It's Game Week! UCF opens the 2024 season this Thursday, welcoming New Hampshire to the Bounce House. The Wildcats are a member of FCS and finished with a 6-5 record a season ago.
During his weekly press conference, head coach Gus Malzahn fielded mostly depth-chart related questions. UCF's two-deep was also published Monday, revealing several notable decisions.
Jacurri Brown, a post-spring transfer from Miami, earned the backup quarterback job. UCF made no changes to their first team offensive line, confirming Paul Rubelt will begin as the starting right tackle in his redshirt senior season.
UCF has a trio of backup running backs behind RJ Harvey as Johnny Richardson, Peny Boone and Myles Montgomery were all listed with equal status.
Trent Whittemore earned a starting wide receiver position alongside Kobe Hudson and Xavier Townsend.
Defensively, Nyjalik Kelly, another post-spring transfer from Miami earned the starting defensive end job opposite Malachi Lawrence.
Malzahn confirmed backup defensive tackle John Walker will miss considerable time with a "lower body" injury, which prompted coaches to shift Daylan Dotson (transfer from UT Martin) from defensive end to defensive tackle. Tyreek'e Robinson, a true freshman walk-on, also earned a spot on the DT two-deep.
As expected, transfers Ethan Barr (Vanderbilt) and Deshawn Pace (Cincinnati) earned starting linebacker positions.
In the secondary, UCF leaned on experience for its starting spots. All corners (Brandon Adams, Mac McWilliams) and safeties (Sheldon Arnold II, Ladarius Tennison or Quadric Bullard) are seniors, the lone exception being sophomore Braeden Marshall at nickel.
Here's everything Malzahn had to say.
Opening statement:
"Okay, first of all, I'd like to congratulate Lake Mary (winning the) Little League World Series and their coaches, their players. I mean, that's big time. I know a lot of our coaches and players were keeping up with them the last game or so, real proud of those guys.
"Week one's finally here, an opponent, you know, New Hampshire. We're looking forward to playing these guys here at home in front of our home crowd.
"We got a lot of new players. I'm really excited to watch our team play. I think this first game will tell us a lot about where we're at, but the big thing is just finally getting to play a week one opponent here at home. I'm looking forward to it."
John Walker put on social media that he had some sort of knee injury. Can you update us on his status?
"Yeah, he did. He had a lower body injury, I think, a couple weeks ago. He's going to be out for an extended period of time. Hopefully, we'll get him back before the season's out. I'll keep you updated as it gets closer and all that."
And on that note, I saw Daylan Dotson on the depth chart listed as a defensive tackle. Was that a move because you're not going to have John Walker early on?
"Well, yeah. He is a guy that's played inside some. When we were watching his film when he went in the portal, he played some 4i against Georgia and did some good things, too. So, he's a guy that is at least familiar there. And then we got some young guys that are really coming on and really trying to develop those guys. The good thing at that position is we do have some depth, which definitely helps."
I guess along those lines of health, are there any other players that you can talk about that are banged up or may not be able to go this season?
"Jordan Davis, we're not going to have him this year. He tore his Achilles the first week of practice. Jordan's been just a phenomenal teammate and person since I've been here. He's overcome injuries after injury, and he wanted to try it again and got hurt again. But everybody else, we expect to be ready to go."
Coach, typically you talk about this first week still being part of the evaluation process, but in this particular year, a lot more transfers than in the past. Does that change your approach at all, or what's different in your first week of evaluation?
"Like I've said, fall camp, it's been a grind. That was intentional just to make sure and bring our team closer together. I talked about our team building things, and all that's great. But there's nothing like being out there. They put the coaches on the sideline and they let the players play. And that's what I'm most excited about, to see how they're going to respond.
"Respond to success, adversity, how close they're going to be, who are the leaders are going to step up. Like I said, they make the coaches stay on the sideline for a reason, and every championship team I've been a part of has been player-led. So all those dynamics, that's what I will be looking forward to seeing on Thursday."
Jacurri Brown was listed as No. 2 QB on the depth chart just released. What did he do during camp to earn that?
"Yeah, we let him go live a couple weeks ago in the scrimmage. It was completely different letting a guy like that go live with his playmaking ability. Him and KJ, they have similar skill sets, and so you don't have to completely change your offense or something like that. He's still learning, but he has a really talented skill set. He's got a strong arm, and he can run. I'm excited to watch him this year."
Walk-on freshman defensive tackle Tyreek'e Robinson made the two-deep. I was wondering what it means for a guy like that to make it.
"We recruited him. We thought he had a skill set. I could tell the guys, I don't care if you're a five-star transfer, five-star walk-on, I mean everybody's gonna get opportunity. He's shown he deserves to be in the mix, to have a chance. He's still young. I mean, there's still a lot to learn, but he does have a skill set that I think if he'll keep progressing, that he'll be able to help us."
Paul Rubelt got the fifth offensive line spot, so what growth did you see out of him, and what stood out as far as including him in the starting tackle position?
"Yeah, Paul has grown probably as much as a player in one year as any player I can remember. I mean, just knowledge of the game, his mindset, everything that goes with it. He has come on and starting to turn into one of our better offensive players. I've been real proud of Paul, and he's had a great camp."
Coach, you've been around a lot of championship teams. What are some characteristics you feel like this team embodies that can get you guys over that hump?
