Background and career
Arthur Gustavo Malzahn III (; born October 28, 1965) is an American former college football coach who most recently was the offensive coordinator at Florida State. He was the head coach at the University of Central Florida (UCF) from 2021 to 2024, Auburn University from 2013 to 2020, and Arkansas State in 2012. He also served as offensive coordinator at Auburn from 2009 to 2011; in that role, he helped lead the 2010 Auburn Tigers to a national championship victory. As head coach at Auburn, he led the team to a SEC Championship win and an appearance in the 2014 National Championship. Malzahn has coached Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton and two Heisman candidates: Nick Marshall and Tre Mason, including coaching 14 All-Americans. During Malzahn's tenure at Auburn, he was the second-longest tenured head coach at one school in the SEC, behind Nick Saban. Prior to his stints at Arkansas State and Auburn, Malzahn was the offensive coordinator at the University of Arkansas and the University of Tulsa. He became the head coach at Arkansas State University after coaching at Auburn from 2009 to 2011. In his first year, he led his team to finish as the 2012 Sun Belt Champions. He returned to Auburn in 2013 as head coach; Malzahn received national attention for coaching one of the biggest in-season turnarounds in college football history. Malzahn inherited an Auburn Tigers football team that did not win a single Southeastern Conference game in the 2012 season, then led them to an SEC Championship and an appearance in the 2014 National Championship Game. The Tigers won their eighth SEC title and tallied a record of 12–2 (7–1 in SEC play), and Malzahn received several "coach of the year" awards, including the AP College Football Coach of the Year Award. Malzahn is the only head coach to ever win 100 career games at the high school and 100 career games at the collegiate FBS level.
Malzahn graduated from Fort Smith Christian High School in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1984 and was a walk-on receiver at Arkansas under then-head coach Ken Hatfield in 1984 and 1985 before transferring to Henderson State University located in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where he was a two-year letterman (1988, 1989) and earned his bachelor's degree in physical education in 1990.
Malzahn got his start as the offensive coordinator at Hughes High School in Hughes, Arkansas in 1991. He became head coach in 1992 and in 1994 Hughes reached the state championship game with an upset of Pine Bluff Dollarway. Hughes fell just short in the title game, losing to Lonoke High School on an interception in the final minute. Malzahn's success at Hughes and his wide-open attack landed him a head coaching position at Shiloh Christian School in 1996. From 1996 to 2000, he transformed Shiloh Christian into one of the most dynamic offensive prep squads in the nation. In 1998, Shiloh Christian set a national record with 66 passing touchdowns for the season, while quarterback Josh Floyd nearly set an individual national record with 5,878 total yards (5,221 passing, 657 rushing). Malzahn guided the Saints to back-to-back state championships in 1998 and 1999. In 2001, Malzahn took over for long-time coach Jarrell Williams at Springdale High School. Malzahn continued the rich tradition of the Bulldogs’ program. He led the program to two state championship game appearances in his last four years, winning the title in 2005. Malzahn led his squad to the state title game in only his second season in 2002. The Bulldogs lost 17–10 to Fort Smith Southside. Springdale was on track for another state title game appearance in 2004 before Little Rock Central sidetracked the Bulldogs’ title hopes in the state semifinals. Springdale was upset by the eventual state champion, 31–20. The Bulldogs finished the season at 12–1. Malzahn's 2005 squad at Springdale went 14–0, easily won the state's Class AAAAA championship, outscored its opponents 664–118, including a 54–20 victory over West Memphis in the state championship game, and was consistently ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation. Included on the championship team were prize recruits Mitch Mustain, Ben Cleveland, Andrew Norman, and Damian Williams who all eventually joined Malzahn at the University of Arkansas. Offensive tackle Bartley Webb decided to leave the state to play for the University of Notre Dame. In 2013, Malzahn was inducted into the Arkansas High School Coaches Association's Hall of Fame.
