College football notebook

Gus Malzahn isn’t going anywhere.

Amid rumors that the football coach could make the jump to Arkansas, Auburn locked up Malzahn to a new seven-year, $49 million deal, according to multiple reports Sunday.

Malzahn’s previous contract paid him $4.75 million per season, and Arkansas was reportedly prepared to offer him close to $50 million for seven years.

247Sports.com was first to report the deal.

Malzahn, 52, played college football at Arkansas and was a longtime high school football coach in the state. He previously served as an offensive coordinator at Arkansas and was a head coach at Arkansas State.

Malzahn guided the Tigers to a 10-3 record (7-1 in Southeastern Conference) this season. Auburn lost 28-7 to then-No. 6 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday, dropping the Tigers from No. 2 to No. 7 in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Auburn will face 12th-ranked Central Florida in the Peach Bowl.

In five seasons under Malzahn, Auburn is 45-21 (25-15) and has appeared in five straight bowl games. In his first season in 2013, the Tigers made it to the BCS national championship game but lost 34-31 to Florida State.

Malzahn has an overall head coaching record of 54-24 after going 9-3 in his lone season at Arkansas State in 2012.

—Texas A&M officially confirmed the hiring of Jimbo Fisher as its head football coach with a 10-year, $75-million contract on Monday morning ahead of his introductory press conference.

Fisher, who led Florida State to a national championship in 2013, resigned on Friday from coaching the Seminoles after eight seasons to join the Aggies.

The 52-year-old Fisher was introduced by Texas A&M athletic director Scott Woodward during a news conference in College Station.

“I know I come in here with great expectations,” Fisher said. “We’re going to be driven to be the very best every day. We’re going to strive for excellence every day.”

Only Alabama’s Nick Saban ($8.1 million average) would be higher paid than Fisher ($7.5 million average) with Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ($6.75 million) close behind.

Fisher had an 83-23 with the Seminoles and won the 2013 BCS national championship with a 14-0 record, but he grew frustrated with Florida State officials over the failure to improve football facilities.

—Florida State officials planned to meet with Oregon head coach Willie Taggart about the university’s job opening, according to multiple reports.

Taggart was recruiting in Arizona on Monday morning, including an in-home visit with four-star quarterback commit Tyler Shough. The 41-year-old Taggart, a Florida native, is the favorite to replace Fisher.

The Seminoles have not had a face-to-face meeting with Taggart about their vacancy but have met with his agent Jimmy Sexton. Taggart reportedly was offered a four-year, $20 million extension by Oregon over a week ago but has not signed it yet. Fisher made $5.7 million this season at Florida State.

Taggart was hired at Oregon in December 2016 and went 7-5 in his first season after the Ducks were 4-8 the year before he arrived. He replaced Mark Helfrich after spending four seasons at South Florida, where he was 24-25 record overall after going 18-7 in his final two seasons with the Bulls.

—New Arizona State football coach Herman Edwards displayed the passion for which he is known during his introductory press conference.

Arizona State made it official and hired Edwards as its 24th head coach on Sunday night. While Edwards hasn’t coached since being fired by the Kansas City Chiefs following the 2008 season, the 63-year-old showed he had plenty of fire on Monday.

“Football ignites my soul,” Edwards said. “It’s what makes me go. This is what I do. I’ve done this my whole life.”

Edwards has been a studio commentator for ESPN since his last coaching job with the Chiefs from 2006-08. He also was the coach of the New York Jets from 2001-05. As an NFL head coach, Edwards owns a 54-74 regular-season record. He was 39-41 with the Jets, who reached the playoffs three times in his tenure.