Michael Dyer Follows Gus Malzahn To Arkansas State, Leaves Auburn

Former Auburn Tigers running back Michael Dyer officially became current Arkansas St. Red Wolves running back Michael Dyer on Tuesday when the school announced that the Offensive MVP of the 2010 BCS National Championship Game has transferred and signed a scholarship to play for the Red Wolves.

Dyer will have two years of eligibility remaining. Unless he is granted a waiver by the NCAA, he will have to sit out the 2012 season. There may be some kind of special circumstance in the works as the university said they are still "unsure" whether or not Dyer will play in 2012.

Dyer is from Arkansas, having attended Little Rock Christian Academy before enrolling at Auburn. He finished his high school career with 8,097 yards rushing and 84 touchdowns, including 2,502 yards and 31 scores as a senior. During his two seasons with Auburn, Dyer rushed for 2,335 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Arkansas State head coach Gus Malzahn, who was Dyer's offensive coordinator at Auburn, is estastic to bring his biggest weapon with him.

"We are excited to have one of the top running backs in college football join our program, and we welcome him to our Arkansas State family. Michael is obviously a proven player, and he will certainly make a great addition to our team."

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The Auburn Tigers have granted star running back Michael Dyer his release, after about a week of rumors, reports that the deal was already done, and hearty welcomes by another school's players, Charles Goldberg reports. The thinking has been that he'll join former offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn's Arkansas St. Red Wolves, where multiple players have already publicly greeted him with a kind hand of fellowship.

Back when Malzahn was hired by ASU, our own Bill Connelly took at look at the team's presumed depth chart for 2012, pending recruits and transfers. Say, let's take another look at part of the running back portion:

Projected Two-Deep
Frankie Johnson (5'9, 185, So.) -- 85 carries, 343 yards (4.0)
Sherodrick Smith (5'10, 180, So.) -- 16 carries, 56 yards (3.5)

Dyer had 1,242 yards rushing, averaging 5.13 per carry. Sure, he was playing behind a SEC line, but he was also running against SEC defenses. You can see how this changes things.

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Auburn Tigers running back Michael Dyer: is he transferring to the Arkansas St. Red Wolves to play for former offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, or is he not? Multiple ASU players have publicly welcomed him, but the news out of Jonesboro is that the move hasn't happened, and Auburn coach Gene Chizik says nothing's changed at the moment.

@BryanDFischer Chizik: "Michael Dyer's status at Auburn has not changed." Several Arkansas State players tweeted he was transferring there.

Yet feels like the word lingering in the air at the end of that quote. Unless a rumor spread throughout Arkansas State's campus that was so convincing it got players sure enough to tweet about it -- who could imagine college students tweeting ill-advisedly? -- there's a lot of smoke here.

Still, it could all be just one big rumor fueled by Auburn's general air of attrition.

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Here we now have a report regarding the Arkansas St. Red Wolves roster that goes against claims made by ASU players. We live in interesting times. Moments after two Red Wolves welcomed Auburn Tigers running back Michael Dyer to Jonesboro, Richard Davenport of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette denied the news:

@ArRecruitingGuy The rumors of Michael Dyer to ASU are false. He plans to meet with Chizik and remain at Auburn.

Dunno, but kinda lean toward the players on this one until we hear otherwise.

Once Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn left Auburn to take the ASU head coaching job, speculation increased that the suspended Dyer could leave town. He's succeeded in Malzahn's scheme on the Plains, and would presumably have a chance to put up impressive numbers in the Sun Belt as well.

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Gus Malzahn met with the media at Arkansas State on Wednesday as he was introduced as the team's next head coach. For Malzahn, one of the highest-paid assistant coaches in the country, the move comes as a surprise in some ways, and not in others. He's a native of the state and was reportedly recruited for the job by Hugh Freeze, resulting in his decision to move from an SEC coordinator job to a Sun Belt head coaching job.

