Former UCF defensive coordinator Ted Roof has won his lawsuit against the school over language in the buyout clause of his contract, netting him two-third of a million dollars in the process.
The fight over Roof's buyout lasted longer than his tenure as the Knights' defensive coordinator. Hired in January 2024, Roof was let go on Oct. 28 of that year, the club's fifth consecutive loss at the time.
Roof signed a 2-year deal that paid him $400,000 in 2024 and $750,000 in 2025. A month after head coach Gus Malzahn fired Roof, Malzahn himself then resigned -- and then UCF tried to retroactively change the terms of Roof's buyout.
Roof's contract gave UCF the right to essentially walk away from him for a minimal fee in the event Malzahn resigned: "In the event of the resignation of Gus Malzahn as Head Football Coach, this agreement may be terminated and the employee shall be entitled to receive 90 days of pay at the seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) annual rate, effective as of the resignation date of the Head Football Coach."
However, Roof argued, and Orange County Circuit Court Judge Margaret H. Schreiber agreed, that clause only applied if Roof was still employed by UCF at the time. He was not.
“UCFAA asserts the later resignation of Malzahn allows it to go back and modify the termination compensation provision, effective as of the date of Malzahn’s resignation. This Court does not agree. Roof was terminated without cause under his employment agreement at a time when Malzahn remained as Head Football Coach for UCF," Judge Schreiber wrote, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
“ … There is no reading of the Employment Agreement which would allow UCFAA to modify Roof’s termination pay only (as opposed to his employment) — be it 33 days, 3 months or 13 months after Malzahn resigned his own employment relationship with UCF.”
UCF is now required to pay Roof $637,770, plus attorney's fees and other costs associated with the lawsuit.
Roof is now the defensive coordinator at Boston College, while Scott Frost is preparing for the second season of his second tenure as UCF's head coach. Malzahn spent 2025 as the offensive coordinator at Florida State and is now a member of the College Football Playoff selection committee after retiring from coaching.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.