Malzahn joined Houston Nutt's staff on December 9, 2005, as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, following an impressive five-year run at Springdale High School capped by one of the most dominant seasons by any high school in 2005. Given that much of Springdale High's football talent decided to follow Malzahn to Arkansas and the fact that Malzahn had never coached in college, many questioned what Houston Nutt's motives were. Malzahn led the offense of the Razorbacks' 2006 season in which they won the SEC Western Division championship. They played Florida in the 2006 SEC Championship Game but lost (28–38). Arkansas finished the season with a 10–4 record and lost to Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl. There was a widely reported tension between Nutt's reliance on the ground game (which turned out to be one of the best running games in the nation in 2006) and Malzahn's philosophy of spreading the field with a no-huddle offense. The poor ending of the season only added stress to the already tense coaching relationship. Malzahn was named the National Offensive Coordinator of the Year by Rivals.com. Despite this tension, the 2006 season served as a breakout for running backs Darren McFadden (1,647 yards with 14 TD) and Felix Jones (1,168 yards with 6 TD). Wide receiver Marcus Monk had 962 yards receiving with 11 touchdowns, despite catching passes from two quarterbacks. In January 2007, Malzahn received an offer from the University of Tulsa and his friend, new head coach Todd Graham. He took the Tulsa job to be assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. Shortly after the departure of Coach Graham and Malzahn, both Arkansas star quarterback Mitch Mustain and receiver Damian Williams decided to transfer to the University of Southern California.
Malzahn was announced as the new assistant head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach in January 2007. During the 2007 season, Malzahn emerged as one of the premier offensive coordinators in the nation, as Tulsa ranked first in the nation in total yards per game, ahead of Texas Tech and Hawaii, and with a more balanced attack than both teams. The Golden Hurricane also ranked third in the nation in passing and led their conference in scoring. Tulsa became the first team in NCAA history to have a 5,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and three 1,000-yard receivers in a single season. After the regular season, Malzahn interviewed for the open position at Arkansas once Nutt resigned in November 2007. In 2008, Tulsa was once again the nation's most prolific attack, leading with nearly 7,980 total yards of offense averaging 570 yards per game. The Golden Hurricane were ranked second in the nation in scoring behind Oklahoma, scoring over 47 points per game. Tulsa not only ranked second in the nation in scoring that year, but finished with the second highest scoring offense in the history of major college football. The offense was also the nation's most balanced attack, ranking fifth in the nation in rushing and ninth in passing. Tulsa quarterbacks David Johnson and G. J. Kinne finished third in the nation in passing efficiency, behind only Oklahoma and Texas.
Malzahn was named the offensive coordinator at Auburn University by first year head coach Gene Chizik on December 28, 2008. Under Malzahn, Auburn made significant improvements over the previous season's offensive production; the Tigers finished the season ranked 16th in total offense (2nd in the SEC against all opponents) with just under 432 yards per game and 17th in scoring with over 33 points per game after being tied for 110th in the nation in scoring the previous season. Although he still made significant improvements in his first year, against SEC competition Auburn managed 377.1 total yards a game which placed them 4th in the SEC (behind Alabama, Arkansas, and Ole Miss). His first season broke the Auburn single season total offense record previously set by the undefeated 2004 team. Head coach Gene Chizik had stressed prior to the season that he intended to focus on the run game which showed great improvement as well; the rushing offense finished the season ranked 13th in the nation with 212 yards per game after being ranked 69th prior to the new coaching staff's arrival. Passing numbers also improved under the new offensive scheme, with the passing efficiency ranking ending up 22nd nationally after being ranked 106th in 2008. Senior quarterback Chris Todd set a single-season touchdown record at Auburn and finished the season with a passer rating of 145.73, ranking him 18th in the nation. During the 2009 season, Auburn's offense under Malzahn, produced 120 plays of 15 yards or more, nearly doubling the 62 compiled in 2008.
