UCF football hires former Wisconsin assistant as offensive line coach

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UCF football hires former Wisconsin assistant as offensive line coach

ORLANDO — Scott Frost filled the second of two open spots on UCF‘s football coaching staff Monday, Dec. 22.

Veteran offensive line coach AJ Blazek is set to join the Knights for the 2026 season, a team source confirmed to The News-Journal. Blazek — a native of Wichita, Kansas — spent the past two seasons at Wisconsin but was not retained following a 4-8 record.

An All-Big Ten center during his playing days at Iowa, Blazek had prior stints at Vanderbilt, North Dakota State, Rutgers, Western Illinois, Winona State and Fort Hays State. He has coached the last 13 seasons at the Division I level.

“He’s got a feel for people, certainly for the game and specifically what it entails to be a good lineman or a good line coach,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel earlier this year. “And that’s not for everybody. That position is not for everybody. But it makes perfect sense for him.”

AJ Blazek going over examples with players during Wisconsin football fall camp at the Butch E. Leitl Field at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium in Platteville, Wisconsin, July 31, 2025.

According to Pro Football Focus, Wisconsin tied for 85th in pass blocking (64.0) and ranked 107th in run blocking (54.1) during the 2025 season. The year prior, the Badgers were fourth (82.9) and 38th (68.8) in those respective categories.

Wisconsin faced seven ranked teams during the 2025 season, including road trips to Alabama, Michigan, Oregon and Indiana.

Blazek landed a pair of Orlando-area offensive line recruits during his tenure at Vanderbilt: Lake Mary’s Josh Raymond, an Under Armour All-American, and Boone’s Leyton Nelson, who followed him to Wisconsin.

UCF elevated Alex Farah from offensive quality control coach to assistant offensive line coach following the death of Shawn Clark in September. Danny Hope, who hired Clark as his O-line coach during stints at Eastern Kentucky and Purdue, came out of retirement to assist the Knights for the final nine games.

Clark died at age 50 following complications from a medical emergency.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights football hires AJ Blazek as offensive line coach

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