Auburn coach Gus Malzahn on the main stage at 2018 SEC Media Day on Thursday, July 19, 2018 in Atlanta, GA. / Todd Van Emst/AU AthleticsATLANTA - Auburn football coach Gus Malzahn can be introduced in many ways these days.
He heads the defending Western Division champions of the Southeastern Conference, which often is considered the nation's toughest division. He is the recipient of a new seven-year contract that will pay him $49 million, and he's the only active SEC coach to have defeated Alabama counterpart Nick Saban.
Malzahn has two wins in five tries against Saban since taking over on the Plains in 2013, including last season's 26-14 triumph in Auburn.
"I don't get caught up in other coaches and all that," Malzahn said Thursday as the first SEC Media Days inside the College Football Hall of Fame came to a close. "All I know is you're at Auburn and you play Alabama, and that's the Iron Bowl. That's the best rivalry in college football, and to win the West you have to beat them.
"Every year our goal is to win the SEC championship, and the West is part of it. We know what we're getting into. They know what they're getting into, and that's just part of the job description at Auburn."
Auburn was the nation's hottest team last November, becoming the first program to knock off two No. 1 teams in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Tigers won both games convincingly, routing Georgia 40-17 two weeks before scoring the last 16 points in the Iron Bowl.
When the calendar flipped to December, however, Auburn was worn down by Georgia, 28-7, in the rematch at the SEC title game. The Tigers vowed there would be no lingering effect in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on New Year's Day, but they were listless during a 34-27 loss to undefeated Central Florida.
"We laid an egg that day," Malzahn said. "That's not taking anything away from our opponent, because they were an excellent team, but we weren't happy with the way the season ended. That's something that our team has really used to motivate them over the summer. I know our coaches feel the same way as far as that goes.
"There is such a fine line in this conference of winning the conference championship and coming close. We came close last year, and we've got to figure out a way to take that next step. We do have a lot of the players back who experienced how close we were, and we have our staff back that experienced it, too."
Auburn's hopes for another season of factoring into the national landscape start with junior quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who began his college career at Baylor University and bypassed an early exit to the NFL this year. The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder threw for 3,158 yards last season, and he joins Nick Marshall in 2014 as the only starting quarterbacks to return for Malzahn during his time as Auburn's head coach or offensive coordinator, which he was from 2009 to 2011.
Stidham, who was sacked 11 times during an early-season loss at Clemson but then guided his offense to 40 or more points seven times in an eight-game stretch, believes this offseason has been better than last year.
"Everybody has bought in a little bit more," Stidham said, "and you could sense a little different atmosphere this spring and this summer. We have used the bowl loss as motivation, but that's in the past, and we're looking forward to playing Washington in the first week."
Auburn faces Washington in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game to start the season and travels to Georgia and to Alabama in November, so matching last year's 10-2 regular season could be a tough task. The Tigers may have the league's top defensive front seven, but they are having to replace four starters on the offensive line, and also gone are Kerryon Johnson and Kamryn Pettway.
Johnson rushed for 1,391 yards and was the SEC offensive player of the year last season, and Pettway rushed for 1,224 yards in 2016.
"If we played today, Kam Martin would be the first guy out there," Malzahn said of his running backs, "but we do have four or five other guys that we feel very good about who also are competing for time. We've had nine straight 1,000-yard rushers at Auburn. That's an all-time SEC record, and I really feel strongly that streak will continue.
"If you look back at our success, we usually try to have two guys as far as that. Unfortunately, after the regular season last year, both of our guys were a little banged-up. There's nothing like depth, so we're working hard to get that done."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.