There’s an old saying that goes, “behind every strong man is a strong woman.” Well, behind every strong head coach in the Southeastern Conference is an even stronger woman.Before agreeing to divorce LSU’s Ed Orgeron, Kelly Orgeron nearly died after complications from back surgery but overcame it. The backbone behind Alabama’s Nick Saban, Miss Terry Saban, once made him run for an unsportsmanlike penalty tirade. Megan Mullen, the wife of Florida’s Dan Mullen, is the team’s mother and TikTok star. Georgia’s Mary Beth Smart is the glue that keeps Kirby Smart’s family (and life) together.
You get the idea. Every SEC coach has his rock.
Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn has his own support system at home in his wife. Kristi Malzahn is the unofficial team mother to Auburn players in The Plains. She’s never been afraid to speak her mind, and while she’s taken heat for that before, she’s regarded as a leader and caregiver in the Auburn football landscape.
She and Gus met at Hughes High School in Hughes, Arkansas, according to 247Sports. She told Eagle Eye TV‘s Lindsey McAlister in an interview that the two met while each other’s best friends were dating in high school. They didn’t begin dating until he came back from college when he asked her out.
The Malzahns can boast a marriage of more than 30 years. Part of that is because they are always there for each other. While she can’t help him coach on the sidelines, she’s right by his side pretty much everywhere else.
Kristi is up as early as 7 a.m. on game day. She spends pretty much the entire day at Jordan-Hare Stadium, meeting and greeting players, coaches and everyone in-between. The two come together at the end of each victory by heading to Waffle House, a tradition they started when he was a high school coach in the early 2000s. They even celebrated the 2017 Iron Bowl win at the diner.
Kristi was also right by Gus’ side when his father fought for his life in 2011.
“I mean, literally, between his dad being sick and recruiting, you get home and you’re, I mean, we got on the plane and went to see his dad,” Kristi told 247Sports. “And then he immediately was recruiting right after, so there’s no time to ever stop. The college football game doesn’t give you time to just breathe it in.
Still, Kristi has found time to make her own headlines.