Gus Malzahn
Gus Malzahn went 105–62 as a head coach, 2012–2024, at Arkansas State, Auburn and UCF. Share
- Record
- 105–62 career
- Seasons
- 13
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 2 seasons
- Born
- Oct 28, 1965
- Alma mater
- Henderson State
- Best season
- 2013 12–2, No. 2
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Arkansas State | 9–3 | 1st | GoDaddy.com (not coached) | ||
| 2013 | Auburn | 12–2 | T–1st (Western) | BCS National Championship L | 2 | |
| 2014 | Auburn | 8–5 | T–4th (Western) | Outback Bowl L | 22 | |
| 2015 | Auburn | 7–6 | 7th (Western) | Birmingham Bowl W | ||
| 2016 | Auburn | 8–5 | T–2nd (Western) | Sugar Bowl L | 24 | |
| 2017 | Auburn | 10–4 | T–1st (Western) | Peach Bowl L | 10 | |
| 2018 | Auburn | 8–5 | 5th (Western) | Music City Bowl W | ||
| 2019 | Auburn | 9–4 | 3rd (Western) | Outback Bowl L | 14 | |
| 2020 | Auburn | 6–4 | 3rd (Western) | Citrus (not coached) | ||
| 2021 | UCF | 9–4 | T–3rd | Gasparilla Bowl W | ||
| 2022 | UCF | 9–5 | T–2nd | Military Bowl L | ||
| 2023 | UCF | 6–7 | T–9th | Gasparilla Bowl L | ||
| 2024 | UCF | 4–8 | T–13th |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
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Reese Dismukes2014 Rimington Trophy
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 55 | 23–32 | 42% |
| Against top-10 teams | 31 | 8–23 | 26% |
| Against rivals | 51 | 26–25 | 51% |
| Conference games | 108 | 62–46 | 57% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 10 | 3–7 | 30% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 64 | 36–28 | 56% |
| At home | 89 | 69–20 | 78% |
| On the road | 63 | 29–34 | 46% |
| At neutral sites | 15 | 7–8 | 47% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 105 | 77–28 | 73% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 62 | 28–34 | 45% |
His own 167 games on file, 2012–2024, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Saban 2013–2020 | 3–5 | Alabama | 8 | |
| Dan Mullen 2013–2019 | 3–3 | Mississippi State, Florida | 6 | |
| Kirby Smart 2016–2020 | 1–5 | Georgia | 6 | |
| Bret Bielema 2013–2017 | 4–1 | Arkansas | 5 | |
| Kevin Sumlin 2013–2017 | 3–2 | Texas A&M | 5 | |
| Hugh Freeze 2013–2016 | 3–1 | Ole Miss | 4 | |
| Willie Fritz 2019–2022 | 3–1 | Tulane | 4 | |
| Jimbo Fisher 2013–2020 | 2–2 | Florida State, Texas A&M | 4 | |
| Les Miles 2013–2016 | 2–2 | LSU | 4 | |
| Ed Orgeron 2017–2020 | 1–3 | LSU | 4 |
Gus Malzahn’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Georgiaseries | 9 | 2–7 |
| Arkansasseries | 8 | 7–1 |
| Ole Missseries | 8 | 7–1 |
| Texas A&Mseries | 8 | 5–3 |
| Mississippi Stateseries | 8 | 5–3 |
| LSUseries | 8 | 3–5 |
| Alabamaseries | 8 | 3–5 |
| Memphisseries | 4 | 4–0 |
National coaching awards
The awards- 2013 Auburn: Bear Bryant Award and Eddie Robinson
- 2010 Auburn: Broyles Award
National title staffs
Every title staff- Won a national title on Auburn’s 2010 staff (offensive coordinator, quarterbacks) · the staff · source
The champions’ staffs from 1990 on, as the schools listed them that season: Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages. Roles as the source words them.
How he was hired
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Hughes HS (AR) high school | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1992–95 | Hughes HS (AR) high school | Head coach | |
| 1996–2000 | Shiloh Christian HS (AR) high school | Head coach | |
| 2001–05 | Springdale HS (AR) high school | Head coach | |
| 2006 | Arkansas | Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| 2007–08 | Tulsa | Assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2009–11 | Auburn | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2012 | Arkansas State | Head coach | |
| 2013–20 | Auburn | Head coach | |
| 2021–24 | UCF | Head coach | |
| 2025 | Florida State | Offensive coordinator |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Houston NuttArkansas
- Todd GrahamTulsa
- Gene ChizikAuburn
- Mike NorvellFlorida State
Assistants who became head coaches
- Rhett LashleeSMU
- Brandon HallTroy
- Casey WoodsMissouri State
- Eli DrinkwitzApp State, Missouri
- John ThompsonEast Carolina, Arkansas State
- Keith PattersonPittsburgh, Abilene Christian
- Brent DearmonBethel (TN), North Alabama
- Chip LindseyTroy
- Dell McGeeGeorgia Southern, Georgia State
- Ellis JohnsonSouthern Miss, Gardner-Webb, The Citadel
- Will MuschampFlorida, South Carolina
- Kevin SteeleBaylor, Auburn
- and 9 more
Worked under (4)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Nutt | Arkansas | 2006 | Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Todd Graham | Tulsa | 2007–08 | Assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Gene Chizik | Auburn | 2009–11 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Mike Norvell | Florida State | 2025 | Offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (21)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhett Lashlee | Springdale HS (AR), 2004–05: quarterbacks coach; Arkansas State, 2012: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Auburn, 2013–16: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | SMU | |
| Brandon Hall | Arkansas State, 2012: safeties coach; Auburn, 2013: defensive quality control coach | Troy | |
| Casey Woods | Arkansas State, 2012: wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator | Missouri State | |
| Eli Drinkwitz | Arkansas State, 2012: running backs coach | App State, Missouri | |
| John Thompson | Arkansas State, 2012: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | East Carolina, Arkansas State | |