Malzahn called the Arkansas State job the right fit at the right time. He said he'd explored other head coaching jobs in the last two years, having got the bug to become a head coach, but wanted to wait for the right opportunity to present itself.

"This is where I learned football, from Arkansas high school coaches," Malzahn said. "I'm not a normal college coach as far as the progression goes. So, I've always looked for the right place at the right time. Guess what? This is the right place and the right time."

Just one minor bone to pick about Malzahn's introductory press conference. I'm not sure athletic director Dean Lee understands what Boise State plays.

"We can be the Boise State of college football," Lee said. "Coach Malzahn, we want to be the Arkansas State of college football, which is going to be better than Boise State."

Not sure Arkansas State can be the Boise State of college football when Boise State is already the Boise State of college football. Perhaps the Gonzaga of college football, or something like that, would've worked here.

Malzahn likely took a significant pay cut as part of his move from Auburn to Arkansas State, though financial terms of his contract were not released. However, Lee did reveal it is a five-year deal that will make Malzahn the Sun Belt's richest coach.

Gus Malzahn's departure from Auburn's offensive coordinator role to take the reins at Arkansas State was sudden, but not one that Auburn coach Gene Chizik isn't respecting. Chizik released a statement on Malzahn on Wednesday:

"I’m very happy for Gus and the opportunity that awaits him at Arkansas State. Gus has always had the strong desire to become a head coach and the chance for him to return to his home state that he is so familiar with, will be very beneficial. He’s meant a tremendous amount to our program the past three years, helping our offense and our program achieve unprecedented heights, winning a BCS National Championship and setting countless offensive records. Gus has experienced success in each stop of his coaching career and I have no doubt that he will have similar results at Arkansas State. We look forward to having Gus stay with us through the bowl game and hope to send him out with a victory."

Auburn faces Virginia in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on New Year's Eve.

For more on Auburn, head to Track 'Em Tigers. For more on the 2011 college football bowl season, visit our dedicated section.

Guz Malzahn moving from Auburn to Arkansas State is now as official as it's going to get prior to Wednesday afternoon's press conference. What started as an odd and unconfirmed rumor has now been confirmed by the school.

Arkansas State posted a note on its Facebook site Tuesday evening saying that they would hold a press conference on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. to announce the new head coach. School officials issued another release on Wednesday morning confirming it was Malzahn they'd be announcing as the team's new head coach.

Malzahn's contract at Arkansas State has been reported at six years for $600,000, likely making him the highest paid coach in the Sun Belt Conference. It'll still be a pay cut for him, according to reports, but SB Nation's own Jason Kirk gave a bit of background on Tuesday night regarding that situation.

For many, the sticking point in all this ... how did Malzahn fall from turning down a $3 million-per-year offer with Vanderbilt to taking a pay cut just to land in Jonesboro, Arkansas, at a school that had never won six games in a year until 2011?

For one, we could be dealing with a man who values things beyond money. There are a few of those. He may also just really like the state. He's 46 years old, and as far as I can tell, has spent just five years of his adult life based outside of Arkansas. He went to high school and college there and coached there until 2006.

Either way, Malzahn is officially the new head coach at Arkansas State and desrves all the praise and recognition that comes with that sort of job.

For more on the Arkansas State coaching job, stick the the 2011 Coaching Carousel Tracker.

Arkansas State lost their head coach Hugh Freeze when he accepted the Ole Miss Rebels coaching position. This lead Arkansas State to begin a coaching search of their own. Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was rumored to be a candidate, then rumored to not be a candidate, and now it is being reported again that the rumors of Malzahn to Arkansas State "might have legs."

Malzahn has been the offensive coordinator at Auburn University since the 2009 season. He helped call the nearly unstoppable Aurburn offense that was quarterbacked by now Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. Malzahn originally hit the college ranks as a wide receivers coach at Arkansas, when he came as a package deal with a group of prized recuits whom he coached in high school.

For more on the Arkansas State coaching job, stick the the 2011 Coaching Carousel Tracker.