Not that you asked...

Do you remember that crap they told us in school, about how playing sports builds character? Clearly that doesn't apply to those who coach.

When Hugh Freeze left last year I was disappointed, but not angry. I wrote, at the time, and still believe, that for him, Ole Miss had to be his dream job. Oh, one other thing, He never promised he'd stay.

Gus Malzahn made a lot of promises. He said he wanted to be back in Arkansas. I believed him. He said he wanted to take ASU to the next level. I believed him. He said he wanted to make Arkansas State into the Boise State of the South. He promised he'd be here for more than one year. I believed him.

When I first heard the news that Malzhan was going to Auburn I wasn't just disappointed. I felt like the biggest sucker on Earth. It could be that Malzhan was being honest when he made all of those promises. We won't ever know the truth about that. If he did mean them, what changed his mind?

The main reason I am angry is because of the way I was raised. My dad didn't leave me a fortune, but he did better than that. He gave me a good name. His father raised him to keep their good name. I had both of them telling me that as I grew up. They believed that a man's word was his bond. Even if you changed your mind about something, if you promised something you delivered. Obviously Malzahn wasn't raised that way.

Even when he told the team he was leaving, he left them with one final lie. He told them he would coach them in the bowl game. The next day it was announced that he wouldn't be here for the game.

I realize that college football at the highest level is more business than sport. I know it can be a cutthroat business. I know that coaches have been fired after one bad season. Still though, when you give your word it should mean something.

There is one group of people who have reason to be much angrier than I am. That would be the members of the Touchdown Club who put up the money to pay Malzahn his salary. They also threw in a house and a car just for good measure.

Those people raised that money gladly, and were happy to do it All they asked for in return was for him to stay more than one season. He couldn't even give them that.

The folks at Arkansas State were so shaken that there was talk that they were interested in hiring Bobby Petrino. After all, Petrino only lied to his wife. Malzahn lied to a lot of people.