Gus Malzahn Priming UCF Roster for Big 12 Jump

Gus Malzahn has set a new standard for UCF recruiting.

Author:
Jack Edwards
Publish date:
Dec 20, 2021 7:56 AM EST

When UCF hired Gus Malzahn to be its new Head Football Coach back in February, there were some lofty expectations heaped onto him from the get go, especially from a recruiting standpoint. It also seemed like he was put under a lot of pressure to recruit better than Josh Heupel did in his tenure as the Head Coach at UCF.

In Coach Malzahn’s introductory press conference, he famously said “we’re going to recruit the state of Florida like our hair is on fire.” Let’s just say he’s off to a great start.

UCF looks like it will have its best recruiting class in school history heading into 2022, and a lot of that has to do with the way Coach Malzahn recruits. Typically, UCF head coaches do not go after too many four and five star recruits, probably because it seems like a lost cause considering UCF is not in the Power Five. Coach Malzahn was not afraid to give out offer after offer to some of the nation’s best 2022 recruits, including top national recruit Travis Hunter.

Article: What Does Travis Hunter to Jackson State Mean for College Football?

Coach Malzahn is able to do this for two main reasons: firstly, he has plenty of experience in recruiting top talent from his Auburn days. Auburn routinely had a top 10-15 recruiting class in his time there. He knows how to approach the process of trying to flip some of those guys from big names like Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, among others.

Secondly, he now has much more leverage thanks to the September announcement that UCF will be joining the Big 12 soon. He is getting kids to buy into the process of building UCF into a top football school, and that all starts with the jump to Power 5.

UCF currently has 14 total players signed for 2022, including multiple 4-star commitments in the 2022 class, and a dual-threat QB in Thomas Castellanos, who has the potential to change the dynamic of the offense. Check out this off-platform throw by Castellanos:

Castellanos was originally projected to go to Florida State by some. However, the Seminoles wanted Castellanos to play away from his preferred position of quarterback, the position the Knights strictly recruited him to play. Coach Malzahn and Quarterback Coach and co-Offensive Coordinator GJ Kinne were able to win him over by giving him the opportunity to be a quarterback for UCF.

Coach Malzahn has also recruited competitively in the state of Florida, as many rankings have UCF above Miami and Florida in terms of their 2022 class. This is something UCF has never really been able to accomplish before, so Coach Malzahn has the program headed in a good direction.

Coach Malzahn also did a fantastic job with the transfer portal headed into this current year, bringing in guys who contributed all season, such as Isaiah Bowser, Big Kat Bryant, Ricky Barber, Mark-Antony Richards, Bryson Armstrong, and Joey Gatewood. If Coach Malzahn can replicate that transfer portal success this offseason, UCF could make a huge leap next year, which could potentially be the last season in the AAC for the Knights. There’s another opportunity for UCF to make headway on the recruiting trail this week.

UCF has a huge recruiting opportunity coming up on Thursday, when UCF takes on Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl. If the Knights are able to knock off the Florida Gators, that could do wonders for Coach Malzahn’s pitch to nab more top players away from programs like Florida State, Florida and Miami.

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