Gus Malzahn‘s decision to step away from UCF as its head coach in favor of returning to his assistant coaching roots as Florida State‘s new offensive coordinator this offseason might have caught many around the college football world by surprise. But for the 59-year-old Malzahn, whose last foray as an offensive coordiantor came during his […]
Gus Malzahn‘s decision to step away from UCF as its head coach in favor of returning to his assistant coaching roots as Florida State‘s new offensive coordinator this offseason might have caught many around the college football world by surprise.
But for the 59-year-old Malzahn, whose last foray as an offensive coordiantor came during his first stint at Auburn between 2009-11, it was a necessary move, and one that helped the veteran coach to simplify things in his life — especially when it comes to his interactions with players.
“There’s no doubt, it’s helped me tremendously to focus on one side of the football,” Malzahn said during FSU’s media day event in late July, per Warchant. “It’s like an almost completely different job description from being a head coach. So it’s been good from the relationship side, of getting to know the players relationship-wise, and just worrying about one side of the ball.”
Malzahn spent the past four seasons as UCF’s head coach, compiling a 28-24 record between 2021-24, though a majority of those wins came during back-to-back nine-win campaigns his first two seasons when the Knights were still a member of the American Conference. Malzahn and UCF struggled in two seasons apart of the Big 12, going 10-15 overall and 5-13 in Big 12 play.
Prior to that, Malzahn went 68-35 overall and 38-27 in the SEC in eight seasons as Auburn’s head coach, including leading the Tigers to a SEC Championship and a BCS National Championship Game appearance in 2013. But outside of that first season, Auburn struggled to match that early success, only notching double-digit wins once over his final seven seasons on The Plains with a 10-4 mark and SEC Championship Game appearance in 2017.
Malzahn has a career collegiate head coaching record of 105-62 overall across 13 seasons with Arkansas State (2012), Auburn (2013-20) and UCF (2021-24).
Mike Norvell raves about value Gus Malzahn brings to Florida State staff
There’s no secret that the 2024 season was a disaster for the Florida State Seminoles. Trying to bounce back from that, head coach Mike Norvell made some major staff changes. That included bringing in Gus Malzahn to be his next offensive coordinator.
Malzahn brings with him plenty of experience coaching offensive football, making his name on that side of the ball and winning a national championship as an offensive coordinator. Now, as Norvell explained at the 2025 ACC Football Kickoff, he’s bringing tremendous value to the Florida State staff.
“Having the opportunity to have Coach Malzahn come and be a part of our staff,” Mike Norvell said. “It was special. It’s somebody that I have a 20-year relationship with. All the respect in the world for the man, the coach. He’s somebody that infuses confidence in anybody around him because he knows what he wants to do. He knows what he wants it to look like, but it’s the belief that he’s able to pour into others for what it takes on that journey.”
Malzahn came up as a high school coach in the state of Arkansas before making the jump to college coaching in 2006 to be the Arkansas offensive coordinator. In 2009, he’d become offensive coordinator at Auburn, coaching Cam Newton to a national championship. From there, he’d become a head coach at Arkansas State, Auburn, and most recently UCF. He was the sitting head coach at UCF, coming off a 4-8 season, when he left for Florida State.
Norvell actually worked under Gus Malzahn at Tulsa in 2007 and 2008. There, Norvell was a graduate assistant, but the time left a major impression on him. Now, Norvell knows that he can bring in an experienced and determined coach to help the Seminoles next season.
“You talk about the perspective. He does. He’s been a very successful head football coach. The last time he was an offensive coordinator, he did win a national championship,” Norvell continued. “To make the choice and the decision he made to come to Florida State. That is the purpose. That is the reason. We have the opportunity here to really do something special, and I think his focus is there on the offensive side of the ball. He’s one of the best that have ever done it. But he also brings perspective of the big picture. He’ll continue to challenge every element within the organization just to push to be the best,” Norvell said. “And accomplish and do some of the things that he’s been able to do on his journey, and what we all aspire to be.”
— On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report.
Category: General Sports
