Greetings from Lawrence, Kansas!
It was like deja vu as I just flew into Kansas City two weeks ago for the K-State game. It's about a 45-minute drive to Lawrence from the airport.
Anyway, I'll always remember where I was when I learned of Gus Malzahn's contract extension - standing in line at the MCO Terminal A Chipotle.
As I've stated since last November, there was always an expectation of a contract extension prior to this first year in the Big 12. I was a little perplexed nothing had been announced, but it makes sense now: TDT.
UCF has spent the last several months lobbying for tourist tax funds from Orange County. While UCF showed they are just as deserving as other venues, optics are always important. You don't want to be announcing multi-million dollar contract extensions or other high-dollar donations while this high-stakes process was playing out.
Why did the extension surface this week? While the TDT funding was secured a couple days ago, UCF probably would have waited a little bit longer for the announcement.
While Baylor is just one game in the grand scheme of things, I think one reason is they wanted to be more strategic in terms of making the announcement in a more celebratory time - not while UCF Nation is still in a Baylor hangover. They would have also wanted more of a buffer from the TDT decision.
A couple people in the extension thread hit the nail on the head, particularly @OlearyLookAlike. So the USA Today Coaches Salary database drops on Tuesday. Gus is still listed at his original 2021 AAC salary. I point out on Twitter that Gus is not only the lowest-paid coach in the Big 12, but in the entire Power Five.
Pete Thamel is tight with Jimmy Sexton, Gus' agent. I'm not sure who called who first - but Sexton makes it clear to Thamel that the USA Today number is old news and Gus signed a new contract a few months ago. Thamel was ready to roll with it, so UCF had no choice but to confirm since he already had the info from Sexton.
Again, the long delay was more for TDT reasons. The USA Today database dropping just coincidentally happened on the same day. If that hadn't happened (which is why Thamel was tipped off by Sexton), I'm thinking the Gus extension would have been announced in the next few weeks. They definitely would have wanted to clue in Shareholders, whom I'm pretty sure had no idea this was coming.
While this wasn't UCF's ideal timing for an announcement, I think the lack of fanfare/acknowledgement is interesting though. Thamel tweets at 11:20 a.m. Story follows shortly thereafter. UCF finally issues a short press release at 7:15 p.m. which was emailed to media and posted to UCFKnights.com. UCF didn't post it to their social accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
And perhaps even more interesting, UCF is not going to release the contract. They confirmed the ESPN report is accurate in terms of salary and contract length - $4M salary for 2023-25, then increasing to $5.5M from 2026-27.
Bit without seeing the actual contract, we have no idea of buyout numbers for either side.
This reminds me of the final George O'Leary contract, which was similarly shielded by UCFAA. That's because it had secret retirement language they didn't want people to see.
Considering UCF has willingly released every other contract, whether it's a head coach or football assistant coach, that makes me wonder if there's something UCF or Gus doesn't want people to see.
The extension was the smart thing to do though.
I know the fanbase is a bit frustrated this week. You would have liked to see a win against Navy last year, a loss that cost UCF the AAC title game being at home. The near-loss to South Florida was concerning. And yeah, Baylor isn't really defensible. A really bad loss.
But the overall trajectory of UCF under Gus is still super positive. Back-to-back nine win seasons. Reaching the AAC Championship last year. Gus is the best ambassador UCF could have as they begin their Big 12 journey. He's killing it on the recruiting trail with a top 25 class, which is neck and neck with Texas Tech for the top spot in the new Big 12.
===
Tuesday was one of the biggest days in UCF Athletics History.
I'm not sure if that's really been properly conveyed - securing $90M in Orange County TDT funding for stadium improvements is a huge, huge deal.
Without it, it would have been a long time until UCF could fund a proper upgrade. The Roth Tower was probably outdated in 2007, but as we all know UCF's didn't have the biggest budget at the time. This money will help transform the Bounce House into a Big 12 caliber facility.
