Before I go further in this, I wanted to mention that I know Heupel did us no favors with his recruiting and UCF had to take on more transfers than usual.

I can't be the only one slightly disappointed with only 14 high school kids, a rivals ranking of 53 and a 247 ranking of 52.

For the "best recruiting class in UCF history", it sure does feel like we're still not there yet with recruiting.


Rivals rankings:
FSU - 20
UF - 24
UM - 34
UCF - 53

Rivals 4 and 5 stars:
FSU - 8
UF - 7
UM - 8
UCF - 1

247 rankings:
UM - 15
UF - 19
FSU - 20
UCF - 52

247 4 and 5 stars:
UM - 10
UF - 7
FSU - 6
UCF - 1

Login to view embedded media

Watching the olympic tonight and I started a discussion, with my buddies, my doorman, and my two bosses (full transparency they play in the NBA so they are little biased)

I threw Michael Phelps’ name in the ring – they all kinda said no). Other names that were thrown into the ring

Tiger Woods
Bo Jackson
Mike Tyson
LBJ
Wilt Chamberlain

The bosses know I HATE LBJ on the court (GO BULLS) but he said overall talent wise – LBJ would be dominate in football, soccer, or swimming if he started at young age like Phelps.

Who would you say and why?

Here at the Magic game and it looks like no progress has been made in 2021. Is this still happening?

The spring roster is now posted with all the newcomers and new number assignments.

The new players:

2 - DT Lee Hunter
2 - WR Kobe Hudson
4 - DB Koby Perry
8 - TE Kemore Gamble
9 - RB Jordan McDonald
10 - LB Terrence Lewis
10 - QB John Rhys Plumlee
12 - QB Thomas Castellanos
21 - DB Nikai Martinez
35 - K Colton Boomer
47 - DE K.D. McDaniel
71 - OL Tylan Grable
72 - OL Ryan Swoboda
88 - TE Grant Stevens

There are actually three No. 10's listed - DB William Wells is the third.

There are also a couple number changes.

0 - RB Johnny Richardson (was 25)
13 - QB Mikey Keene (was 16)

I also just noticed punter Alan Kervin was no longer listed on the roster. He was the starting holder.

needs to step away from the keyboard, get into the weight room, and work his way into being the dominant college football player that he is capable of being. There is no future in the past, and Hunter is at UCF now.

Login to view embedded media

The Washington Commanders. That name is lame. Team names have to roll off the tongue, be short, and/or have some actual context with the team. That name has none of those attributes. Sounds like a AA baseball team name. It might be time for me to change teams if it was my team. The Washington Football Team had actually grown on me. It gave them an aire of "This team belongs to Washington DC.” I thought the Washington Monuments was a better cheeseball name. At least with Monuments, there are lots of monuments in DC, and you could make it about the history of the franchise. Have sayings/marketing like, "Whose the next Monument in DC?" (Aka Hall of a Famer/Superstar/First round draft pick,/etc…).

My family name is on one of the buildings at Auburn. I have a cousin on Bear Bryant's All-Dynasty team and another cousin married to a Pat Dye relative.

Apparently, y'all have an Auburn troll problem on this site. As a Gus-half-full guy, I have come to set the record straight. UCF could play football for another 100 years and will never have a football coach as great as Gus Malzahn.

DUMB MASSES at Auburn became so disenfranchised with uat's success that they overlooked the amazing program that Gus built at Auburn. In 10 years, we had two national championship game appearances, three SEC title game appearances, and multiple New Year's Six appearances, despite off-the-field factions actively working to undermine Gus since the 2015 season.

On Feb. 15, 2021, UCF became a legitimate "consistent" player on the national scene. In under a year, Gus, through selective high school recruiting, roster management, and transfer portal signees, has transformed UCF not only into an AAC title contender, but potentially a New Year's Six participant.

Nm

Login to view embedded media

Except:

Login to view embedded media

Login to view embedded media

Dumb, but this is what we have brought upon society. Say something that is even in a joking manner and 10 years later the sharks will come for you.

In an NBA games last night the Cleveland Cavs we’re playing at Charlotte.

A wistle was blown and play stopped as usual, however a Charlott player shot a practice three a few seconds after the whistle and it ended up counting.


Watch this video and see why. Lol…



Login to view embedded media

Just heard today’s WBB game was moved to 4 PM. Was bringing grand daughters to clinic at Noon and them game at 2. Definitely throws a wrench into that. Anyone know why the change?

recently did a pod with Causey- had some good stories and intel from the 17-18 teams and what it was like playing under 3 different staffs. Check it out

Login to view embedded media

This is not meant to start another political conversation. I have a high school friend (Melissa Murray) who is in the short list, so i have been reading many articles on this topic.

