Two months after being fired from Auburn, former Tigers football coach Gus Malzahn has another option.
Orlando Sentinel reported on Sunday that UCF had offered Malzahn his position as football coach. Malzahn was mentioned as a potential candidate after UCF hired Terry Mohajir as its athletic director. Mohajir and Malzahn worked together in Arkansas.
It is not clear whether Malzahn will accept the position. If he did, he would replace Josh Heupel, who left to lead the Tennessee program, where he is working with former Auburn assistant defensive line coach Rodney Garner and wide receiver coach Kodi Burns.
Malzahn led the Tigers for eight seasons and ended with a 68-35 record. He was the offensive coordinator of the 2010 national championship team and the head coach of when Auburn was the 2013 national runner-up. He won the Paul “Bear” Bryant award, as well as several others in 2013. The Tigers also won the SEC Championship in 2017.
On December 13, 2020, Malzahn was fired after a 24-10 victory over the state of Mississippi. The Tigers ended the regular season 6-4 and then lost the Citrus Bowl to Northwestern under the command of interim coach Kevin Steele. After Bryan Harsin took over as coach of Auburn, everyone on Malzahn’s coaching staff, except running back coach Cadillac Williams, was replaced.
The Knights team that Malzahn could take on has gone from 47-15 since 2016. The 2017-2018 seasons were solid, with a school record of 25 consecutive games and consecutive titles from the American Athletic Conference. For the past two years, however, the Knights have been fighting. They have suffered seven defeats in the past two years and have gone from 6-4 in 2020.
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