UCF named Gus Malzahn the Knights’ next football coach.
Malzahn is the 12th head coach in UCF history. He replaces Josh Heupel, who left to take over as the Tennessee Volunteers’ head coach on Jan. 27, following former Knights athletics director Danny White.
Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel was the first to report an agreement was in the works, with an announcement expected as soon as Monday. UCF offered the job to Malzahn Sunday, a source confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel.
Malzahn was introduced during a news conference Monday at 2 p.m.
“I’m thrilled to be the head coach at UCF, and I’m truly looking forward to being part of Knight Nation,” Malzahn said. “It’s exciting to be head of a program where the future is extremely bright. I will be hitting the ground running in terms of getting to know our team and everyone else connected with UCF. Our goal is to be ready to win championships.”
Malzahn, 55, spent the past eight seasons as coach at Auburn, where he led the Tigers to a 68-35 overall record and a 39-27 mark in the SEC. He was fired on Dec. 13 following a 6-4 campaign and a third-place finish in the SEC West.
He was linked to the job as soon as UCF hired athletics director Terry Mohajir, who worked with Malzahn at Arkansas State.
“When I started the search process, it became very evident very quickly that, based on the conversations I had with the players last week and what they told me were looking for, Gus Malzahn was the guy for the job,” Mohajir said. “He has won at every level, and he has coached a Heisman Trophy winner and NFL draft picks. There has never been a better time for Coach Malzahn to lead this program than right now.”
Malzahn led Auburn to an appearance in the BCS national championship game in 2013, losing 34-31 to Florida State in the Rose Bowl. He also guided the Tigers to a New Year’s Six Access Bowl appearance in 2018, with the Tigers ironically losing to UCF in the Peach Bowl.
Before his time at Auburn, he led Arkansas State to a 9-3 record in 2012 and a Sun Belt Conference title in his only season with the Red Wolves. He was hired by the Red Wolves shortly before Mohajir took over the Arkansas State AD job.
Malzahn is known for his no-huddle hurry-up offenses. His first season at Arkansas State, the Red Wolves finished ranked No. 26 (34.9 points per game) in the Football Bowl Subdivision in scoring offense.
The next year at Auburn, the Tigers’ offense ranked No. 12 in the nation. But the program was never able to match that success, finishing no higher than No. 25 in 2017 and No. 88 in 2020.
“I am pleased to welcome Gus Malzahn to the American Athletic Conference,” AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said. “Coach Malzahn has proven to be one of the most innovative and influential coaches in college football with a philosophy and record of sustained success that fits well with the national profile of both UCF and The American.”
The Knights have gone 47-15 (76%) since 2016, including a school-record 25-game win streak during 2017-18. Along the way, the program has claimed back-to-back American Athletic Conference titles (2017-18) while earning consecutive appearances in the New Year’s Six Access Bowl games .
But the program has slipped in recent years, losing seven games during the past two seasons, including a 6-4 mark in 2020. Six of the seven losses have been by a combined 19 points, with the 49-23 loss to BYU in the 2020 Boca Raton Bowl being the program’s first double-digit loss since 2016.
