By Mark Pszonak
The initial excitement around Orlando regarding UCF’s entry into the Big 12 is gone. The excitement after a quick 3-0 start in 2023 evaporated after a 6-7 finish. And the excitement this season after yet another quick 3-0 start disappeared after three straight losses. It was Gus Malzahn’s job to grow that excitement, or if nothing else maintain it, and he has failed at accomplishing this.
But that wasn’t always the case during his tenure at UCF. Taking over the job prior to the 2021 season, he accumulated an 18-9 record in his first two seasons. These first two seasons were in the AAC, but overall, the vibe was positive as the Knights began to prepare for their first Big 12 season in 2023.
That vibe continued last fall with wins coming against Kent State, Boise State and Villanova to open the season. Then after consecutive losses to Kansas State and Baylor, a game in which they led 35-10 in the fourth quarter before amazingly losing 36-35 to the Bears, UCF announced days later that they had extended Coach Malzahn’s contract through the 2027 season.
Two days later UCF lost 51-22 at Kansas and then also lost the next two games to drop their record to 3-5. The Knights did manage to win three of their final four games to earn a Gasparilla Bowl appearance, which they lost to Georgia Tech.
Despite the rollercoaster 6-7 season, there was excitement during this off-season, with the return of star running back R.J. Harvey and the addition of transfer quarterback K.J. Jefferson from Arkansas.
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And again, UCF fans were teased by a fast start, with wins over New Hampshire, Sam Houston and TCU. At this point I wrote an article on September 26th discussing the huge opportunity UCF had in its game against Colorado (see here). Four days later I wrote about how they faceplanted in that game (see here).
Two more faceplants followed against Florida and Cincinnati, and suddenly the Knights are in a very similar place – 3-3 and with more questions than answers. The offense has sputtered, which led to the benching of Jefferson. Jacurri Brown and EJ Colson both played during the loss to Cincinnati, and there are no clear answers as to who will start at Iowa State on Saturday night.
This brings up another issue. While last season the Knights were able to rebound and salvage a bowl, that is much less likely in 2024. The game at #9 Iowa State is the start of a very difficult final six games that has UCF also playing #13 BYU, Arizona, Arizona State, West Virginia and Utah. Can the Knights win three of these games to become bowl eligible? Doubtful.
Because this is doubtful, it is time to turn the attention to Coach Malzahn. The fanbase is quickly growing tired of the program’s trajectory, which is currently aimless. And at the same time, due to his contract extension and buyout total (between 10-12M), the fanbase also realizes that it is unlikely there will be a change after this season.
So, to answer the initial question, yes Gus Malzahn’s time is running out in Orlando. However, with it being highly unlikely that anything will happen to him after this season no matter how the final six games go, look for a change of coordinators and then a transfer portal Hail Mary in hopes of trying to salvage the 2025 season.
But if the Knights start off quickly again (likely with the first two games being against Jacksonville State and North Carolina A&T) don’t expect the fans to get excited because they’ve been tricked before.
Coach Malzahn had his opportunity in Orlando and just like the team has done during the last three weeks, he has also faceplanted.
