Yesterday it was announced that Gus Malzahn resigned as head football coach at UCF. Malzahn was 27-24 in four season at the helm of the Knights. Here is a look at the UCF Knights
football program since 2008 (the
first year that in which I have data for the model).
This time period only covers the last nine seasons of head football
coach George O'Leary (2004-2015), Scott Frost (2016-2017), Josh Heupel (2018-2020) and Gus Malzahn (2021-2024*). After the figure
below is a more
detailed look at
the UCF Knights football program during head coach Malzahn's
tenure based on the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model using data provided by www.cfbstats.com. (The vertical school color bars represent seasons where head coaches changed).
Gus Malzahn [2021-2024]
2021
UCF finished the regular season at 8-4, and were bowl eligible, where they defeated the #42 ranked Florida Gators by a score of (29-17). The Knights
played against an “easier”
strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that UCF's SOS was between one
and two standard deviations higher than the "leagues" average SOS. UCF's best regular season win was
over #52 ranked Boise State by a score of (36-31) and their worst regular season
loss was to #102 ranked Navy (30-34).
UCF was the #39 ranked team overall, with the #28 ranked
offense and the #63 ranked defense using the
Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from
www.cfbstats.com.
2022 AAC Conference Runner-Up
UCF finished the regular season at 9-3, and were played in the AAC Championship game where they lost to #13 ranked Tulane by a score of (28-45). Then the Knights played #36 ranked Duke in their post-season bowl game and lost by a score (13-30) to finish 9-5 overall. The Knights
played against an “average”
strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that UCF's SOS was plus or minus one
standard deviation of the "leagues" average SOS. UCF's best regular season win was
over #13 ranked Tulane by a score of (38-31) and their worst
loss was to #86 ranked Navy (14-17).
UCF was the #38 ranked team overall, with the #21 ranked
offense and the #84 ranked defense using the
Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from
www.cfbstats.com.
2023 Tulsa finished the regular season at 6-6, and were bowl eligible, where they were defeated by #63 ranked Georgia Tech by a score of (17-30) to finish the regular season at 6-7. The Knights
played against an “average”
strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that UCF's SOS was plus or minus one
standard deviation of the "leagues" average SOS. UCF's best regular season win was
over #33 ranked Boise State by a score of (18-16) and their worst
regular season loss was to #121 ranked Baylor (35-36).
UCF was the #40 ranked team overall, with the #30 ranked
offense and the #67 ranked defense using the
Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from
www.cfbstats.com.
2024*
UCF finished the 2024 season at 4-8. UCF has played against an “average”
strength
of schedule (SOS). UCF's
best victory was against currently #38 ranked Sam Houston State by a score of (45-14)
and their
current worst loss was to #104 ranked West Virginia by a score of (21-31).
UCF is currently the #55 ranked team overall, with the #48 ranked
offense and the #68 ranked defense using the
Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from
www.cfbstats.com.
2024 FBS Head Coach Changes
