Gus Malzahn

Arthur Gustavo Malzahn III (born October 28, 1965) is an American football coach.

He is currently the head coach at the University of Central Florida (UCF).

Malzahn graduated from Fort Smith Christian High School in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1984 and was a walk-on receiver at Arkansas under then-head coach Ken Hatfield in 1984 and 1985 before transferring to Henderson State University located in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where he was a two-year letterman (1988, 1989) and earned his bachelor's degree in physical education in 1990.

Malzahn got his start as the defensive coordinator at Hughes High School in Hughes, Arkansas in 1991.

He became head coach in 1992 and in 1994 Hughes reached the state championship game with an upset of Pine Bluff Dollarway.

Hughes fell just short in the title game, losing to Lonoke High School on an interception in the final minute.

Malzahn's success at Hughes and his wide-open attack landed him a head coaching position at Shiloh Christian School in 1996.

From 1996 to 2000, he transformed Shiloh Christian into one of the most dynamic offensive prep squads in the nation.

In 1998, Shiloh Christian set a national record with 66 passing touchdowns for the season, while quarterback Josh Floyd nearly set an individual national record with 5,878 total yards (5,221 passing, 657 rushing).

Malzahn guided the Saints to back-to-back state championships in 1998 and 1999.

In 2001, Malzahn took over for long-time coach Jarrell Williams at Springdale High School.

Malzahn continued the rich tradition of the Bulldogs’ program.

Malzahn led his squad to the state title game in only his second season in 2002.

The Bulldogs lost 17–10 to Fort Smith Southside.

Springdale was on track for another state title game appearance in 2004 before Little Rock Central sidetracked the Bulldogs’ title hopes in the state semifinals.

Springdale was upset by the eventual state champion, 31–20.

The Bulldogs finished the season at 12–1.

He led the program to two state championship game appearances in his last four years, winning the title in 2005.

Malzahn's 2005 squad at Springdale went 14–0, easily won the state's Class AAAAA championship, outscored its opponents 664–118, including a 54–20 victory over West Memphis in the state championship game, and was consistently ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation.

Included on the championship team were prize recruits Mitch Mustain, Ben Cleveland, Andrew Norman, and Damian Williams who all eventually joined Malzahn at the University of Arkansas.

Offensive tackle Bartley Webb decided to leave the state to play for the University of Notre Dame.

Malzahn joined Houston Nutt's staff on December 9, 2005, as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, following an impressive five-year run at Springdale High School capped by one of the most dominant seasons by any high school in 2005.

Given that much of Springdale High's football talent decided to follow Malzahn to Arkansas and the fact that Malzahn had never coached in college, many questioned what Houston Nutt's motives were.

Malzahn led the offense of the Razorbacks 2006 season in which they won the SEC Western Division championship.

They played Florida in the 2006 SEC Championship Game but lost (28–38).

He became the head coach at Arkansas State University after coaching at Auburn from (2009–2011).

He helped lead the 2010 Auburn Tigers to a National Championship as the team's offensive coordinator.

As a first-year head coach, he led his team to finish as the 2012 Sun Belt Champions.

Malzahn inherited an Auburn Tigers football team that did not win a single Southeastern Conference game in the 2012 season, then led them to an SEC Championship and an appearance in the 2014 National Championship Game.

The Tigers won their eighth SEC title and tallied a record of 12–2 (7–1 in SEC play) only a year after what was considered by many to be their worst season in 60 years.

He was the head football coach at Auburn University from 2013 to 2020.

He returned to Auburn in 2013 as head coach; Malzahn received national attention for coaching one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history at Auburn.

For his accomplishments, Malzahn received several "coach of the year" awards, including the 2013 SEC Coach of the Year, Home Depot Coach of the Year, Sporting News Coach of the Year, Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, Bobby Bowden Coach of the Year Award, Paul "Bear" Bryant Award, and the AP College Football Coach of the Year Award.

Malzahn is one of only 10 active FBS head coaches to take a team to a national championship game.

In 2013, Malzahn was inducted into the Arkansas High School Coaches Association's Hall of Fame.

As head coach at Auburn, he led the team to a SEC Championship win and an appearance in the 2014 National Championship.

Malzahn has coached Heisman winner Cam Newton and two Heisman finalists: Nick Marshall and Tre Mason.

During Malzahn's tenure at Auburn, he qualified as the second-longest tenured head coach at one school in the SEC, behind Nick Saban.

Out of active head coaches, Malzahn also holds the best record against coach Saban.

Prior to his stints at Arkansas State and Auburn, Malzahn was the offensive coordinator at the University of Arkansas and the University of Tulsa.