Malzahn: Dramatic changes to coaching prompted move to FSU - ESPN

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Near Gus Malzahn's new office hangs a picture of Kelvin Benjamin hauling in a touchdown pass from Jameis Winston, the play that helped Florida State beat Malzahn and his Auburn Tigers in the 2013 national championship game.

It's a daily reminder of Malzahn's connection to the Seminoles.

«I've got to walk by the picture of the guy catching the ball as I go to the office every day,» Malzahn said Wednesday. «That was a real special game. There were a lot of great players on the field. It went down to the very end. It was probably entertaining or a great game to watch. It was tough, obviously, to be on the losing side.»

Malzahn is on the opposite side now. He resigned as UCF's head coach last month to become Mike Norvell's offensive coordinator in Tallahassee. Their link goes back even further than Malzahn's title-game loss to the Seminoles.

Malzahn, 59, said he chose to return to his coaching roots rather than remain a head coach distracted by new-age responsibilities. Malzahn walked away from $15 million guaranteed — he was set to make $5 million in 2025 and had three years remaining on his contract with the Knights — for a different coaching lifestyle. He signed a three-year deal with FSU that will pay him $1.5 million in 2025.

«The job description of a head college football coach has changed dramatically in the last two years with everything — transfer portal to collectives to agents and everything that goes with that,» Malzahn said. «I'm just an old-school football coach.

»I love coaching football, and head coaches, it's hard to do that a lot. So that had something to do with it. And then the opportunity and being familiar with Mike and having so much respect for this university, coached against this