Malzahn already has 13 in a lil over 2 1/2 seasons. The trajectory is clearly headed in the wrong direction. Don't make that Big 12 excuse either. He piled up the Ls in 2 AAC seasons as well.
UCF only had 8 losses from 2017-2020 (4 seasons)
- Thread starter Willie Knightime
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Easy to pick the best 4 year spans in school history as the “norm”. Also including a season with 4 less games. You absolutely can’t not discount moving to a P5 league. Where are the Temples in this league?
I've been a UCF fan since I was 15 (1996). So I've seen alot. Just don't think a fired retread was the answer for a program with so much upward mobility after Frost and Heupel.
Never has a UCF coach made me scratch my head so much during games with his play calling. Numerous runs up the middle on 3rd and long?
Fans were done with Heupel after BYU bowl game, which was against a first round NFL draft pick QB and a highly ranked team because UCF was completely blown out. Only uncompetitive game in his tenure.
Since then Malzahn's teams has been blown out by SMU, Cincinnati, ECU, Kansas, Duke, Tulane. You can look back at GOL teams and not find as many games where the team was completely outclassed.
Navy beat Malzahn twice, Navy fired their coach a month after winning at UCF. Cause that same Navy team lost to an FCS team.
Since then Malzahn's teams has been blown out by SMU, Cincinnati, ECU, Kansas, Duke, Tulane. You can look back at GOL teams and not find as many games where the team was completely outclassed.
Navy beat Malzahn twice, Navy fired their coach a month after winning at UCF. Cause that same Navy team lost to an FCS team.
Gus is a good coach, great recruiter and excellent man…that will translate to 8 wins a year most years. We will have to deal with that as a fan base. Gus will be done at the end of 2025 season. Charge On!!!
I appreciated the team effort yesterday and they shut up the announcers many times during the game as they were loving on OU and then UCF would make a good play.
Still not sure about QB position. This will be a great concern next season. It appears that we got better play (players?) in there at defensive backfield and LB yesterday. Note: It was the best I saw JRP play QB yesterday as he couldn't run. If he runs, does he stay in the pocket like he did yesterday?
I'm not sold out on Gus either but he knew that we would have trouble with injuries this season and other than getting the better tacklers and formations in there on defense (coaching issue) our number one issue this season has been injuries which Gus talked about and this has led to lost games for us.
After 2024 season no more excuses. That will give us a chance to get our next? QB settled in for a run at championship. Right now we are back to GOL days of every 4 years you have a winning/quality team. I'm not a big fan of large number of transfers either.
Still not sure about QB position. This will be a great concern next season. It appears that we got better play (players?) in there at defensive backfield and LB yesterday. Note: It was the best I saw JRP play QB yesterday as he couldn't run. If he runs, does he stay in the pocket like he did yesterday?
I'm not sold out on Gus either but he knew that we would have trouble with injuries this season and other than getting the better tacklers and formations in there on defense (coaching issue) our number one issue this season has been injuries which Gus talked about and this has led to lost games for us.
After 2024 season no more excuses. That will give us a chance to get our next? QB settled in for a run at championship. Right now we are back to GOL days of every 4 years you have a winning/quality team. I'm not a big fan of large number of transfers either.
Man what the hell? Get outta here! You think recruits don't know the records of the coach's teams who are recruiting them? It's sad that the facts are negative huh?
And I hope more than anybody that Gus shuts me up by beating West Virginia and at least getting us to bowl eligibility our first year in the Big 12. Just look what GOL did our first year in the Big East. We have enough talent to win at least 6 games.
Fans should give coaches 3-4 years of recruiting and games before passing judgement on their new hires. Sure we have known about the Big XII move for two seasons ,but I am willing to wait 3 actual seasons in the BigXII before calling for the guys head here .
It kind of turns out that Duke is actually a pretty decent team . They were dominant at times against FSU and if that QB doesn't get injured again I think FSU still wins but it would have been a closer game .
