Gus Malzahn hired as Auburn head coach

Arkansas State coach and former Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn will replace Gene Chizik as the Tigers' head coach. A-State Nation, Arkansas State's scout.com affiliate first reported the news Tuesday afternoon.

Breaking News: I have confirmed through multiple sources that Gus Malzahn will be named the next head football coach at Auburn University

— AStateNation (@AStateNation) December 4, 2012

We've been able to confirm with multiple people in the athletics department that Malzahn is indeed the choice. The news comes nine days after Chizik was fired.

Malzahn will bring a sense of continuity to Auburn, as he spent 2009 to '11 on the Plains running the Tigers' offense. Auburn set school records for total offense in 2009 and '10 before a drop off last season. While he was able to implement his offense, Malzahn was never able to run it at the true break-neck pace he desired. As head coach, that won't be an issue.

It will be interesting to watch how Malzahn builds his staff. Whether or not he will work with some of his former colleagues like Trooper Taylor and Curtis Luper remains to be seen.

Terms of Malzahn's deal are unknown at this time. We'll have more updates as they become available.