I didn't realize the current favorite is a usf alumnus. Now i am really pulling for my friend even though she passed up a great UCF education for Virginia and Yale.

CNN: South Carolina judge is at the center of a political whirlwind around Biden's Supreme Court decision.

Childs, who was nominated to the federal bench in 2010 by President Barack Obama, earned degrees from the university of south florida and the University of South Carolina. Her champions say her state school experience would be a welcome change on the Supreme Court.

Got a Rec Teq pellet grill smoker last year and have enjoyed smoking stuff. Last night I made Parmesan crusted mahi . Then I put on 16.5 pound full brisket at 8 PM. Just finished it ,the flat is resting and these are my first burnt ends I have made . YUMMY. I don't care who you are smoked brisket is the bomb.

I am looking to buy a home in Oviedo for my kid to live in and for a place for us to stay during football season. After we close the first thing I am buying is a portable Rec Teq 340 smoker I can roll into campus and smoke wings and brats while tailgating.

Login to view embedded media

Only missed the estimate by 500,000.

Amanda Cromwell is arguably UCF's best-ever women's soccer coach, taking the Knights to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances between 1999 and 2012. Following the 2012 season, Cromwell went to UCLA where she won a National Championship in her first season there (2013). She recently resigned from UCLA to become the new head coach of the NWSL Orlando Pride.

Cromwell also just got married to Megan Fish, her former player at UCF (Fish was recruited by Cromwell and played at UCF in 2011 and 2012, prior to Cromwell leaving for UCLA).

Here's a UCF.edu story about the couple touring the country in a van:


And here's some photos from the recent wedding:

Login to view embedded media Login to view embedded media

I was scanning my phone this article popped up from the Tampa Bay Times stating moves from one conference to another often doesn't add up. It's like they are going out of their way to suggest us going to the BigXII is not going to pay off. Or, good thing USF didn't get invited . 😆

Enjoy:
Login to view embedded media

Login to view embedded media

UCF defensive coordinator Travis Williams is excited about their spring transfer class, which includes four players that will play on his side of the ball: safety Koby Perry, defensive tackle Lee Hunter, linebacker Terrence Lewis and buck K.D. McDaniel.

Opening statement:

"I just want to start off with the four guys we signed from the portal. I'll start out with Koby Perry. He's a safety for us. Really good football player. Was the player of the year in the OVC. What was really impressive about him is the coaches that were there were calling us about him, saying how hard he works on the practice field. How he loves football. That he'll be a great addition for us. That's always good to get that type of feedback. We're excited to have Koby. Looking for him to do some great things here.

"The next person is Lee Hunter. Big defensive tackle from Mobile, Alabama. I've been recruiting him since ninth grade. Got a good history with him. I know his family pretty well. Very excited about him. He's a big human being. He'll give us a big body up front. You can't have enough of those guys, defensive tackles that can cover guys up so we can make plays and play in the back field. Very excited about Lee Hunter.

"Terrence Lewis. He was a highly-recruited linebacker from out of Miami. We have a history with each other as well. I recruited him when I was at another school. Built a relationship then, so once he got into the portal we just kind of jumped back on that relationship. He had a lot of schools recruiting him and he chose to come here. Excited to have him. Brings speed to the room. Brings explosion to the room. Really excited to have Terrence.

"KD McDaniel is coming from Kentucky. He gives us some juice off the edge, that pass rusher that we need losing Big Kat. We're getting a guy that can generate some pass rush. He's a guy we're very excited about from South Georgia. He's a guy that you watch his film, has a really good skill set, can bend off the edge and get to the quarterback. Very excited about him. He has time on task. A veteran guy. He played 30 snaps in the bowl game.

"Again, very excited about all four guys we're bringing in. We're bringing these guys in to play. Obviously you've got to compete. We don't hand anything out. When we bring guys in, it's a position of need. We feel really good about bringing those four guys in."

How has the transfer portal changed recruiting in evaluation and filling out classes?

"It changed for everyone. It changed for colleges and it changed for the high school kids. It's really one of those deals that you have to adjust with time. Our head coach, coach Gus Malzahn, he does a great job of knowing exactly what we want to do. How many high school numbers we want, how many portal numbers we want. How many we're going to keep leftover. Even after the spring there's going to be other guys. You've got to adjust with him. You've got to adjust. It's big on relationships. Guys are going to guys they know. What I like about it as far as the portal, it makes you have a genuine relationship with guys. It makes you keep your word. Now guys can just leave and go other places. That's what I do like about it. Also, you've got to have the other side of it of sticking out and fighting through. That sort of deal. It's still life lessons. But again, it's the portal and we've got to adjust to the times. I'm not going to complain about it. I'm going to find some players."

