UCF Football: This is Year 0 for Gus(and that’s ok)
The term Year 0 gets thrown out a lot when it comes to coaches taking over dumpster fire programs. Scott Frost, for example, had a year 0 when he first took over UCF. A year 0 usually has lowered expectations as the coach is implementing his new system on the team. A year where the team undergoes a shift in philosophy and is completely overhauled from the previous failed regime. 2021 is going to be year 0 for Gus Malzahn at UCF. I know some will automatically think that this means UCF fans are expecting him to do poorly. That is not the case in fact Gus is going to be outstanding, but I don’t think we will see the best of Gus at UCF this year. He needs to overhaul what Josh Heupel has broken at UCF. Heupel left UCF with a talent disparity in many positions and not a lot of depth. So yes I would consider this to be a year 0 for Gus and that is ok.
Josh Heupel left a mess for Gus to clean up. Gus will never ever come out and directly say it, but there are large holes in this football program. This team is lacking in depth from poor recruiting, Gus had to build up relationships with high school coaches on the recruiting trail, Heupel ignored ever coaching or recruiting the defense, and some of his players like Daniel Obarski are not UCF caliber. Heupel was such an utter and complete idiot when it came building up the program. He didn’t build depth and completely ignored the defensive side of the ball. This is what Gus Malzahn is walking into. A situation that is good on paper, but in reality is really lacking in key positions. This is thanks to Heupel being a fat lazy moron that he could not bother to actually build a football program.
We are already seeing Gus having to cover up for the holes in the transfer portal. Shane Burnham was a horrific defensive line recruiter. He would go with smaller guys who would get pushed around quite easily especially at the defensive line position. UCF did not. have a big, physical edge rusher under Burnham so Gus had to immediately fix this. That is why he went and brought Big Kat Bryant and Ricky Barber. Both these players are big and physical players with outstanding reputations to get to the quarterback. This was something that UCF was absolutely missing from the Knights. Having these type of rushers is something imperative to the success of football teams. Gus knows this which is why he immediately got on trying to add these type of players to the roster. We are going to see a change in this defensive line thanks to Gus bringing in these players.
UCF also needed running back depth. With the losses of McCrae and Otis Anderson, UCF was going to have to rely on several small running backs who were projects. While Anthony Tucker was a great developer of talent, he only recruited really small backs. UCF didn’t have a big physical running back on the roster. Plus, the running backs were lacking in experience at the running back position. Gus needed to bring in athletic big backs with experience that would fit his system perfectly. That is why he brought in Mark Anthony Richards and Isiah Bowser. Both will bring exactly what the Knights need. The running back situation perfectly sums. up what I was saying about the lack of depth and Josh Heupel. Heupel would not have considered adding someone like MAR or Bowser to the running back room. He would have just been satisfied with the depth that was previously there. Gus was not and that’s a big difference in coaching styles.
Gus is going to overhaul the culture of this program. UCF had become soft under Heupel. A program that was fine with accepting mediocrity year after year. I think Danny White played a role in this as well. Last year was inexcusable for the Knights, but every week there was White and Josh coming out with an excuse. We won’t have that under Gus, he will take accountability. The cultural change isn’t going to happen over night. This is going to be a process for Gus, but we are seeing some of the changes already take shape. The players all discuss how this feels more like a family. How Gus and his staff talk to them as people rather than just players. How this staff is a great set of teachers and people that care about them. This is in contrast to how Heupel’s staff acted. Plus this staff will bring a winning mentality back to the knights. But first they have to break the softness of the Heupel era and that will take some time.
When Gus was putting his staff together he made sure to put together of staff with the right mentality. Guys were were aggressive, tough, and could bring that same attitude to Orlando. We are already seeing that by how the players are talking about “having something to prove” and how they have a point to prove this year. Gus and his staff are bringing a sense of being the underdog back to UCF. Last year it felt like the team and fanbase felt entitled to dominate the competition. That’s not this case everyone has something to prove especially Gus. He’s bringing this edge and need to prove something to UCF. We are the hunters again. Of course not everyone on this current roster. is going to buy into what Gus is selling, but he will find the players that do and once he does this program is going to take off.
Gus also has to reshape the system. Josh Heupel’s system last year was absolutely broken. I am not just talking about the offense, but the program as a whole. The cracks that had started to form in 2019 really came to light last year. Heupel only concentrated on the offense and basically divided the locker room into two camps: Heupel guys and Shannon guys. This was bound to end in disaster and it did last year. So it’s going to take Gus Malzahn time to heal these cracks. To show the players what a real head coach is supposed to look like. No more gimmick offense that never utilizes the middle of the field. Gus has to break the players of the bad habits that they had developed under Heupel’s system and philosophy. Again this is going to take some time for Gus to break in his offensive and defensive system. It’s going to look completely different from the first game to the last game of the season. The evolution of the Gus system is going to be fascinating to watch.
Gus Malzahn is walking into a situation similar to what Scott Frost walked into in 2015–2016. A program that had shown flashes of being the top non power 5 team in the country, but had fallen on hard times. A program that needs a cultural shock to get back to where they should be. Like Scott Frost, I believe that Gus Malzahn is the right coach at the right time to fix the UCF program. That is why I am going into this year with lowered expectations. Gus has a lot of things that need to be fixed from recruiting to game planning. This is going to be completely different from the Josh Heupel error. This is going to take time for Gus Malzahn and his staff to implement that is why I consider this year to be a year 0 for UCF and Gus.
