Gus Malzahn retires: His 5 best moments as UCF football head coach

Gus Malzahn announced his retirement from coaching Monday, Feb. 2, bringing an end to a career that spanned three decades and began in Arkansas’ high school ranks.

Renowned for his innovation of no-huddle, uptempo offenses, Malzahn achieved his greatest success at Auburn, helping the Tigers win a national championship and overseeing Cam Newton’s Heisman campaign as offensive coordinator in 2010. He returned to the title game three years later as head coach.

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— Coach Gus Malzahn (@CoachGusMalzahn) February 2, 2026

Following an eight-year run as head coach, Malzahn accepted the same position at UCF, taking over after Josh Heupel departed for Tennessee. The Knights won nine games in each of Malzahn’s first two seasons but regressed after joining the Big 12 as he posted consecutive losing records.

UCF lost eight of its last nine games in the Malzahn era, and he stepped down on Nov. 30, 2024, to become the offensive coordinator at Florida State under longtime friend Mike Norvell. Overall, Malzahn went 28-24 as the Knights’ coach, making trips to three bowl games.

Here is a look back on Malzahn’s five best moments during his four seasons in Orlando.

5. UCF’s blue-chip recruiting class of 2024

UCF experienced a significant uptick in high school recruiting with Malzahn in charge, though his reliance on SEC dual-threat quarterbacks from the transfer portal played a significant role in his eventual downfall.

The Knights landed their highest-ranked recruit of all-time in 2023, signing defensive tackle John Walker from nearby Osceola High in Kissimmee. The following year, UCF finished 39th in 247Sports’ composite team rankings after adding six consensus blue-chip recruits.

Unfortunately, that group largely underwhelmed as it pertained to production. Kylan Fox caught a touchdown in last year’s win over North Carolina, but the other five players (safety Jaylen Heyward, wide receiver Bredell Richardson, center Waltclaire Flynn Jr., linebacker Qua Birdsong and nickel cornerback Jakob Gude) hardly saw the field before eventually hitting the transfer portal.

Of the 17 signees from the ’24 class, only one remains with the program entering the 2026 season: wide receiver Jordyn Bridgewater.

4. UCF ends Cincinnati’s 19-game American win streak

RJ Harvey blossomed into the focal point of Malzahn’s offense late in the 2022 season, and he provided a signature moment with a last-minute, go-ahead touchdown against rival Cincinnati.

Harvey’s 17-yard run with 48 seconds left in regulation lifted the Knights to a 25-21 win over the 19th-ranked Bearcats, snapping their 19-game American Conference winning streak. Mikey Keene came off the bench to complete 15 of 21 passes for 176 yards, and UCF took control of its destiny to reach the conference’s championship game.

UCF piled up 505 yards of offense and possessed the ball for more than 37 minutes, though a pair of third-quarter, red-zone fumbles nearly came back to bite the Knights.

3. UCF stings Boise State, TCU with 21-point comebacks

Malzahn’s first and second-to-last wins as UCF’s head coach came as a result of dramatic, 21-point comebacks.

In their 2021 season opener, the Knights fell into a three-touchdown hole against Boise State after a 2-hour, 40-minute weather delay. Tyric LeBeauf went 100 yards for a pick-six of Dillon Gabriel, Andrew Van Buren rushed for a 3-yard TD and Khalil Shakir scored on a 19-yard catch from Hank Bachmeier.

The Knights scored 23 unanswered points (16 in the third quarter alone) and regained the lead for good when Isaiah Bowser plowed ahead for an 8-yard touchdown with 4:16 left. Bowser gained 172 yards on 33 carries in his team debut, and Gabriel overcame two picks with 418 passing yards and four scores.

UCF kicked off Big 12 play in 2024 with a second-half rally at TCU. Down 28-7 less than two minutes into the second half, it scored 28 of the final 34 points of the night and survived a 58-yard field goal attempt at the buzzer for a rare triumph on the road.

KJ Jefferson went 9-of-11 passing for 166 yards and two touchdowns to Kobe Hudson after halftime, and Harvey accounted for 209 scrimmage yards and three scores.

2. UCF destroys No. 15 Oklahoma State in 2023 Space Game

Of UCF’s three wins against ranked opponents in the Malzahn era, none was more impressive — or downright shocking — as its 45-3 demolition of No. 15 Oklahoma State during the 2023 Space Game, the coach’s 100th career victory.

The Knights had one of the worst run defenses in college football that fall, yet held Doak Walker Award winner Ollie Gordon to 25 yards on 12 carries. Oklahoma State committed four turnovers on a rainy November afternoon, while UCF rolled up 592 yards of offense.

Harvey set a career high with 206 rushing yards and three touchdowns, including a game-breaking 92-yarder early in the third quarter, and John Rhys Plumlee connected with Hudson for three touchdowns.

1. UCF takes down Florida in 2021 Gasparilla Bowl

Contextually, UCF’s trajectory under Malzahn might never have appeared higher than its 2021 Gasparilla Bowl takedown of Florida at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Despite losing Gabriel to a season-ending collarbone fracture in mid-September, the Knights finished 9-4 and disrupted the established Sunshine State hierarchy.

Ryan O’Keefe gashed the Gators for 251 all-purpose yards, catching a decisive 54-yard strike from Keene in the third quarter, and Bowser returned from injury to run 35 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns in a 29-17 win.

UCF lost its two prior head-to-head meetings with the Gators by a combined score of 100-27.

“We’ve been talking about building our foundation this year. The best is yet to come, I really believe,” Malzahn said in the postgame press conference. “It’s a very, very big win in a lot of ways.”

History might argue that, instead, the Gasparilla Bowl was as good as it ever was for the Knights with Malzahn on the sidelines.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Gus Malzahn retires: FSU OC’s 5 best moments as UCF football coach