The new tower is still in the design phase. We'll have more clarity soon on the construction timeline/process. I know UCF has stated their hope was to have a new tower completed in time for the 2025 season. That sounds like a real aggressive timeline. The first action we'll see is a shift of the practice fields, which is necessary to start the Hagle Gateway.
Several people deserve recognition for their hard work in making this happen.
Terry Mohajir for the vision in recognizing this could be a possibility and enlisting the help of President Cartwright's office, which was all in to give an assist to athletics.
From the university side: Fred Kittinger, who has countless connections to local government. Mike Kilbride, Cartwright's Chief of Staff. Bridget Keefe, Deputy Chief of Staff. Courtney Gilmartin of university public relations/communications.
WIthin UCFAA, Jimmy Skiles played an integral role from a game planning standpoint in crafting the pitch and presentation.
There are others, but these individuals dedicated a good part of their past six months to make this funding a reality.
Last but not least: All the UCF fans who wrote letters to county commissioners and were vocal in their lobbying efforts. You guys played a huge role! The vote was unanimous in large part because of this - the commissioners got on board which helped sway Jerry Demings.
===
UCF fans getting so triggered by Frankie Valli is a bit puzzling to me. It's really kind of nuts.
So it's being included in the new EA Sports video game... Why be mad about that? It's been played for the last couple years. Students seem to love it and sing along. SGA is fully on board with it and asked that it continue in the rotation.
I thought it would be funny to troll the Twitter fanbase... and my gosh, it really blew up.
UCF probably plays 20 songs throughout the course of a game... maybe more. Why are people so upset about one song?
Singalong songs are a huge part of college football games. And guess what - a lot of times they'd be considered "oldies" just like Frankie Valli. WVU sings John Denver's Country Roads. Penn State is big on Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline. Wisconsin and Buttercup. Mr. Brightside (big at Michigan) is 20 years old now.
Why the hate? Frankie Valli didn't replace Zombie Nation.
It was like deja vu as I just flew into Kansas City two weeks ago for the K-State game. It's about a 45-minute drive to Lawrence from the airport.
Anyway, I'll always remember where I was when I learned of Gus Malzahn's contract extension - standing in line at the MCO Terminal A Chipotle.
As I've stated since last November, there was always an expectation of a contract extension prior to this first year in the Big 12. I was a little perplexed nothing had been announced, but it makes sense now: TDT.
UCF has spent the last several months lobbying for tourist tax funds from Orange County. While UCF showed they are just as deserving as other venues, optics are always important. You don't want to be announcing multi-million dollar contract extensions or other high-dollar donations while this high-stakes process was playing out.
Why did the extension surface this week? While the TDT funding was secured a couple days ago, UCF probably would have waited a little bit longer for the announcement.
While Baylor is just one game in the grand scheme of things, I think one reason is they wanted to be more strategic in terms of making the announcement in a more celebratory time - not while UCF Nation is still in a Baylor hangover. They would have also wanted more of a buffer from the TDT decision.
A couple people in the extension thread hit the nail on the head, particularly @OlearyLookAlike. So the USA Today Coaches Salary database drops on Tuesday. Gus is still listed at his original 2021 AAC salary. I point out on Twitter that Gus is not only the lowest-paid coach in the Big 12, but in the entire Power Five.
Pete Thamel is tight with Jimmy Sexton, Gus' agent. I'm not sure who called who first - but Sexton makes it clear to Thamel that the USA Today number is old news and Gus signed a new contract a few months ago. Thamel was ready to roll with it, so UCF had no choice but to confirm since he already had the info from Sexton.
Again, the long delay was more for TDT reasons. The USA Today database dropping just coincidentally happened on the same day. If that hadn't happened (which is why Thamel was tipped off by Sexton), I'm thinking the Gus extension would have been announced in the next few weeks. They definitely would have wanted to clue in Shareholders, whom I'm pretty sure had no idea this was coming.
