Auburn football coach Gus Malzahn is the only SEC coach with a head-to-head win against Nick Saban, but his job status appears shaky after the Tigers went 3-5 in league play with a lopsided loss to rival Alabama last season.KNOXVILLE – Kirk Herbstreit certainly did not realize it at the time, but his first-quarter commentary during the 2014 BCS national championship game foreshadowed an annual clash of schematic gurus that will take its final evolution of the foreseeable future this weekend.
Jeremy Pruitt, in his only season as Florida State’s defensive coordinator, helped the Seminoles to a thrilling 34-31 title win over first-year Auburn coach Gus Malzahn.
“That is the game within the game tonight between Jeremy Pruitt, the defensive coordinator for Florida State, and Gus Malzahn,” Herbstreit said on the TV broadcast.
Pruitt left soon after to become defensive coordinator at Georgia, a job he held for two years before spending the past two as Alabama’s defensive coordinator. Each step along Pruitt’s coaching journey has pitted him against the offensive-minded Malzahn.
“We know each other well,” Malzahn said Wednesday.