I am not an apologist for Gus but let's be clear . Tulane was pretty darn good. Duke was good. ECU literally had our playbook by all accounts. I like Mikey Keene . I wish the guy would have stayed . In Gus's first year DG goes down and we have to play true freshman MK. In some ways Gus has been vexed by the injury bug at QB. Add it all up we are never at full strength.
One can lay blame at Gus's feet I suppose but it has been kind of messy on the edges for UCF with some weird MOJO happening very it injuries, the transfer portal , stolen play books and coaches on staff leaving . I will give the guy another year or two before calling for his head.
It kind of turns out that Duke is actually a pretty decent team . They were dominant at times against FSU and if that QB doesn't get injured again I think FSU still wins but it would have been a closer game .
I am not an apologist for Gus but let's be clear . Tulane was pretty darn good. Duke was good. ECU literally had our playbook by all accounts. I like Mikey Keene . I wish the guy would have stayed . In Gus's first year DG goes down and we have to play true freshman MK. In some ways Gus has been vexed by the injury bug at QB. Add it all up we are never at full strength.
One can lay blame at Gus's feet I suppose but it has been kind of messy on the edges for UCF with some weird MOJO happening very it injuries, the transfer portal , stolen play books and coaches on staff leaving . I will give the guy another year or two before calling for his head.
So even if we finish this season 4-8 or 5-7 and don't go bowling next year with a similar record, you'd want him to have more time?
Yes. I am willing to be patient. I think the guy is a bit of control freak . He is a great recruiter buy needs to let go of the coordinator role, completely. I am giving him a pass in AAC. It was a different conference and stage . Now he has no excuse recruiting wise as we are in the BigXII.
If you want a great program you need stability and patience. Mike Norvell took 3 years to get FSU rolling again. I think in 3 full BigXII recruiting cycles if you don't see year to year progress , then you will know and have your answer.
BYU top 10 and we had 5 players sitting for the NFL, a bunch of Covid opt outs, and 5 defensive starters kicked from the team for that gun incident. Other 7 losses under Heupel were by 26 combined points.
I think that's essentially what Gus will produce between 6-9 wins most if not all years. His playcalling/decision making finds a way to lose a game they shouldn't each year (Baylor, Navy x2).
He will do just enough that he won't get fired, but I don't think you will see any high points either.
For him he is lucky they left the AAC, cause a bad USF team would eventually beat him and this may have been the year. Then it would be entertaining to see what fans would try to excuse that.
Sorry but the Knights that just went toe-to-toe with #6 OU aren’t losing to a usf team that got absolutely curb stomped by FAU. lol
List of Malzahn led accomplishments that should have never happened.
Lose to Navy, while leading by 13 points in the 4th quarter. Navy scored 17 points (167 yards of offense) in the 4th quarter while attempting only 1 pass. Navy averaged 20 points per game that season.
Lose to Navy at home, that lost to Delaware, Navy did not complete a single pass.
Needed goaline stop against USF (2-11) at home
Needed final seconds TD against USF (1-11) with makeshift Coaching Staff, lost to Temple 54-28
Baylor 99.9% ESPN Analytics win prediction at start of 4th Quarter
There is no sure thing.
Negativity breeds negativity. UCF has an enormous presence on social media. If every other post every other year is FIRE GUS, FIRE GUS, it will have a trickle down affect on recruiting. Being patient and letting things work themselves out will be far better for the future.
Either you believe one unofficial untimed play, a 2 point conversion attempt, defines Gus as a coach or you believe the other 71 plays that put unranked UCF in position to have a chance for victory at statistically the hardest place to win in college football.
As for me, I choose to believe the latter.
He's lost his shine, but if you really discount the fact we are in a far better conference then you're being slightly foolish. If you fail to see that the previous 2 games were run by a QB that couldn't even win in the AAC, then you're being foolish. Why the shine is off- he is to blame for the losses to the portal of better QBs and the choice of a mediocre usf QB.