| Keith Patterson | Arkansas State, 2012: defensive coordinator | Pittsburgh, Abilene Christian | |
| Brent Dearmon | Auburn, 2013–14: offensive analyst | Bethel (TN), North Alabama | |
| Chip Lindsey | Auburn, 2013: offensive assistant; 2017–18: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; UCF, 2022: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Troy | |
| Dell McGee | Auburn, 2013: analyst | Georgia Southern, Georgia State | |
| Ellis Johnson | Auburn, 2013–14: defensive coordinator | Southern Miss, Gardner-Webb, The Citadel | |
| Will Muschamp | Auburn, 2015: defensive coordinator | Florida, South Carolina | |
| Kevin Steele | Auburn, 2016–20: defensive coordinator | Baylor, Auburn | |
| Larry Porter | Auburn, 2017–20: tight ends and halfbacks coach and recruiting coordinator | Memphis | |
| Cadillac Williams | Auburn, 2019–20: running backs coach | Auburn | |
| Kenny Dillingham | Auburn, 2019: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Arizona State | |
| Chad Morris | Auburn, 2020: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | SMU, Arkansas | |
| Jack Bicknell Jr. | Auburn, 2020: offensive line coach | Louisiana Tech | |
| David Gibbs | UCF, 2021–23: safeties coach; 2023: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach | Houston | |
| G.J. Kinne | UCF, 2021: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Texas State, Incarnate Word | |
| Will Healy | UCF, 2023: assistant head coach, offensive assistant and adv. | Charlotte, Austin Peay, East Tennessee State | |
| Ted Roof | UCF, 2024: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Duke |
Other assistants under him (21)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Jon Bradley | Arkansas State, 2012: graduate assistant | |
| Kodi Burns | Arkansas State, 2012: graduate assistant; Auburn, 2013: graduate assistant; 2016–18: co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach; 2019–20: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Scott Symons | Arkansas State, 2012: defensive quality control coach | |
| Charlie Harbison | Auburn, 2013–14: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Dameyune Craig | Auburn, 2013–15: co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Jonathan Brewer | Auburn, 2013–15: graduate assistant; 2016: offensive assistant | |
| Ryan Aplin | Auburn, 2014–15: G.A. | |
| Skyler Cassity | Auburn, 2014–16: student assistant | |
| Travis Williams | Auburn, 2014–15: defensive analyst; 2016–18: linebackers coach; 2019–20: co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; UCF, 2021–22: defensive coordinator | |
| Blake Gideon | Auburn, 2015: graduate assistant | |
| Travaris Robinson | Auburn, 2015: defensive backs coach | |
| Herb Hand | Auburn, 2016–17: offensive line coach; UCF, 2021–24: offensive line coach | |
| Al Borges | Auburn, 2017: offensive analyst | |
| Greg Brown | Auburn, 2017–18: defensive backs coach | |
| Marcus Woodson | Auburn, 2018: defensive backs coach; 2019: defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| Darin Hinshaw | UCF, 2021: senior analyst; 2023: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2024: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Tim Harris Jr. | UCF, 2021–22: co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach; 2024: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| DJ Mangas | UCF, 2022: defensive analyst | |
| Grant Heard | UCF, 2022–23: wide receivers coach | |
| Addison Williams | UCF, 2023: defensive coordinator; 2024: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Ernie Sims | UCF, 2023: linebackers coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Auburn | head coachbonuses up to $1,400,000; $275,000 in bonuses paid; buyout $6,898,958 | $4,726,960 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Auburn | head coachbonuses up to $1,400,000; $125,000 in bonuses paid | $4,729,500 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Auburn | head coachbonuses up to $1,400,000; $125,000 in bonuses paid | $4,104,500 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Auburn | head coachbonuses up to $1,400,000 | $3,854,500 USA Today | |
| 2013 | Auburn | head coachbonuses up to $1,250,000 | $2,440,000 USA Today via Leeds |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Malzahn’s teams went for it on 19% of fourth downs and on 34% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 41% of plays and took 24.2 seconds a play, 2012–2024.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 13 g | Arkansas State | 14 of 83 17% | 34% | 45% | 21.8 | +0.12 | |
| 2013 14 g | Auburn | 15 of 91 16% | 30% | 29% | 24.6 | +0.19 | |
| 2014 13 g | Auburn | 7 of 81 9% | 15% | 37% | 24.2 | +0.19 | |
| 2015 13 g | Auburn | 15 of 94 16% | 32% | 36% | 24.6 | +0.08 | |
| 2016 13 g | Auburn | 21 of 99 21% | 37% | 33% | 23.5 | +0.06 | |
| 2017 14 g | Auburn | 15 of 102 15% | 32% | 41% | 25.0 | +0.03 | |
| 2018 13 g | Auburn | 22 of 104 21% | 34% | 46% | 24.0 | +0.01 | |
| 2019 13 g | Auburn | 15 of 101 15% | 32% | 44% | 23.7 | +0.03 | |
| 2020 11 g | Auburn | 11 of 80 14% | 22% | 51% | 24.4 | +0.07 | |
| 2021 13 g | UCF | 15 of 99 15% | 26% | 48% | 25.3 | +0.10 | |
| 2022 13 g | UCF | 29 of 92 32% | 51% | 46% | 24.5 | +0.11 | |
| 2023 13 g | UCF | 23 of 77 30% | 47% | 44% | 24.4 | +0.13 | |
| 2024 12 g | UCF | 27 of 86 31% | 46% | 40% | 24.1 | +0.12 | |
| All 168 g | 229 of 1189 19% | 34% | 41% | 24.2 | +0.10 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.