Former Auburn football head coach Gus Malzahn is leading "far and away" the best recruiting school in the Big 12, UCF, according to On3's Phillip Dukes.
"UCF is far and away the best school right now recruiting in the Big 12," Dukes prefaced before saying, "And now we're seeing what happens when you utilize the portal the right away. Going to get Jacurri Brown from Miami was a huge move for Gus Malzahn, not just because you got another quarterback who was quality film after what he did last year, but you got a guy that fit your system and that's something that -- when Gus left Auburn, there was always talk of 'did he have the right triggerman?'
"So then you go and get KJ Jefferson after you come back from John Rhys Plumlee, and you say 'Okay, now we're starting to see the consistency needed in order to run that offense.' Then you double down or triple down with a Jacurri Brown. That's huge. Penny Boone, the production he had, now that backfield becomes one of the best in the country."
Gus Malzahn's Auburn football buyout money coming off the books
While Malzahn is building UCF into a Power conference juggernaut and Auburn has been slowly coming out of the dark ages of the Bryan Harsin era, there is a silver lining: Malzahn's buyout money from his 2020 firing will be off the books by the end of the next academic calendar.
And let's not get it twisted, either: Hugh Freeze is building Auburn into a force to be reckoned with in the SEC as well. There's just not a power in the vein of Georgia or Alabama in the Big 12 that Malzahn's Knights have to compete with.
If nothing else, Malzahn's money coming off AU's books will open up funds to spend on recruiting, and soon enough, all former head coaches will be off payroll and the Tigers can realize their potential in the NIL era of college athletics.