Gus Malzahn says he will be 'rooting hard' for Auburn
Gus Malzahn’s focus is now on UCF, but the former Auburn head coach said he’ll be “rooting hard” for the Tigers.
The topic came up during Malzahn’s appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show” Wednesday.
“I was at Auburn 11 years and I’ve got nothing but great memories,” Malzahn told Paul Finebaum. “It was a great experience. My family loves Auburn and we’re part of the Auburn family. We always will. We’ll be rooting hard from here for them. But it was just — both of my daughters graduated, my son-in-laws, both of them graduated from Auburn. We’ll always be a part of the Auburn family.”
Malzahn’s feelings toward his former employer are likely helped by the fact he is collecting over $21 million in buyout money from AU. The buyout agreement does not contain offset language, meaning Malzahn will collect his UCF salary without reducing Auburn’s buyout payments. Malzahn is set to make $11.5 million over 5 years at UCF, which will buy plenty of Waffle House meals.
Malzahn was offensive coordinator for three seasons at Auburn (2009-11) and head coach for eight seasons (2013-20). The Tigers were 68-35 under Malzahn. Malzahn is 77-38 as a head coach, going 9-3 in his lone season at Arkansas State in 2012.
