Gus Malzahn on the Iron Bowl trophy: ‘It’s going to be around here a while’

Above video may not work on some mobile applications. You can also watch the video on YouTube. Malzahn’s speech starts at the :55 mark.

Gus Malzahn and the Auburn Tigers were recognized at halftime of last night’s Alabama-Auburn basketball game, and Malzahn, his coaching staff and his players accepted the Foy-ODK Sportsmanship Trophy, which is given annually to the Iron Bowl winner.

Related: Auburn fans have baby on the side of the road in Atlanta Snowpocalypse

Malzahn’s acceptance speech was short and concise, but he got right to the point rather quickly.

“They helped us win a lot of games toward the end, obviously the Iron Bowl was big. And I’m here to tell you, this trophy, it’s going to be around here a while. War Eagle!”

The first-year Auburn coach is 1-0 in the Iron Bowl after November’s 34-28 win over Alabama. Chris Davis, the game’s hero, was unable to attend due to training for the NFL Draft.

Each year as part of the tradition, the student government association president of the losing team is supposed to sing the rival school’s alma mater during the trophy presentation, but Alabama’s Jimmy Taylor couldn’t attend due to weather.

Related: Cremated remains found on Auburn’s field post-Iron Bowl

You can bet your boots that Nick Saban and Alabama’s coaching staff is putting this in every player’s locker currently. It’s probably already up, right beside this poster.

Photo Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports