Orlando reporter addresses whether Knights head coach Gus Malzahn will be fired by UCF after embarrassing loss to Utah

Orlando Sentinel’s Mike Bianchi sees Knights head football coach Gus Malzahn get another year at the helm of UCF barring a change of heart from the administration or the 59-year-old calling it a career on his own terms. UCF finished 4-8 in 2024 after a Nov. 29 loss to Utah, 28-14, as a multiple-score favorite in the spread.

However, Bianchi sees next season as a prove-it-or-beat-it campaign for Malzahn in Central Florida.

“Unless there is a sudden change of heart from Malzahn himself or the UCF administration, I assume the coach will have one more season to fix a broken program that is moving in the wrong direction,” Bianchi wrote. “UCF lost eight of its last nine games this season and has a 5-13 conference record in two seasons since joining the Big 12, Gus Bus is obviously stuck in reverse and the question is whether Malzahn can get it going and move it forward to 2025?

“Athletic director Terry Mohajir has publicly endorsed him, but such endorsements often come with a quick expiration date. If UCF doesn’t show significant improvement next year, Mohajir will have no choice but to make a change. The financial effort — in the form of booster donations, NIL- contributions and ticket sales – is too high to keep losing.”

Malzahn may have been fired prematurely from Auburn, but at this point it’s clear he hasn’t been able to recruit well enough to keep UCF relevant in the Power 4. The Knights’ two seasons in the Big 12 were a much tougher transition than BYU’s and has been on par with Cincinnati and Houston’s as underwhelming at best and failures at worst.

2024 was a definitive failure in Orlando. Malzhan has never had a record as bad as UCF’s 4-8 finish, and the Knights haven’t been this unsuccessful since 2015; as UCF went 0-12 during their third year in the American.