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Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn offers instruction to tight end Brandon Fulse during the A-Day scrimmage. (Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)

The first time that

Gus Malzahn

installed the hurry-up, no-huddle offense at Auburn, up-tempo offenses were still something of a novelty, particularly in an SEC dominated by pro-style attacks.

A lot has changed in four years.

At the same time that Auburn's return to a pro-style offense sunk the Tigers in 2012, a pair of uptempo offenses at Texas A&M and Ole Miss proved wildly successful for a pair of rookie SEC head coaches.

Now, Malzahn has brought that breakneck style of play back to Auburn, returning the Tigers to an ever-growing group of teams -- Tennessee is also installing an uptempo offense under

Butch Jones

-- determined to play every snap as fast as possible.

"I think in football, any time you see someone that's successful doing something maybe a little, you see that as a trend," Malzahn said at a Tiger Trek event in Cullman last month. "There's been some other teams that have been very successful playing with pace, and I think now you see quite a few teams use it."

But the trend has met with some resistance from other SEC coaches who want to see rules changes that would slow down uptempo offenses, essentially robbing the scheme of one of its distinct advantages.

First-year Arkansas coach

Bret Bielema

raised the issue at SEC spring meetings, framing it as a player safety issue and echoing an opinion voiced by

last season.

"Not to get on the coattails of some of the other coaches, there is a lot of truth that the way offensive philosophies are driven now, there's times where you can't get a defensive substitution in for 8, 10, 12 play drives," Bielema said. "That has an effect on safety of that student-athlete, especially the bigger defensive linemen, that is really real."

Malzahn, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze and Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin, the architects of those no-huddle offenses, disagree with Bielema's concerns about safety.

"No, I'd say that's probably more of an in-shape issue than anything else," Malzahn said.

Ever since Malzahn took over, Auburn has emphasized getting players on both sides of the ball ready to play at a fast pace.

Under new strength and conditioning coach Ryan Russell, the Tigers have emphasized quick recovery and endurance in addition to traditional strength training, and the defense plays at the same tempo as the offense during practice. Defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson wants to practice at that pace; the tempo prepares his players for offenses like Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Tennessee and the other uptempo schemes on Auburn's schedule.

But Malzahn isn't sure every defense has to follow the same template. Asked if defenses had to start practicing at a breakneck pace to stop lightning-quick offenses, Malzahn pointed out there's no tried and true formula to slowing down schemes like his own.

"You know, I don't know, that's a good question," Malzahn said. "Some defenses are pretty good no matter who they play or what kind of philosophy."

Freeze responded to the safety concerns by pointing out that his offensive linemen are playing at the same pace for the same number of snaps as the defense.

"Offensive players are playing, too, the same number of snaps," Freeze said. "Are they in danger also? I mean, offensive players get hurt, too, and if we don't substitute, they're having to play the same number of plays."

Bielema, who is a member of the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, proposed a rules change that would allow a 15-second substitution period after every first down to allow defenses to make substitutions.

"I'm not for that all," Freeze said. "If the offense doesn't sub, the defense shouldn't sub, and that's the way the rules are."

Implementing such a rule doesn't appear to be on the immediate horizon -- Bielema said there have been discussions -- but Bielema and Saban's concerns about safety had support from at least one other coach.

Florida's Will Muschamp cited the threat posed by playing in the region's heat.

"That's something you've got to really watch as far as those things are concerned and guys getting lined up and getting themselves in position where they can defend themselves," Muschamp said. "That's something that does not always happen sometimes with as fast as these teams are moving."

Normally outspoken on just about everything, South Carolina's Steve Spurrier acknowledged that "rapid-fire plays" were a topic of discussion during the coaches' meeting with SEC coordinator of officials Steve Shaw in Destin. For his part, Spurrier would be fine with a rules change similar to the one Bielema mentioned.

SHOAL CREEK, Alabama -- Regions Tradition Celebrity Pro-Am at Shoal Creek Golf Course Wednesday June 5, 2013. Auburn football coach Gus Malzahn and South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier. (Joe Songer/jsonger@al.com).

On the other hand, Spurrier also pointed out that there is already a way teams can slow down uptempo offenses and get rest for defensive players.

"Of course, the answer is for the other team's offense to stay on the field and get the other fast-paced team stay on the sideline," Spurrier said.

For the moment, the debate is only rhetoric, centered around an offensive scheme that has been successful at all levels of football, all the way up to the NFL.

Teams like the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers regularly mix in uptempo attacks from series to series.

"We think there's an advantage in playing fast if you can execute your offense effectively," Malzahn said. "I think you see it, really at all levels, and you see in the college game, it's getting more and more relevant, and more and more teams are doing it."

And that means the fast-paced, uptempo offenses are here to stay.