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Malzahn adds special teams/ tight end coach to budding staff
New UCF coach Gus Malzahn has added another coach to the Knights’ staff and reportedly is close to hiring two more.
Brian Blackmon was named the special-teams coordinator and tight ends coach Sunday afternoon.
Blackmon, who previously worked under Malzahn as an offensive analyst at Auburn in 2017, spent the past three seasons at Troy, where he coached running backs and tight ends before moving into the role of special-teams coordinator.
Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel was the first to report the Blackmon news.
Blackmon spent 21 years as part of the Opelika High (Ala.) football program, leading the Bulldogs to a 69-25 mark and three straight area championships beginning in 2014 as head coach before leaving to join Malzahn’s staff.
He signed a two-year deal with UCF that pays him an annual salary of $275,000.
Malzahn reportedly is close to adding several other coaches to his new staff.
Sean Tuohy Jr., who spent last season as the director of operations at Liberty under coach Hugh Freeze, has been linked to the same role at UCF.
He previously was the assistant director of operations at Arkansas for two seasons and was the special-teams assistant at SMU. Both of those jobs were under the direction of coach Chad Morris.
FootballScoop.com was the first to report UCF’s interest in Tuohy.
His role with the Flames included overseeing the day-today operations of the football program.
Tuohy is the younger brother of former NFL tackle Michael Oher, who was featured in the 2009 movie “The Blind Side.” He enrolled at Loyola, where he played basketball and football before transferring to SMU to play on special teams.
Malzahn is also considering adding former Tulsa quarterback GJ Kinne to his staff.
Kinne spent last season on Todd Graham’s coaching staff at Hawaii as the Rainbow Warriors’ offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. He previously worked with the Philadelphia Eagles on offensive special projects in 2019 after spending a season at Arkansas as an offensive analyst.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg was the first to report the two sides finalizing a deal.
Kinne, 32, spent three seasons at Tulsa, where he was the starting quarterback for the Golden Hurricane under Graham. He finished with 9,472 passing yards and 81 touchdowns in 38 appearances.
Blackmon is the latest hire, joining defensive coordinator Travis Williams, co-defensive coordinator, secondary coach David Gibbs, offensive line coach Herb Hand and director of sports performance Chris Dawson.