FAYETTEVILLE — Like most football players who grew up in Arkansas, Gus Malzahn dreamed about wearing the cardinal helmet with the running Razorback on the side.
As a star at Fort Smith Christian School, Malzahn walked on at Arkansas in the early 1980s, but eventually left Fayetteville for Arkadelphia and finished his college career at Henderson State.
His coaching career has been almost a carbon copy. Malzahn's first college coaching job was as the offensive coordinator at Arkansas following a highly successful career as a prep coach in neighboring Springdale, first at Shiloh Christian and then at Springdale High.