Running off at the typewriter. …
How miserable was Gus Malzahn at UCF last season?
He had made the decision to quit his job as the head coach of the Knights even if his old friend, FSU coach Mike Norvell, hadn’t offered him the job as the Seminoles’ new offensive coordinator.
In a wide-ranging interview with Ira Schoffel of Warchant.com, Malzahn said he was ready to retire if not for the opportunity to work with Norvell again.
“This was it,” Malzahn said of the FSU job. “I wasn’t out looking. I mean, I was either going to the beach and retiring or I was coming here. It was one or the other.”
Malzahn also told Warchant that UCF was simply trending in the wrong direction under his leadership and he was growing frustrated with the limited financial resources compared to other Big 12 teams. It’s no secret the Knights were only getting 50 percent of the Big 12’s annual revenue payout in their first two years in the league and will start receiving a full revenue share this season. In today’s pay-for-play world, Malzahn apparently felt UCF was playing on an uneven financial playing field.
“It just wasn’t working there, and it was pretty obvious,” Malzahn said of his decision to leave. “You know, we only had half a share (of Big 12 revenue) for two years. We were playing catch-up. And in the future, I think they’re going to be really good. But it was just time.”
I’ve been told by those inside the UCF program that Malzahn didn’t want to go through the embarrassment of being fired again (like he was at Auburn) and was ultra-sensitive to all the criticism he was getting on social media from UCF’s “Twitter Mafia.”
I said it at the time and I’ll say it again now: UCF owes Malzahn a debt of gratitude for leaving voluntarily and not stubbornly and selfishly holding on, waiting to…
Source link : https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/07/24/ucf-fsu-gus-malzahn-mike-norvell-scott-frost-mike-bianchi-commentary/
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Publish date : 2025-07-24 20:54:00
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