Gus Malzahn did not wait for UCF to fire him after Friday’s loss to Utah. He just went out and got another job.
Malzahn and UCF announced on Saturday that he was taking the offensive coordinator position at Florida State under Mike Norvell.
He’s not the first head coach to exit the job on his own accord and take a coordinator job. It’s becoming a trend. It’s kind of perfect. Get paid and you don’t have the pressure of being the guy.
It also helps that, at one time, Norvell worked for Malzahn.
UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir has been here before. While at Arkansas State he hired Bryan Harsin, Blake Anderson and Butch Jones. He has contacts. He’ll cast a wide, but quick, net to find a successor.
So who could it be? After a little research, here are seven potential options.
Jon Sumrall, Tulane Head Coach
Sumrall will be one of the hottest coaching names on the carousel. In two seasons at Troy he won 23 games and led the Trojans to two straight Sun Belt titles. At Tulane this season he led the Green Wave to the American Athletic Conference title game.
CBS Sports reported that Sumrall is expected to be choosy if he decides to leave the Green Wave (he was once a defensive assistant there and wanted to return to New Orleans). An opportunity to coach in a power conference with a team building to win might be hard to pass up.
Chip Kelly, Ohio State Offensive Coordinator
Kelly is one of the most innovative offensive minds in football. His run at Oregon was unassailable. He won 46 games, three Pac-12 titles and took the Ducks to one national championship game in four seasons.
His runs with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, along with UCLA, were less successful. But he’s resuscitated his career with the Buckeyes may allow him to take one more swing, if he wants. UCF would be the perfect laboratory.
Rich Rodriguez, Jacksonville State Head Coach
I can’t decide it is it’s a stroke of genius or flirting with disaster. It could be both. But one can’t deny he has rehabbed his career at Jacksonville State. The Gamecocks are at the top of Conference USA in his third season as they’ve transitioned from FCS to FBS.
His offensive mind is renowned and, if you can overlook his history at Michigan and Arizona, remember his record at West Virginia (60-26). Like Kelly, UCF would be a good landing spot for his offensive mind.
Andy Kotelnicki, Penn State Offensive Coordinator
Big 12 fans know what he did as the offensive coordinator at Kansas. He worked for a decade under Lance Leipold and he made the move to the Nittany Lions to prove he could work outside the Leipold system.
Mission accomplished. He added a big-play element to the Nittany Lion offense and they’ll play in the Big Ten title game next week. It may be time for the 43-year-old to make his head-coaching debut. Getting him back in the Big 12 would be a bonus.
Tosh Lupoi, Oregon Defensive Coordinator
The Ducks are the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. Lupoi’s resume screams future head coach. He was part of a defensive staff at Alabama that won two national titles, working under Nick Saban, then-defensive coordinator Kirby Smart and with Oregon coach Dan Lanning. He has NFL experience as a position coach. And, he’s coordinated the Ducks’ defense for three years.
Maybe he’s not the offensive genius most are looking for. But perhaps a defensive-minded head coach is what the Knights need right now.
Chip Lindsey, North Carolina Offensive Coordinator
This would be a Malzahn coaching tree hire. He worked for Malzahn at Auburn as his OC. He went 15-19 in three years as Troy’s head coach before re-joining Malzahn at UCF in 2022 and then moving on to UNC.
With Mack Brown leaving the UNC job, Lindsey could be a candidate for that job. If he’s the right guy, the Knights might have to move fast.
Addison Williams, UCF Defensive Coordinator
He was elevated to defensive play-caller late in the season after the Knights fired Ted Roof. But he’s been the co-defensive coordinator and associate head coach for the past few seasons. Credited with developing the Knights’ defensive backs, he’s a rising star in the profession but he may not be ready for this job.
Based on Malzahn’s current staff, he may be the only internal candidate considered.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
