FSU offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn had an interest in leaving FSU after the 2025 season. He interviewed for at least one job (Arkansas) and there were rumors he could retire. However, once that news never came after the New Year started, everyone figured he’d coach at least one more year at Florida State.
However, we noted that the promotion of Tim Harris Jr. to co-offensive coordinator was likely forshadowing in case Malzahn left after the 2026 season. Little did we know that Malzahn would announce his retirement on Monday morning and Tim Harris Jr. would be promoted to offensive coordnator:
After 35 years coaching football, @CoachGusMalzahn announced his retirement Monday morning.@CoachT_HarrisJR has been promoted to offensive coordinator
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) February 2, 2026
🔗: https://t.co/FUXQv8huPn#NoleFamily pic.twitter.com/60s1d01bo6
This news probably comes as a shock to most FSU fans. Some fans will likely celebrate the news because they were not a fan of Malzhan’s offense. However, the offense wasn’t the problem last year. It was the execution of the offense, and Thomas Castellanos left a lot of meat on that bone due to poor decision-making and a high number of turnovers.
FSU saves a lil bit of money by not having to buy Gus Malzahn out if they had chosen to go another direction after last season. Harris Jr. has proven to be an effective recruiter and developer of talent, adding several blue-chip wide receivers and helping Micahi Danzy explode on the scene as a redshirt freshman last season.
Duce Robinson put up career numbers and would have been an NFL Draft selection had he not decided to return to FSU for the 2026 season.
It'll be interesting to see how the offense changes with Malzahn's fingerprints gone. However, Mike Norvell's offense was only a slight variation from Malzahn's, so I wouldn't expect drastic changes.