Malzahn hires director of player personnel
Adds ex-UCF receiver to staff
UCF coach Gus Malzahn added to his off-field support staff Friday by hiring a new director of player personnel and a recruiting assistant who recently played for the Knights.
Cory Giddings will replace Kirby O’Meara to lead player personnel, while former Knights wide receiver Nate Craig-Myers is joining the staff as a recruiting and personnel assistant, the program announced on social media.
Giddings most recently served as an assistant director of player personnel at Appalachian State, where UCF special assistant to the head coach Andrew Blaylock worked for six years prior to joining the Knights ahead of last season.
O’Meara departed UCF for the same role at Wyoming on Jan. 30 after one year in Orlando.
Prior to one season at Appalachian State, Giddings served as a scouting assistant at Northwestern for almost two years. During the 2019 season he worked as a recruiting assistant at Michigan State after spending a year as a scouting intern for the New York Giants.
Giddings also has media experience, working with Bleacher Report in the organization’s NFL scouting department for the past few years.
Craig-Myers played one season at UCF and appeared in all 13 games during the 2021 season, including six starts. He caught three passes for 46 yards for an average of 15.3 yards per reception.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound receiver transferred to UCF after two years at Colorado State. He originally began his college career at Auburn, where he played three seasons (2016-18) under Malzahn in the Southeastern Conference.
“Great to have former player Nate Craig-Myers join our staff,” Malzahn wrote on Twitter.
Craig-Myers and Giddings are the latest staffers brought on by Malzahn this week, joining new adviser to the head coach and senior offensive analyst Will Healy, who was hired Monday.