UCF hired former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn as its next football coach, the school announced Monday.
“I’m thrilled to be the head coach at UCF, and I’m truly looking forward to being part of Knight Nation,” Malzahn said in a statement released by the school. “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.”
UCF had been seeking a replacement for Josh Heupel, who left last month to take the head coaching job at Tennessee. He followed athletic director Danny White, who assumed the same position with the Volunteers.
Since then, UCF named Terry Mohajir as its athletic director, and he has a connection to Malzahn. He previously was the athletic director at Arkansas State, where Malzahn coached in 2012.
“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 in the school’s statement. “He has won at every level, and he has coached a Heisman Trophy winner (Cam Newton, when Malzahn was an offensive coordinator) and NFL draft picks. There has never been a better time for Coach Malzahn to lead this program than right now.”
Auburn fired Malzahn, 55, on Dec. 13 after eight seasons (2013-20) and a 68-35 overall record and 39-27 mark in Southeastern Conference play. He had four years remaining on his seven-year, $49 million contract extension and guided the program to an SEC Championship and BCS National Championship appearance in his first season.
He led Arkansas State to a 9-3 record and a Sun Belt Conference championship in 2012.
The Knights were 28-8 in three seasons under Heupel.
