It may not be long before Gus Malzahn is leading another football program.
UCF, who lost the head coach Josh Heupel to Tennessee last month, he offered the job to Malzahn, several sources told Auburn Undercover on Sunday. Orlando Sentinel also reported Sunday night.
Sources told Auburn Undercover earlier in the day that Malzahn emerged as the leading candidate in the search for the Knights’ head coach, and that new UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir is done with interviews and hopes to appoint a new head coach this week.
Heupel was hired in Tennessee by the school’s new athletic director, Danny White, which was recently hired by UCF. The Knights replaced him with Mohajir from the state of Arkansas.
Malzahn and Mohajir were together in Arkansas during Malzahn’s 2012 season with the Red Wolves.
Auburn separated from Malzahn on December 13. He went 68-35 in eight seasons with the Tigers, including a SEC championship and a participation in the national BCS championship. Auburn also made the SEC title game in 2017 and appeared in two New Year’s Six cups under Malzahn, in addition to the national championship game. After his miraculous first season in 2013, however, Auburn lost four or more games in each of the next seven seasons.
Bryan Harsin was hired from Boise State to replace Malzahn on December 22.
Auburn owes Malzahn a purchase of $ 21.45 million, half of which has already been paid in the first 30 days of his resignation, according to the terms of the contract. His contract extension with Auburn, signed in 2017, did not include mitigation for Auburn’s payment totals if Malzahn took on follow-up work.