Knights assistant coach Hand feeds off potential
It’s no secret that new UCF offensive line coach Herb Hand is a lover of food. Hand even appeared as a contestant on the Food Network series ‘Chopped’ in 2014.
Hand is also no stranger to the Orlando food scene, having spent plenty of time in Central Florida while recruiting high school prospects.
“I had some spots, but I’ve found some new ones,” said Hand, who is reuniting with Gus Malzahn as part of his new coaching staff at UCF.
His latest find is Mama Ling Ling’s Thanksgiving sandwich at Pom Pom’s Teahouse and Sandwicheria. It was a recommendation from another food connoisseur, The Athletic’s Andy Staples.
Hand knew of Malzahn through his reputation as an offensive-minded coach, but the two didn’t connect until they were part of Todd Graham’s staff at Tulsa from 2007-08.
“We were both cut from the same cloth in terms of philosophically wanting to be in that tempo world,” Hand said of Malzahn. “Ever since then, Gus and I have been very close and we had the opportunity to work at Auburn as well.
“He’s one of my core dudes.” Hand spent two seasons with Malzahn at Auburn from 201617 before moving on to coach at Texas and Charlotte. But when his close friend called a few weeks ago, offering him the chance to join him at UCF, it was an opportunity Hand couldn’t pass up.
“When he called me when this opportunity came up, it was a no-brainer to come here,” said Hand, the Knights’ new offensive line coach.
In the short time since his arrival at UCF, Hand has noticed a change in Malzahn, who was fired from Auburn after eight seasons in December.
“He’s a bit more relaxed,” said Hand, who believes the eight weeks away between jobs brought Malzahn a fresh perspective on this next chapter in his coaching career.
“We’re motivated and we’re very competitive people,” Hand said. “That’s a little bit of a fire in the belly to do something that nobody expects us to do at UCF. The expectation levels are high here and that’s awesome. Nobody rises to low expectations. That’s what’s exciting about being in a place like this.”
Familiarity with the UCF program was also a contributing factor for Hand to take the job.
In his nearly three decades of coaching, the 53-year-old has squared off against the Knights at various times. He was at Tulsa when the Golden Hurricane split a pair of games in 2007-08, including a 44-23 loss at the Bounce House.
“I can still hear the crowd,” he said.
Hand was also on the sideline when Penn State traveled to Ireland to open the 2014 season against UCF, and he was in Atlanta to witness the program’s highest point, a 34-27 win over Auburn in the 2018 Peach Bowl.
“I’ve seen UCF at its very best and what it can be and what it will be,” Hand said. “Our goal is to be in the national championship hunt and to be in the playoffs, and that’s something we believe we can accomplish here.”
UCF returns a veteran group on the offensive line led by Cole Schneider, Matt Lee, Ed Collins, Samuel Jackson, Lokahi Pauole and Marcus Tatum.
“I love our offensive line unit,” Hand said. “I’m looking forward to coaching these guys. We’ve got six of our top offensive linemen back and I did the numbers the other day on how many snaps between those six guys, and there’s like 4,200 snaps of experience from last year alone. You cannot put a price tag on experience.”
But before taking the practice field for the start of spring practice March 15, Hand has been meeting with his guys to get to know them better on a personal level.
“We haven’t even talked one bit of X’s and O’s,” Hand said. “All we’ve talked about is who I am as a person. I tell them about my family, just so they can get to know me, and then we have one-on-one meetings with each one of them just to find out about their families. Where do they come from and what’s been their experiences?
“It’s a very important part of the coaching aspect of it.”