabama vs. Auburn, which is why one revelation from this week genuinely stopped people in their tracks.
Former longtime Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn officially retired Monday, closing the book on a 35-year coaching career that left a lasting mark on the sport. While reflecting on that journey in an interview with On3’s Chris Low, Malzahn shared a detail that still feels almost unreal in hindsight.
Before he ever became one of the defining figures in Auburn football history, Nick Saban personally reached out to Malzahn about Alabama’s offensive coordinator position heading into the 2008 season.
At the time, Malzahn had just finished his first season as Todd Graham’s assistant head coach and co-offensive coordinator at Tulsa, and that offense was putting up absurd numbers.
“We had the best offense in the country (averaging 543.9 yards per game), and I remember Julio Jones was waiting to see who the offensive coordinator was going to be,” Malzahn said.
Let that sink in.
Julio Jones.
Alabama.
Gus Malzahn.
So, when asked why he didn’t take the job, Malzahn admitted the decision still makes him pause. “I don’t know. That’s a great question,” he said. “I’d just come from Arkansas, which was my first year in college coaching and had only been at Tulsa for a year. I guess I wanted to do my own thing.”
Malzahn also couldn’t help but laugh when recalling the moment Saban reached out.
“I just remember thinking, ‘That’s pretty cool. Here I am, an old high school coach, and Nick Saban is calling me about a job,’” he said.
Instead of joining Alabama, Malzahn’s path eventually led him to Auburn, where he spent a total of 11 years, three seasons as offensive coordinator from 2009–2011 and eight seasons as head coach from 2013–2020. That decision helped define an entire era of the Iron Bowl.
“But that was one of the things that made my time at Auburn so special,” Malzahn said. “Being there when Nick was and going against the best to ever do it as your rival… There is no rivalry like that one. We always had a chip on our shoulder, and when we played them, we expected to whip them.”
Malzahn also offered rare praise for Saban’s longevity and evolution. “That’s the thing about Nick,” he said. “He adapted. He kept winning at the same level, changing coaches just about every year and changing with the game.”
It’s crazy to imagine how college football history might look if these two had teamed up instead of clashing.
Instead, their paths collided across one of the sport’s fiercest rivalries, and the game was better for it.
As Malzahn steps away, this stands as one of college football’s greatest “what ifs.” Not because it happened, but because it almost did.