re: Does having a 'religious' coach help a program?

If Chizik was still at AU, I could agree with the inclusion of AU.

I thought his religion pitch/schtick was phony as hell and strictly used a recruiting tactic. It was sleazy and unseemly.

But I haven't read or heard Malzahn using those kinds of tactics at all.

This AU staff hasn't been as "in your face" with their recruiting and seem to be focused more on the season and letting their play and wins help get interest from recruits, so their recruiting hasn't been the big splashy spectacle that we saw from Chizik's staff.

I'll reserve judgment until the season is over and AU puts more focus on recruiting to see if we get the religious schtick but I have a feeling that isn't something Malzahn is going to do.