Gus Malzahn Quits UCF To Take Offensive Coordinator Position At Florida State

UCF head coach Gus Malzahn has decided to resign his position, just one day after his season ended in Orlando. In the stunning move, the now former Knights coach will become the OC for Florida State.

After consecutive losing seasons, with an overall record of 28-24, Gus Malzahn is the latest head coach to give up the reigns of a program to become an assistant coach. Most recently, it was former UCLA coach Chip Kelly leaving the Bruins to become the OC at Ohio State, which suffered a massive loss to Michigan on Saturday. 

UCF released a statement Saturday evening, 

"We would like to thank Coach Malzahn for his contributions to our football program over the past 4 seasons, including our transition into the Big 12 Conference. We appreciate his professionalism & dedication to our student-athletes throughout his tenure at UCF & wish he & his wife, Kristi, the very best in their future endeavors."

While the move doesn't make much sense on paper, this will give Malzahn a fresh start, without the hassle of having to run an entire program. For Florida State, this is an intriguing hire for Mike Norvell, who has been the play-caller for the Seminoles during his tenure. 

UCF head coach Gus Malzahn has resigned to take OC job at Florida State

Now, he will turn over the reigns to Malzahn, who will bring his uptempo offense to Tallahassee, hoping to help Florida State get things back on track, in what will be a pivotal 2025 season for Mike Norvell and his tenure. 

The Knights were seen as a potential Big 12 candidate to win the conference this season, but that fell apart quickly in Orlando. There was never a QB that Malzahn felt comfortable with, and the Knights offense looked stagnant for most of the 2024 season. 

Who knows how many other head coaches will think like Malzahn over the next few years, as college football continues to change, especially with the upcoming movement with revenue-sharing. But at the end of the day, Malzahn's move will look like he packed his bags and got out of town before he could be fired. 

Now, it's up to Gus and Mike Norvell to figure out how to fix this Florida State offense that looked dreadful in 2024. 

It might not happen again this off-season, but more moves like this wouldn't be surprising in the future.