Florida
Gus Malzahn on leaving UCF for Florida State: ‘I’m just an old-school football coach’
Gus Malzahn made an unusual move nearly two weeks ago, giving up a Power 4 head-coaching job to become an assistant again.
The 59-year-old Malzahn — Auburn’s head coach from 2013-20 — left Central Florida after four seasons to become offensive coordinator at Florida State under Mike Norvell. He told reporters in Tallahassee on Wednesday that the demands of the head-coaching job were different than when he first got into the game, and not in a good way.
“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 university in the national championship. I know what this place is capable of doing.”
Malzahn was fired in 2020 after eight seasons at Auburn, whom he coached to an SEC championship in 2013 and an SEC West title in 2017. He went 68-36 with the Tigers and 29-24 with the Knights, but just 4-8 this season.
Malzahn now joins the program that denied him a national title after the 2013 season, when the Seminoles beat Auburn 34-31 in the BCS national championship game. He gave up a $5 million salary at UCF to earn $1.5 million at Florida State and will try to turn around an offense that averaged a little more than 15 points per game as the Seminoles collapsed from 13-1 and ACC champions in 2023 to 2-10 this year.
“I’m a big believer you’ve got to run the football downhill,” Malzahn said. “It makes everything better as far as pass protection, better on the quarterback, everything. … And we’ll get that done.”
Malzahn made his name as an offensive coordinator, spending time at Arkansas and Tulsa before Gene Chizik hired him at Auburn in 2009. Along with quarterback Cam Newton, he helped the Tigers to a 14-0 record and the BCS national championship in 2010.
Malzahn left Auburn after the 2011 season to become head coach at Arkansas State, whom he led to a 9-3 record in one season. After Chizik was fired after the 2012 season, Malzahn returned as head coach.
Throughout his tenures at Auburn and UCF, Malzahn struggled with the idea of whether or not he should be both the team’s head coach and primary play-caller. Norvell had similar issues last year at Florida State, and has turned play-calling responsibilities over to Malzahn.
“Our foundation on offense is from the same family,” Malzahn said. “He’s got his own wrinkles, and I’ve had my own wrinkles. But there is a lot more things that are in common. We still have the same terminology, the way we identify things like formations and player alignment, numbers.
“That’s why it’s a really, really easy transition. We’re going to play fast. I think that’s the No. 1 thing. We’re going to play fast.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Florida
Guy Carpenter to Research Parametric Solutions in California, Florida
Guy Carpenter said it is starting a research project to explore the use of parametric insurance solutions in California and Florida for wildfire and hurricane risks.
The effort will focus on the use of a “community-based parametric reciprocal exchange,” the reinsurance broker said.
“Insurance plays a critical role in recovery from natural disasters, but many households and small businesses do not have sufficient coverage to fund repair and rebuilding due to affordability of products, limited risk awareness, or behavioral biases in decision making,” said Guillermo Franco, global head of cat risk research at Guy Carpenter, a part of Marsh McLennan. “Community-based catastrophe insurance programs like parametric reciprocal exchanges, may constitute an innovative way to help close this protection gap in the US and speed up payments to aid recovery, which will enhance the financial resilience of communities.”
The research will be conducted in collaboration with Guy Carpenter’s Parametric Advisory and Public Sector teams, the Institute of Environment at Florida International University, the Climate Adaptation Center in Sarasota, the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at UC Santa Cruz, and the University of Michigan. The goal, according to Guy Carpenter, is to gauge the regulatory environment for parametric reciprocal exchanges, identify best practices in communicating the value of such a model, and engage with local communities to establish the foundations for larger scale research and pilot projects.
This research project dovetails with Guy Carpenter’s larger work in advocating for community-based catastrophe insurance (CBCI), a concept it developed in partnership with the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center and Marsh McLennan.
Source: Guy Carpenter
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Florida
Rising 3-star 2026 CB Danny Odem covers Florida visit and recruiting
Zone, man, off-man – you name it, Danny Odem has got you covered. Most corners are only active in one area of the game, going against the pass. With the Class of 2026 talent, Odem is ever present on the field. Watching the First Academy (Orlando, FL) cornerback play, his passion for the game comes through on every snap. That dedication to the game was in Gainesville on Wednesday checking out the Gators.
Working his way to 13 scholarships, Odem updated which programs might be next on his offer sheet, “Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Ohio State, those are the main ones right now. North Carolina, they keep in touch too. There are a couple of others, but that’s all I can think of right now.”
Visits during the 2024 season were taken to Miami, Florida, and North Carolina. The rapport with the Hurricanes is growing.
“That relationship is good,” Odem stated. “Coach (Chevis) Jackson (CB) hits me up; he called me this morning. He keeps in contact often.”
Florida’s bond is tight.
“That relationship is great,” Odem shared. “I am leaving Florida right now.”
Odem continued talking about his time with Florida’s coaching staff, “The visit was great. I watched practice, toured the facilities, and talked to their coaches.”
With former New England Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick signing on to lead the Tar Heels, that has Odem’s attention.
“I feel like he will turn the program around, and do great things there,” Odem said.
Another visit could happen this weekend.
“I am trying to get to Syracuse for a Junior Day this weekend,” Odem stated. “If not this weekend, then this spring.”
Odem shared his thoughts on the Orange’s coaching staff, “Our relationship is great. A few of them reach out a couple of days out of the week.”
In addition to visiting Syracuse when the schedule works out, there are two more trips Odem wants to take in the New Year.
“I will be back at Florida for a Junior Day in January, and I will go on a couple of visits to Miami,” Odem stated. “I will visit where I am invited.”
Odem was all over the gridiron for the Royals during his junior run producing 45 tackles, two tackles for a loss, two picks, two forced fumbles, and picked up a fumble.
Florida
Florida’s COVID-19 deaths this year reach 5,768
TALLAHASSEE – Deaths this year linked to COVID-19 rose to 5,768 with a 284 increase in November, according to the Florida Department of Health.
Meanwhile, cases are the lowest since the pandemic began in 2020.
The previous month the increase was 703.
For 11 months that averages to 524 monthly.
Since the pandemic hit the state in 2020, there have been 98,744 fatalities.
That year, Florida had reported 23,349 deaths, according to state data. The number jumped to 39,870 in 2021, declining to 21,307 in 2022 and then 8,442 in 2023.
The largest number of deaths this year was reported in Miami-Dade County with 512, followed by 437 in Palm Beach County and 351 in Pinellas County.
In the past week there were 1,787 cases compared with 1,453 the week before, the lowest since 358 on March 3, 2020 at the start of the pandemic when few tests were available. The high this year was 23,772 on July 19
In 2023, the weekly low was 4,441 on Nov. 17 and the high was 28,162 on Jan. 6.
The most ever was 428,380 on Jan. 7, 2022.
Cases reached 8,18.237 including 412,947 so far this year. These are only infections reported to the state and often doesn’t include at-home tests. Weekly cases are adjusted as more data come in.
The most weekly cases was 393,672 on Dec. 31, 2021.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer tracks cases and deaths have transitioned to the National Center for Health Statistics. Those stats show Florida with 85,148, behind California with 115,210, Texas with 106,457 and New York with 85,523.
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