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Ryan McGee, ESPN Senior Writer 6y

Gus Malzahn wants to see how far he can take Auburn

College Football, Auburn Tigers, Arkansas Razorbacks

ATLANTA -- Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn says his wish is to remain Auburn's head coach in the future.

Following Saturday night's 28-7 loss to Georgia in the SEC championship game, Malzahn addressed reports that he will be offered the head-coaching position at another SEC school, Arkansas, which fired Bret Bielema over Thanksgiving weekend after five seasons in Fayetteville.

Malzahn's Arkansas ties run deep. A native of Fort Smith, he spent two seasons as a walk-on wide receiver with the Razorbacks in 1984-85, made his name as a legendary high school football coach in the state, and also did stints as offensive coordinator at Arkansas and head coach at Arkansas State.

But having just wrapped up his fifth regular season at the helm in Auburn, Malzahn told ESPN he would prefer to stay on The Plains.

"We have worked very hard to create something here. We have a great foundation for the future. I'm the head coach at Auburn and I'm looking forward to seeing where this can go, what we've built, in the future. I want to see that through, personally."

When asked if that meant he would be the head coach for that future, he replied, "I certainly want to be."

Malzahn echoed those sentiments during his postgame media session, saying that he believes the team will repeat as SEC West Division champions and return to the conference title game one year from now, adding: "I'm happy at Auburn. I think the best is yet to come."

When asked if that meant Arkansas shouldn't bother calling, he replied somewhat sharply. "I just said I want to be the head coach at Auburn."

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