It didn’t take former Auburn HC Gus Malzahn long to find a new home, with UCF announcing a five-year $11.5 million for their new HC on Monday. Malzahn takes the spot of now-Tennessee HC Josh Heupel who left the spot last month.

There is a ton to like about this hire. While Malzahn had an up and down tenure at Auburn, the peaks were pretty good. He made the national championship in 2013 in his first year as HC. He beat two No. 1 teams in three weeks in the 2017 season, and was a game away from making his second national championship before losing in the SEC title game to Georgia. He beat Alabama and Nick Saban three (!) times.

Malzahn was always going to pick a landing spot that fit his focus in coaching: offense. While strictly as an OC, Malzahn led some historic offenses, notably Tulsa in 2007/2008, the first team in NCAA history with a 5,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher, and three 1,000-yard receivers, and Auburn in 2010 with Cam Newton, when they won the BCS National Championship.

It’s almost too good of a fit in Orlando. Despite cycling through their third head coach in the last five seasons, the Knights are primed to stay in the top of offensive efficiency, coming off a season where they ranked as the No. 2 total offense in college football (568.1 yards/game).

One of the biggest gripes with Malzahn over the last couple of seasons is the downfall of Auburn’s offensive production. The Tigers ranked 77th in 2020 and 64th in 2019. That just won’t cut it. UCF ranked second both those years.

Malzahn inherits a massive upgrade at QB (Dillon Gabriel (we think) over Bo Nix), but also gets to call arguably the best recruiting state in the country his home. He also gets every penny of his absurd $21.4 million buyout from Auburn. That should help him settle in.

Malzahn initially said he was going to take a year off from coaching, but he couldn’t resist when the UCF job opened up, calling it “one of the top-20 coaching jobs in all of college football.” He would know, as it was Scott Frost and his UCF Knights that beat Malzahn in the 2018 Peach Bowl. 

Malzahn now stands on the other side of that. He gets a chance to rebuild his image at one of the premier Group of Five programs in the country and has all the tools necessary to get the G5 its first playoff appearance of the CFP era.

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-By: TJ Mathewson