Paul Finebaum weighs in on Gus Malzahn leaving UCF to be Florida State offensive coordinator

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum didn’t blame Gus Malzahn for leaving UCF for Florida State to become the Seminoles’ offensive coordinator.

Following a 4-8 season, Finebaum claimed Malzahn saw the writing on the wall and took an opportunity. It’s not a new trend though.

Now, Malzahn arguably has less pressure off the field and gets to focus squarely on football with Florida State going into 2025.

“Here’s a guy who played for a national championship 11 years ago as the head coach against who? Florida State,” Finebaum said on The Matt Barrie Show. “He was the Auburn head coach, he was the offensive coordinator when they won the title with Cam Newton. I think he looked at it and said, ‘You know what, we went 4-8, I’m going to get fired next year. I’ve got years left in my career without the pressure.’ He’s made a lot of money. Remember, he got about a $19 million payoff from Auburn? And why deal with it? 

“And you know, maybe in the back of his mind is he thinking, I go there and do a good job and they fire Norvell and move me up? I mean I don’t know, I don’t think so … He took a look at what Chip Kelly did and said ‘that guy’s got a better lifestyle right now. He’s got all the money he needs, I’m going to do the same thing.’”

Malzahn took over at UCF in 2021 and found quick success. The Knights finished with nine wins in each of his first two seasons before making the leap to the Big 12, and they went 6-7 a year ago. However, UCF struggled this year with a 4-8 record, leading to questions about Malzahn’s future in Orlando.

Now, he’s reuniting with Norvell. The two worked together at Tulsa, and Malzahn said he “discovered” both him through their connection with Springdale High School in Arkansas. Norvell was a graduate assistant and later worked his way up the coaching ranks and is now at Florida State, which made a slew of staff changes amid a two-win campaign.

Malzahn last worked as an offensive coordinator from 2009-11 at Auburn before he returned to Arkansas as the Arkansas State head coach. Auburn then brought him back as head coach from 2012-20, and he amassed a 68-35 record and took the Tigers to the national championship in his first season at the helm. 

His departure following a 6-5 record in the COVID-impacted 2020 season took him to UCF to replace Josh Heupel, who took over at Tennessee. This marks the second straight offseason a sitting Power Conference coach left to become an offensive coordinator. Chip Kelly did so last season, leaving UCLA to take over at Ohio State under Ryan Day.