Gus Malzahn shares biggest challenges of joining Big 12

Gus Malzahn and the UCF Knights are excited to be moving into the Big 12 Conference. It’s a move that won’t come without challenges, though, as Malzahn knows that building up roster depth, particularly in the trenches, is going to be incredibly important.

As Malzahn explained at Big 12 media days, he and his staff have known that this move was coming and tried to use that time to get a head start on some of those challenges that come with joining the Big 12.

“For me personally, I’m very excited,” Gus Malzahn said. “This is a great conference, one of the best football conferences in college football, and probably the deepest from top to bottom. So I’m very excited about that. As far as challenging, the great thing, we’ve had over a year, almost a year and a half to get prepared for this moment, and talking about having quality depth when you move up conferences and leagues, and specifically on the O-line and D-line.”

Despite the challenge that building depth before jumping to a Power Five conference represents, Malzahn is confident that UCF has been able to do this ahead of the Big 12 move.

“We’ve worked extremely hard, and I really feel like today going into fall camp that we do have quality depth on both lines of scrimmage, and that was really by design, and we really feel good about that,” Malzahn said.

Despite these challenges, Gus Malzahn and UCF are excited to take on that challenge and compete in the Big 12.

“Just the overall excitement of the challenge of playing these great teams in this league is what’s exciting for us.”

Gus Malzahn says joining the Big 12 is a game changer

Despite the challenges of moving into a Power Five conference, the move is going to be a game changer for UCF, according to Gus Malzahn.

“It’s a huge moment, you know, thinking about all the players who helped us get here, all the coaches, all the boosters, it’s a huge moment for us,” Gus Malzahn said. “And [I’m] just real blessed to be the head coach here and looking forward to being a part of the Big 12.”

As Malzahn explained, UCF is located in a place that makes it possible to develop a college football power. Adding in Power Five status only sets the Knights up better.

“It’s a game changer. We’re in Orlando, one of the best places in the country to live. The best brands in the world are there. There’s no NFL team. So, the sky’s the limit in terms of potential. We’re the biggest school or one of the biggest enrollments in the country,” Malzahn said.

“So, everything is set up, and they played great football before we got here. I mean, we can’t forget that. They won two out of three New Year’s Six bowl games the last nine years. So, we inherited a program that was already top notch and now and we’re set up to take that next step.”