While this wasn't UCF's ideal timing for an announcement, I think the lack of fanfare/acknowledgement is interesting though. Thamel tweets at 11:20 a.m. Story follows shortly thereafter. UCF finally issues a short press release at 7:15 p.m. which was emailed to media and posted to UCFKnights.com. UCF didn't post it to their social accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
And perhaps even more interesting, UCF is not going to release the contract. They confirmed the ESPN report is accurate in terms of salary and contract length - $4M salary for 2023-25, then increasing to $5.5M from 2026-27.
Bit without seeing the actual contract, we have no idea of buyout numbers for either side.
This reminds me of the final George O'Leary contract, which was similarly shielded by UCFAA. That's because it had secret retirement language they didn't want people to see.
Considering UCF has willingly released every other contract, whether it's a head coach or football assistant coach, that makes me wonder if there's something UCF or Gus doesn't want people to see.
The extension was the smart thing to do though.
I know the fanbase is a bit frustrated this week. You would have liked to see a win against Navy last year, a loss that cost UCF the AAC title game being at home. The near-loss to South Florida was concerning. And yeah, Baylor isn't really defensible. A really bad loss.
But the overall trajectory of UCF under Gus is still super positive. Back-to-back nine win seasons. Reaching the AAC Championship last year. Gus is the best ambassador UCF could have as they begin their Big 12 journey. He's killing it on the recruiting trail with a top 25 class, which is neck and neck with Texas Tech for the top spot in the new Big 12.
===
Tuesday was one of the biggest days in UCF Athletics History.
I'm not sure if that's really been properly conveyed - securing $90M in Orange County TDT funding for stadium improvements is a huge, huge deal.
Without it, it would have been a long time until UCF could fund a proper upgrade. The Roth Tower was probably outdated in 2007, but as we all know UCF's didn't have the biggest budget at the time. This money will help transform the Bounce House into a Big 12 caliber facility.
The new tower is still in the design phase. We'll have more clarity soon on the construction timeline/process. I know UCF has stated their hope was to have a new tower completed in time for the 2025 season. That sounds like a real aggressive timeline. The first action we'll see is a shift of the practice fields, which is necessary to start the Hagle Gateway.
Several people deserve recognition for their hard work in making this happen.
Terry Mohajir for the vision in recognizing this could be a possibility and enlisting the help of President Cartwright's office, which was all in to give an assist to athletics.
From the university side: Fred Kittinger, who has countless connections to local government. Mike Kilbride, Cartwright's Chief of Staff. Bridget Keefe, Deputy Chief of Staff. Courtney Gilmartin of university public relations/communications.
WIthin UCFAA, Jimmy Skiles played an integral role from a game planning standpoint in crafting the pitch and presentation.
There are others, but these individuals dedicated a good part of their past six months to make this funding a reality.
Last but not least: All the UCF fans who wrote letters to county commissioners and were vocal in their lobbying efforts. You guys played a huge role! The vote was unanimous in large part because of this - the commissioners got on board which helped sway Jerry Demings.
===
UCF fans getting so triggered by Frankie Valli is a bit puzzling to me. It's really kind of nuts.
So it's being included in the new EA Sports video game... Why be mad about that? It's been played for the last couple years. Students seem to love it and sing along. SGA is fully on board with it and asked that it continue in the rotation.
I thought it would be funny to troll the Twitter fanbase... and my gosh, it really blew up.
UCF probably plays 20 songs throughout the course of a game... maybe more. Why are people so upset about one song?
Singalong songs are a huge part of college football games. And guess what - a lot of times they'd be considered "oldies" just like Frankie Valli. WVU sings John Denver's Country Roads. Penn State is big on Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline. Wisconsin and Buttercup. Mr. Brightside (big at Michigan) is 20 years old now.
Why the hate? Frankie Valli didn't replace Zombie Nation.
