As Gus Malzahn enters his third year as head coach of the UCF Knights, the pressure is on. Now in their second year in the Big 12, the program had their first losing season under Malzahn in 2023. Here’s what the UCF coaching staff looks like in 2024.
UCF Knights Coaching Staff
Head Coach, Gus Malzahn
Malzahn is best known as an offensive guru and head coach with the Auburn Tigers, where he served from 2013-2020. He was the offensive coordinator responsible for coaching Cam Newton and the 2010 Auburn offense to a BCS National Championship title.
Malzahn began his coaching career at Hughes High School in Arkansas from 1991-1995 before stints with Shiloh Christian and Springdale High School. He entered the college ranks as offensive coordinator at Arkansas in 2006.
From there, he had offensive coordinator stints at Tulsa (2007-2008) and Auburn (2009-2011) before becoming head coach at Arkansas State. There, he led the Red Wolves to a 9-3 record and a conference championship game appearance before moving to Auburn as the head coach after one season.
Auburn went 3-9 in Gene Chizik’s final year (2012), and Malzahn was quickly named his replacement. He took the Tigers to the ultimate in college football success in his first season but never replicated that achievement, though he did finish his time there with a 68-35 record.
He was hired at UCF in 2021. Prior to last season, he led the Knights to back-to-back nine-win seasons in the AAC.
Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers, Tim Harris Jr.
As part of several staff changes in 2024, Tim Harris Jr. rejoins the UCF coaching staff after a year away with the Miami Hurricanes.
From 2021-2022, he was the co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach with the Knights before coaching running backs at Miami in 2023.
Before that, he was at Florida International from 2015-2021, coaching running backs and picking up offensive coordinator duties in his final year.
Like Malzahn, Harris got his start in the high school ranks as offensive coordinator at Florida powerhouse Booker T Washington from 2009-2013, then spent one year as head coach in 2014.
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers, Ted Roof
Coaching veteran Ted Roof joins Malzahn after previously coaching with him at Auburn from 2009-2011. Roof has coached almost everywhere in the country, with stints at Duke (1990-1993), UMass (1994-1996), Western Carolina (1997), Georgia Tech (1998-2001), and Duke (2002-2003) in the 1990s and early 2000s before becoming head coach at of the Blue Devils in 2003.
That head coaching stint wasn’t very successful, as he finished 6-45 from 2003-2007, including a 2-25 record in his final three years.
He’s regarded as one of the best defensive minds in football, and he rebounded quickly with successful defensive coordinator stops at Minnesota (2008), Auburn (2009-2011), and Penn State (2012). He then spent five seasons in Atlanta as defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech from 2013-2017.
Since then, Roof has coached at NC State (2018), Appalachian State (2019), Vanderbilt (2020), Clemson (2021) and Oklahoma (2022-2023) before landing with Malzahn this offseason.
Associate Head Coach/Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs, Addison Williams
Addison Williams was a standout corner for South Carolina in the late 2000s and worked his way up through the ranks before becoming a special assistant for Malzahn at Auburn in 2019. He’s held on-field coaching positions at Tusculum, Furman, Coastal Carolina, and UCF (since 2021).
Co-Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks, Darin Hinshaw
Like Harris, Darin Hinshaw returned to UCF after a year away, spending the 2022 season with UAB as offensive coordinator. Hinshaw played at UCF and is considered a standout recruiter, succeeding in stops at Tennessee, Cincinnati, and Kentucky — among others — in a 25-year coaching career.
Offensive Line, Herb Hand
Herb Hand has been the offensive line coach at numerous Power Five schools while holding the run game coordinator title at Penn State and Vanderbilt under James Franklin. He’s coached at West Virginia, Texas, Auburn (Under Malzahn), Tulsa, and West Virginia, holding a recruiting coordinator title for several years with the Mountaineers.
Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends, Brian Blackmon
Brian Blackmon coached at Opelika High School in Alabama for 20 years before joining the college ranks. He held several titles at Troy from 2018-2020 and worked as an offensive analyst under Malzahn in 2017. He’s been special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at UCF since 2021.
Defensive Tackles, Kenny Martin
A defensive line guru and former Western Kentucky standout, Kenny Martin also started in the high school ranks, coaching in Florida and Kentucky. He held the defensive tackles coaching role at Western Kentucky from 2018 to 2020 before joining Malzahn’s inaugural UCF coaching staff in 2021.
Defensive Ends/Rush, Kenny Ingram
Kenny Ingram began as a high school coach at Melrose (TN) before joining the college ranks in 2005. He’s a former defensive coordinator at Memphis and has held various on- and off-field roles at Auburn, Cincinnati, Arkansas, and Arkansas State.
Run Game Coordinator/Running Backs, Kam Martin
Though Kam Martin has little college coaching experience, he had a fantastic inaugural season at UCF and the FBS coaching level.
He started at Division II Incarnate Word, where his running backs set the program’s single-season rushing record in 2022, earning him a job at Texas State. Before coaching a game for the Bobcats, however, he opted to join Malzahn’s UCF coaching staff.
Cornerbacks, Trovon Reed
Trovon Reed is entering his first season as an on-field coach in 2024. He was part of the National Championship teams in 2010 and 2014 with Auburn and played four years in the NFL. He’s been with Auburn as director of football and recruiting operations since 2021.
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