Sources – UCF’s Gus Malzahn is joining FSU as offensive coordinator

UCF head coach Gus Malzahn is stepping down to become the new offensive coordinator at Florida State, sources told ESPN on Saturday.

Malzahn will be FSU’s primary player, a role previously held by head coach Mike Norvell. This represents a significant shift for Norvell, who has turned his team around after a 2-9 season that ended Saturday night against Florida.

Norvell worked with Malzahn in Tulsa when he was Malzahn’s assistant in 2007 and 2008.

The move comes amid two uneven seasons for Malzahn at UCF, which went 6-7 last year and struggled to 4-8 this season. UCF has lost eight of its last nine games this year, and Malzahn would have been considered firmly in the hot seat had he survived into 2025. His four-year tenure with the Knights ends at 28-24, including 5-13 in the Big 12 over the last two years.

In 13 seasons as a college head coach, including stints at Arkansas State and Auburn, Malzahn is 105-62. As Auburn’s coach, he reached the BCS title game in 2013.

Now Malzahn heads to Tallahassee and will try to help Norvell bounce back from a season in which the Seminoles went 1-7 in the ACC. FSU is just a year removed from a 13-1 season in which they narrowly missed out on a spot in the College Football Playoff in a controversial decision.

Malzahn is an experienced playcaller; He was Auburn’s offensive coordinator and playcaller on the 2010 national title team.

The move should help revitalize FSU’s offense, which never looked in sync in 2024. FSU ranked 131st in the country in total offense on Saturday.

In the 19 years that Malzahn served as an offensive coordinator or head coach at the university, his offense averaged 447.7 yards. They have surpassed 5,000 yards of total offense in a season 16 times, 6,000 yards eight times and 7,000 yards three times.

His last three offenses at UCF all finished in the top 10 nationally in rushing. That should mesh well with Norvell’s passing game, which had been a specialty until the offense never got going this season.