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Gus Malzahn hired as next head football coach at UCF

Head football coach Gus Malzahn accepting the Iron Bowl trophy at Thursday's game against Alabama. Sarah May/ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR.
Head football coach Gus Malzahn accepting the Iron Bowl trophy at Thursday's game against Alabama. Sarah May/ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR.

Gus Malzahn will be back on the sidelines this fall. 

On Monday, Malzahn was announced as the next head coach at the University of Central Florida.

"I'm thrilled to be the head coach at UCF, and I'm truly looking forward to being part of Knight Nation," said Malzahn in a statement. "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 is replacing Josh Heupel as the Knights head coach as Heupel took the head coaching job at Tennessee this offseason.  

"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," said UCF Athletic Director Terry Mohajir. "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."

In 8 seasons at Auburn, Malzahn finished with an overall record of 68-35 and was 39-27 in SEC play. During his tenure, Malzahn won the SEC Championship in 2013, appeared in the BCS National Championship in 2013 and won the SEC West in 2013 and 2017. 


Larry Robinson | Photo Editor

Larry is a senior studying journalism with a minor in sociology. He is from Enterprise, Alabama and is in his third year with The Auburn Plainsman. 

Twitter: @ReportingLarry


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