Gus Malzahn to remain UCF football coach through 2027 after signing extension
Gus Malzahn has agreed to a contract extension at UCF through the 2027 season, as first reported Thursday by ESPN's Pete Thamel.
Malzahn, 57, finalized terms earlier this summer, and the school bumped his annual salary to $4 million on July 1, per Thamel's report. The figure is set to rise again to $5.5 million per season for 2026 and '27.
According to USA TODAY's database of college football coaches' salaries, updated earlier this week, Malzahn was earning $2.3 million in base salary, the lowest reported figure for any Power Five program. That figure, of course, does not include the $21.45 million buyout he received from Auburn University — half paid within 30 days of his December 2020 firing, and annual installments of approximately $2.68 million the following four years.
Malzahn could earn a maximum bonus of $500,000 under his previous deal, per USA TODAY, and he received $70,000 in bonuses during the 2022-23 academic year. He had an existing buyout in the $3.5 million range.
UCF's last time out: Knights blow 28-point, second-half lead in stunning Big 12 home loss to Baylor
There were 65 head coaches across the Football Bowl Subdivision earning more money per year than Malzahn, including a handful of recent hires such as Deion Sanders (Colorado), Matt Rhule (Nebraska), Kenny Dillingham (Arizona State), and former UCF assistants Brent Key (Georgia Tech) and Alex Golesh (South Florida).
Malzahn is two wins shy of 100 for his 12-year college coaching career, including a 21-11 mark into his third season at UCF. He has guided the Knights to bowl games in each of the previous two years, and an appearance in the American Athletic Conference's championship game in 2022.
UCF is 3-2 overall this season, but 0-2 in its inaugural Big 12 campaign. The Knights travel to Kansas for a 4 p.m. Saturday showdown on FOX.
On the recruiting front, UCF boasts the No. 28 national recruiting class for 2024, according to 247Sports. The Knights have nine consensus four-star verbal commits, which would comfortably be a single-year record for the school's 28-year history in Division I-AA/FBS.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF football: Gus Malzahn agrees to contract extension through 2027