Malzahn's head coaching career is defined by what is described as desperation pass in Georgia game, and the kick 6 in Alabama game. If even one of those don't happen he is Auburn's Houston Nutt. Every play counts.
Man goh with your Gus nut huggin! I've been watching UCF win and almost win at some of the toughest places to play since 1996!!! Way before Gus! But he's the king of questionable, bone headed play calling when it comes to UCF coaches.
We are 4-7 over the last 11. Wins over 1-11 usf with no coach (with miracle holler catch), Villanova, Kent State (worst team in FBS), and Boise (needed game winning field goal to beat worst Boise team in a quarter century). The issues aren’t strictly related to the conference. Or you don’t lose to terrible Navy twice and get blown out by ECU.
The big test will be, if we go winless or only win one more game, Gus has to be on the hot seat. If we do that and start 0-3 in conference play next year he has to be fired.
You say that but forget that two years in a row ,USF with only one win to their belt, took us to the wire. And two years in a row, Gus lost to Navy…
With Gus, nothing is out of the question and that’s the infuriating part.
I see Gus like I saw GOL. We don't need a flash in the pan. As we move into the B12 we need a steady recruiter/fund raiser who has the potential to have good seasons. We are still very far behind our new conference mates in so many ways. GOL had up and down seasons as he built us in our step up to the CSUA and then to the AAC. We need to build a foundation that we lost when we had three coaches in 4 years. I know that flies in the face of the "we need to win now" crowd, but to me it is obvious that we are not ready for success in the P5 yet. Not matter what we had fed ourselves since 2017, we are not there.
We did not decline with Heupel. We overachieved with Frost and McKenzie Milton. 2017-2018 was not the new norm it was a very special time, and it was never sustainable with our budget and conference affiliation. Where we are with Gus is much closer to the norm and is where our current talent is. In the AAC having a KZ could elevate you. In the B12 it takes more and we are seeing that. To me patience is the word because I have seen the program in much worse hands. Now that Gus has an extension you can forget him getting fired short of a scandal for the next 2-3 years. He needs to systematically grow the foundation again like GOL did which means there will be no quick fix. So ride it out, criticize what you see, but don't get hung up on "we are in decline" because in the big picture it is not true.
We did not decline with Heupel. We overachieved with Frost and McKenzie Milton. 2017-2018 was not the new norm it was a very special time, and it was never sustainable with our budget and conference affiliation. Where we are with Gus is much closer to the norm and is where our current talent is. In the AAC having a KZ could elevate you. In the B12 it takes more and we are seeing that. To me patience is the word because I have seen the program in much worse hands. Now that Gus has an extension you can forget him getting fired short of a scandal for the next 2-3 years. He needs to systematically grow the foundation again like GOL did which means there will be no quick fix. So ride it out, criticize what you see, but don't get hung up on "we are in decline" because in the big picture it is not true.
Navy losses, near total collapse disaster in 2022 War on I-4, and the Baylor collapse loss have been pretty difficult to stomach. He's had bad luck on health at the QB position which explains some of this, I hope. A lot of red flags, but he seems to be building a talented roster. It does feel similar to GOL years. Needs to have his 2013 year soon.
Took GOL 6 years to get a top 25 and nine years to get to the NY6. He had a much bigger job to build, but he was consistent with his inconsistency. I think Gus the the face man we need. I think we might could use a better D coordinator and the jury is still out on Hinshaw. GOL, was a good face man defense coach and once he got Charlie Taffe as OC he did better
Coordinators will definitely be key. Gus as CEO with quality staff is the only way this works but how much he's willing to let the offense go remains the question.
Another blow out loss, he's going to surpass GOL for bad losses in half as many seasons.
It really sucks seeing this guy damage what we built.
Gus is a big name SEC coach. He frequently was able to turn in top 25 teams at Auburn. All it took was top 10 recruiting classes every year.
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