Gus Malzahn, most recently offensive coordinator at Auburn, has been hired to be the head football coach at Arkansas State.
It is the first college head coaching position for Malzahn, 46. He previously coached at Arkansas, Tulsa and Auburn. While at Auburn he coached 2010 Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton and an offense that won the Bowl Championship Series title game.
Auburn went 7-5 this past season and will play Virginia Dec. 31 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta.
Malzhan will be the third coach at Arkansas State in as many seasons. Hugh Freeze coached the Red Wolves in 2011 but left the program to take a similar position at Mississippi.
Freeze replaced Steve Roberts, who was let go after the 2010 season. Roberts was 37-47 in nine seasons at Arkansas State.
Arkansas State was 10-2 under Freeze and will go against Northern Illinois in the GoDaddy.com Bowl on Jan. 8.
Source: UPI