Central Florida hires Malzahn

Central Florida named former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn as the Knights’ new football coach.

Malzahn is the 12th head coach in UCF history. He replaces Josh Heupel, who left to take over as the Tennessee Volunteers’ head coach on Jan.

27, following former Knights athletics director Danny White.

Malzahn was introduced during a news conference on Monday.

“I’m thrilled to be the head coach at UCF, and I’m truly looking forward to being part of Knight Nation,” Malzahn said. “It’s exciting to be head of a program where the future is extremely bright. I will be hitting the ground running in terms of getting to know our team and everyone else connected with UCF. Our goal is to be ready to win championships.”

Malzahn, 55, spent the past eight seasons as coach at Auburn, where he led the Tigers to a 68-35 overall record and a 39-27 mark in the SEC. He was fired on Dec. 13 following a 6-4 campaign and a third-place finish in the SEC West.