Both Lee Hunter and Terrence Lewis were highly-rated high school recruits, but they didn't really pan out their freshman season. Terrence is coming off a knee injury as well. Is that a concern or do you trust what you saw in high school?

"I trust what I saw in high school. I wouldn't say pan out. If you've got an ACL, you can't play football. You can't say a kid didn't pan out. He was injured. Then Lee Hunter, I did my research and talked to a lot of guys even at Auburn. They say he's a really good football player. The times of the portal. When I played, guess what, Travis Williams was redshirted. Redshirt freshman year I was running out on kickoffs. Redshirt sophomore year, the third year, that's when I started linebacker. So I don't know about the whole didn't pan out. You've got to develop them and give them time. But both those guys, we're looking forward to those guys being able to help us."

How different is this team going to look next year? You've lost guys to the transfer portal, gained guys in the portal and the incoming freshmen, so an entirely different group.

"Not to switch subjects, but I'm watching basketball last night. I was watching different teams. Kentuckys and Auburns of the world, all their guys are transfers and they're top 10 teams. You've got to adjust to the times. You still have to have your high school guys as far as your foundation, but you want to plug in positions of need so you can continue to grow your team. I think that's what we're doing here. That's Coach Malzahn's vision. Get a position of need. We turned guys away. There were really good players, but we're not just piling on. We're good at certain positions and there are positions of need."

Great football is played at every level. Bryson Armstrong came to you from FCS and some top players in the NFL played FCS. So you're getting Koby Perry from Austin Peay, talk more about him and what he can provide as an older, more experienced player in the secondary.

"When he walks in the room, he brings that energy. He loves football. He's working out and you can tell who he is because he's talking and he loves ball. We did our research on him. Everybody said this kid loves football. Very excited to have him. Again, it's a position of need. He's played a lot of ball at Austin Peay. Player of the year. I like the kid. I like being around him. He's high energy like myself. I'm glad we got him."

In your experience, is this an unusual signing day since no high school players were signed and is this the new norm going forward?

"It's pretty much the new norm. We signed all our guys in December. There's a couple guys signing a couple guys, but for the most part guys are signing in December and a lot of guys are enrolling early. We did a lot of our work at the beginning of it in December. That's why it helps us to go out in January and really focus on the '23 class because the '22 class was already signed. That was the advantage for us, so when we were out, we were getting a jump start on getting information on the '23s instead of doing home visits for '22s and doing different things. We got that done in December, so it was an advantage for us."

You mentioned you had a long relationship with a couple of these guys. When you're recruiting high school kids now, do you mention that UCF will be a place for you even in the future?

"I want to get them like right now. But I want to build a strong enough relationship that if he goes somewhere and it doesn't work out, my relationship from the past, if it's a kid we still want us, that can help us. It's all about relationships. If you don't have a relationship, you're going to be behind the eight-ball."

You mentioned KD McDaniel from Kentucky. He's been listed as a linebacker in the past. You described him more as an edge in that Big Kat type?

"He's going to be a buck for us. He's an edge rusher for us. He's a guy that can generate some pass rush for us. He is an outside linebacker."

You talked about focusing on '23s. You just had a big event this past weekend, Hometown Hero. It seemed like hundreds of guys were on campus. How does that set the stage for what you want to do in this next class?

"It was huge. Hats off to Dave Shumate and Leah Cunningham. We just hired her. She's doing on-campus recruiting as well. The way they had it organized. We had hundreds. We literally have over 300 kids come through, including the 7-on-7. It might be 500. 7-on-7 and the invites for the Hometown Hero. It's always good to get those guys on campus. Then when they get here, it's like this is awesome. We wanted to keep it exclusive, then we were like you know what, let them come. It was real deal players here. It's always good to get those types of guys on campus."

Coach Malzahn talks about UCF being the future of college football. You're going to the Big 12 next year, But beating Florida in the bowl game, that's a little more recent, how much of an impact did all those things have when you talked to guys this past weekend?

"It's huge. Talking to Coach Malzahn, we are the state champs. That goes a long way. Beating a team like Florida and being able to compete on a high level, on big-time TV with people watching us, that's always huge. Us going to the Big 12, we're pushing that out there. This '23 class, their first year, will be in the Big 12. We've got a lot of things to sell here. Just a great area. The only football school in the area. There's so much. The weather. It was cold for like three days last week, but now we're back to 80 degrees. There's so much to sell here. Coach Malzahn's vision, the future of college football. He really believes it. We believe it. We know this right here is a goldmine. We're looking forward to the future."

She Painted This.
Login to view embedded media