Gus Malzahn lands head coaching position at UCF
It didn’t take long for Gus Malzahn to land his next head coaching job.
The former Auburn coach is officially headed to UCF to serve as the next leader of the Knights program. Malzahn was offered the job by first-year UCF AD Terry Mohajir, who previously hired Malzahn to serve as the head coach at Arkansas State.
News of Malzahn’s hiring at UCF was first reported by Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports.
The AD and head coaching positions were open at UCF after Tennessee hired both the school’s previous AD Danny White and former head coach Josh Heupel.
Malzahn comes to UCF after being dismissed by Auburn following the conclusion of the 2020 regular season, in which the Tigers went 6-4 (they later lost the Citrus Bowl matchup against Northwestern to drop to 6-5 overall in a game coached by interim head coach Kevin Steele).
Malzahn went 68-35 during his time at Auburn and holds an overall record of 77-38 after he went 9-3 during his only season at Arkansas State.
In case any Auburn fans are curious, Malzahn’s massive buyout following his dismissal on The Plains will not be mitigated by UCF. Auburn still owes Malzahn his full $21.45 million buyout (50 percent of which has already been paid) and the coach is allowed to double-dip when it comes to any salary offered to him by UCF.
Interestingly enough, UCF opens the 2021 season at home against Boise State which was previously led by Bryan Harsin, the coach that replaced Malzahn on The Plains.
Great news for Gus! UCF you got a great coach. I’m glad Gus can continue to do what he loves. Can we schedule UCF please? I’d love to see Gus back inside Jordan-Hare. Best of wishes to you Gus! Just don’t claim any fake championships haha.
He is a good guy, he runs a clean program, but he is far from great.
That was a major driver UCF wanted him, especially since the boosters want grades and graduation rates as much as trophies. No, that’s not a joke, it’s the one thing UCF Boosters hold over the rest of the state.
UCF doesn’t have the off-the-field issues that Florida’s 6 other FBS programs have since George O’Leary came in, kicked 20 kids off the program, and instituted a set of guidelines back in 2004. And he made good on his promise that the program can beat AP Top 10 teams and finish AP Top 10 (well before Frost came in).
That’s what really caused the heartburn for the Gators, as their primary big media market used to be Orlando. They lost it after 2010 and 2013 solidified it. Having 1/10th as many arrests will do that.
Even Miami slipped to #4 in the state well before 2017. UCF is just cranking out too many grads (#1 for aerospace-defense the last 5 years per Aviation Weekly) and the program is run clean compared to the other 6 FBS in the state.
I seriously love watching Guz Malzahn on the sidelines, during a game. Hopefully, he can soon coach again without a mask, so we can all watch the myriad of facial expressions & body language that he goes through in a game.
Gonna miss bespectacled Uncle Gus on the sidelines for the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.
Let’s all hope & pray that the 2021 NCAA football season can be played in from of a mask less sold-out stadium every week.
I knew Gus would not be on the shelf for long. Surprised it’s UCF but hey great place for Gus to retire to as well.
Great state to retire if you have some huge assets…Florida has no state income tax. UCF got a much better head coach than Tennessee. Wishing you well Gus…just gas up the Gus-Bus with Premium Gas.
I don’t know about Gus being the better head coach. There is not enough data to tell. If Josh Heupel loses 4.7 games a year he will match Gus’ success at the P-5 level. I do not think that those numbers will satisfy the UT fans nor their administrators. Gus was barely average at a school that can recruit at a much higher level and has better facilities, than UCF.
– No state income tax
– Recruit in your back yard
– Top assistants budget in G5 (and better than 1/3rd of P5)
– Proven, long term loyalty to coaches (unless they finally go winless)
If Gus, age 55, is serious about retiring from UCF, it’s looking like this will last a good decade.
A whole lot less pressure taking HC of UCF then if he had stayed in the SEC.
Indeed.
Frost liked being ‘nodded’ at in Florida instead of ‘cornered’ when in a gas station in Nebraska.
