BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Former Auburn coach Pat Dye, whose name is attached to the school's football field, preferred Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart as Auburn's next head coach. But Dye said he likes Gus Malzahn and hopes the fan base supports him.

"You know what? If I had been on the selection committee, I probably would have chosen Kirby," said Dye, the often-opinionated ex-coach. "But I wasn't on the committee and I don't know what went on with Kirby. ... Gus and Kirby, either one of them is fine with me. Some folks out there were wanting a campaign for someone I didn't want."

Asked if he meant former Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, Dye replied: "If I can't say something good about somebody, then I don't need to say anything at all. If he had been the guy at Auburn, they would have hired him two weeks ago. It's been an emotional thing for the Auburn people, and now just get behind Gus and let's develop a program."

After one season coaching Arkansas State, Malzahn returns to Auburn, where he helped the Tigers win the 2010 national championship as their offensive coordinator. Malzahn's Auburn offenses nationally ranked 17th, seventh and 70th in scoring and 16th, seventh and 100th in total yards.

"I don't know how long it will take him to get the chemistry right at Auburn, but there's a lot of defensive coaches in this conference who don't want to play Gus Malzahn," Dye said. "When Cam Newton was doing everything, somebody had to give him a little guidance. Gus, he's a workaholic."

In his only season at Arkansas State, Malzahn won the school's second consecutive Sun Belt championship.

"I think what he did at Arkansas State was pretty damn impressive to me," Dye said. "Because they weren't a very good football team and didn't leave many good players except the quarterback. They graduated most of their defensive players."

Dye offered a prediction on Auburn's future quarterback situation: "Gus Malzahn will make a player out of Jonathan Wallace. He may not be a great athlete, but he has the stuff. If we had a bright spot this year at Auburn, it was him. He never flinched."

During the 2011 season, former Auburn coach Gene Chizik began asserting himself more in the game plans, especially on offense, where he wanted Malzahn to slow down the offense to protect the defense. Chizik's meddling combined with Malzahn's desire to be a head coach led to Malzahn taking a pay cut to coach Arkansas State.

"That's Coach Malzahn's responsibility to get the right defensive coach because that is a problem when you run the spread," Dye said. "He knows that. They have problems at Oregon and everywhere else where you run the spread because they don't take time off the clock."

Dye described Smart as a "great football coach" but now has thrown his support behind Malzahn.

"He's my coach," Dye said. "I hope all the Auburn people feel the same way."

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