A season-ending loss in the Iron Bowl to rival Alabama and defensive coordinator Will Muschamp leaving for South Carolina will have that effect.

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But ask him about Cam Newton and maybe — just maybe — for a minute, the wear and tear of a 6-6 season and task ahead of finding a defensive coordinator and at least two more assistants leave him.

And a small smile slips out.

Cam Newton will have that effect.

“Everyone sees Cam on TV and they see the games but what they don’t see is the great work ethic that he has — the things he does on his own and with his team,” Malzahn said Monday on a stop in Charlotte where he would speak at the Nagurski Awards presentation. “He’s got a great combination of unbelievable talent with unbelievable work ethic and that’s rare. I think now everybody’s starting to see the pieces of the puzzle with his game coming together. Then you throw in the fact that he’s a great leader. It doesn’t surprise me and I’m very proud of him.”

Malzahn was in his second season as offensive coordinator at Auburn in 2010 when the Tigers signed Newton out of junior college and the 6-5, 240-pound quarterback — yes, he smiled a lot then, too — ran and threw Auburn to a perfect 14-0 season, the BCS championship and picked up a Heisman Trophy. Newton attended the Nov. 28 Iron Bowl in Auburn and met with Malzahn and the team.

The fifth-year Carolina Panthers quarterback is having a touch of deja vu this season in Charlotte. The Panthers are 12-0 — the ninth team to win their first 12 in the Super Bowl era — and have won the NFC South for the third consecutive season.

Is that enough to earn him the NFL’s version of the Heisman, the MVP?

“It would be tough to find somebody better right now,” Malzahn said. “There’s some real good players. What he means to his team, he deserves or deserves to be in the mix. Put it that way.”

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Malzahn also spoke about the task at hand for Auburn with Muschamp leaving after just one season.

“He did a very good job for us,” Malzahn said. “I’m happy for him. That’s what he wanted and I expect him to do well.”

Malzahn said no decision has been made on who will coach the Tigers in the Dec. 30 Birmingham Bowl matchup with Memphis and that he doesn’t have a timetable for replacing Muschamp.

But he does have prerequisites.

“Ideally it would rather be sooner than later,” said Malzahn, who will have his third defensive coordinator in three seasons. “But I’m going to make sure we get the right person and the right person for our future.”