Heupel brought his family in and did a dog’n pony show when he was hired, and we UCF boosters told him, “Chill, it’s Florida, your family and your privacy will be respected.” It was just Heup himself from then on.
There’s a reason George O’Leary stayed 12 years, when he had lots of offers elsewhere, especially after various, national Coach of the Year awards. Likewise, UCF rewarded the same loyalty when George pulled only 5 and even just 3 win seasons.
If Gus, 55, is serious about staying long-term, then he will be able to. UCF fair weather fans get whinny on Twitter, but UCF boosters and hard-core fans (the ones that make up the 25K in the stands during losing seasons – far more than Miami’s) since Division II and even III (UCF’s the only program to have played all 4 levels) will be loyal.
O’Leary has a statue. Gus will get one too if he stays through the 2030, keeps UCF in the ‘Sweet 16’ grade-wise, and keeps kids from getting arrested.
I mean, UCF kicked 4 defensive starters off late last fall for just hurling insults at a police officer, not even the kids from the car of players who were pulled over. A DUI also gets a player kicked off too.
Yes, UCF don’t play. It’s unheard of in Florida among the other 6 FBS programs. Gus running a clean program will be rewarded by UCF, even if he has a losing season with only 3 wins.
I see Gus has already hit the ground running.
First statement to the media upon his hire is “ going to a place where the future is bright.”
Good luck UCF and Orlando media. Probably going to be about as revealing as you are going to get from Gus. And forget about alumni meetings and pushing the program. He doesn’t do that.
I certainly hope he took that voodoo magic with him to Orlando.
Yes, UCF Booters respect his and his family’s privacy. Frost liked being ‘nodded at’ in Florida gas stations instead of being ‘cornered’ in ones at Nebraska.
And we care more about grades and kids staying out of trouble. Get just arrested for a DUI, even if the charges are dropped? Off the team. Hurl insults at a police officer? Off the team. And UCF continues to be in the Sweet 16 graduation wise.
Heupel learned really quick that UCF Boosters don’t want a dog’n pony show that SEC and Big 10 Booters want. No dragging your family out. No bothering you when you’re just filing up has.
I know Gus isn’t known for building his own QBs, but Dillon Gabriel is already built. He’s a future NFL QB and I can’t wait to see the two sleep walk through what ever their conference is called lol.
How many future NFL QBs has Gus supposedly had at AU, that didn’t actually pan out?
Johnson and Stidham. But why?
best wishes, Gus!
Gus should do much better at UCF. He is just not a power 5 coach.
I posted this on the other article. It is just as accurate here as there.
Gus averaged 4.7 losses a year while at AU, for the last 7 years he has not had less than 4 losses, but he has had more too. Gus, IMO, does not have the record nor the personality to be a consistent presence at the top of the conference, he has proven that his ceiling is 4-5 losses a year and that is hardly competitive for championships or even conference championships. Maybe the drop in strength of conference will help.
This is NOT a flame at AU. I know many AU fans that have had to suffer through the expectations of AU under Gus, only to have them dashed as the same old thing under Gus. Gus is not going to change his stripes at this point. He and he alone is going to control his offense, recruit his players, and not very well, and he is going to run his offense whether he has the players to run it in the first place.
It is surprising that Gus would take a G-5 job. If he waited a year he would probably get another chance at a P-5 job. Now if he does not vastly improve upon his results he will probably never get another chance at a major P-5 job. You also have to wonder if he is going to have the same drive. I am sure he is emotionally weary with the way things turned out at AU, and he dang sure does not need the money. Needing to build your name and eat is a major motivator in all professions, Gus is lacking these, so it will have to come from within and that is where you have to wonder about fatigue. Gus is a nice guy that runs a clean program, I wish him success, but I highly doubt he finds it.
I’m wondering if Gus can replicate that natty that UCF had in 2017.
I seriously doubt that Gus can go undefeated. He loses one game a year, at least, by getting too cute and out thinking himself. Without going undefeated UCF is an afterthought.
Solid hire and great move for Gus. He should do well there.
UCF among the elites? Bratton must be on a season long crack bender.
The UCF “Batteling Baristas” are a joke.