"We got leaders. We have experience. I think when you look at our roster, we have a lot of guys that played a lot of football, a lot of big-time football, and played it well, playing big-time football. But it's all about chemistry and coming together, and coming together as a team, and that's going to be our challenge.
"That's everybody's challenge. I mean, you can look at the first week games, you can look at these games coming up this weekend. I mean, it's just the chemistry.
"Can they be a true team, not individuals? You're in a time of college football that the world tells you individual, individual. And so that's our challenge, and we've been talking about it, but there's nothing like getting out there. That's when we'll find out.
"So we do have quality experience. We do have more playmakers on defense than we had last year. We've got experienced quarterbacks. You like that part of it, but we'll find out once the game starts."
Coach, you have a lot of depth at the wide receiver position. Talk about Trent Whittemore winning that starting wide receiver spot.
"Yeah, Trent has been one of those guys kind of in the background since he's been here. Now he's starting to establish himself as one of our better receivers. He has really made some really nice plays catching the football.
"He's always been one of those kind of dirty work guys, and he'll block. He's very smart, but he's really taking his game to the next level. And I think probably more than anything, he's actually got more opportunities. We had Javon (Baker) last year, and now we don't have Javon. So he's got more opportunities, and he's really seized the moment."
Coach, you mentioned the Lake Mary kids. They set a goal, accomplished it, and you guys have set goals that you are about to embark on. Is it motivating even for older players, older coaches to see this come to fruition?
"I think any time somebody does something extremely special and it's in the area and local and all that, you're already proud of them. I think that is a really neat deal, not just for us, but everybody in the area."
Did you grow up playing Little League?
"I played Little League baseball. Never was good enough to make it to a Little League World Series. But, yeah, I did it."
You talked a little bit about the challenge of having an opponent in front of you. What are the challenges that New Hampshire is going to put you guys in?
"When you turn on the film, of course, they're going to have quite a few new players just like us. They got a new quarterback. Their quarterback last year, he transferred to Minnesota. They got another transfer in. I think he's a pretty good guy.
"Their defense plays extremely hard. You can tell they're well-coached. Their head coach played there. Real successful quarterback. They have a lot of pride in their program. So, you know, we just got to play good, clean football.
"This game, honestly, will be more about us than it will be our opponent. But we have a lot of respect for their program."
Behind RJ Harvey, you have a gauntlet of running backs. How do you plan to distribute the carries and make sure everybody gets their fair touch?
"It starts with RJ Harvey. I think everybody knows that. He is set up to have a great year. We'll have a plan. We'll have a plan going into each game. Coach Kam Martin will have that plan. We'll see how each one goes. The great thing is we have quality depth at the running back position, which you can never have enough of that. We'll have different plans each game. You may see two guys on the field at the same time, so we'll just see how each game unfolds."
Coach, you talked about this game being a little bit more about your guys rather than New Hampshire. What do you want to see for your guys out of this game?
"I want us to play good team football. I want us to be sound on offense without all the penalty crap and all that like we talked about. I want us to be sound on defense. I want to hear some hits where the crowd goes, whoa, you know, type deal. I want to play good, disciplined football. I mean, that's really it. It's just getting back to the basics.
"That's really been what we talked about the whole fall camp and not have those self-inflicted wounds. That's the challenge of the first game. You look at those first games, I mean, there's a lot of penalties. We can't be that team. Hopefully that won't happen."
On that note, what would be a quality first start for KJ Jefferson?
"I think for him to get out there and play with his teammates and play good, clean football and get some momentum."
How good is this team? How capable are they?
"It's yet to be seen. I mean, like I said, we got experience. We've got some playmakers. We'll learn a lot. I'll learn a lot, too, just like y'all will.
"I mean, you know, the practices are great. You can learn from the scrimmage, especially when your quarterback goes live, but there's nothing like getting on that sideline as one and playing against an opponent and have to adjust, have to overcome adversity, success, how you're going to deal with it, and just grow as a team, you know? So I'll be able to tell you as the weeks go."
Coach, you and the other coaches talk a lot about not getting too high, not getting too low. A lot of close games taking place over Week Zero here. Do you kind of point to those as an example that anybody's vulnerable?
"There's more equality in college football than ever before. You're going to continue that, as long as the portal's like it is. I mean, you're going to have your handful of teams that spend $20-plus million on the NIL, they probably set with everybody else.
"There's a lot of equality and there's a lot of newness. So we got all our new players. Other teams got new players, so I think that trend will continue."
Three of your spring portal additions were listed as defensive starters, between Mac McWilliams, Sheldon Arnold II, and Nyjalik Kelly. So after the spring game, what did you guys evaluate as a staff as far as the defensive needs? And then also, how did those three guys adapt and learn the scheme so quickly?
"Well, anybody that has started, they've earned it since they've been here. We thought highly of all three. In the secondary, we have a lot of guys that could be listed as starters. That's a good thing. We have some depth back there.
"Kelly's a guy that started at another in-state school, got banged up. Now he's healthy again, so it didn't surprise us."
All but four of your starters have come to UCF under you. Does this team feel more like your team?
"I like this team a lot as human beings and who they are as people. You know, big-picture team, I like them. Right now, I'm looking forward to the journey with them and the process, whatever that means. But I really like coaching these guys. I feel like everybody we have wants to be coached. They want to be team-oriented."
You brought in a few new coaches and coordinators on your staff. Is there any sense of maybe having to get fit in together, newness, I guess, with this first game, you know, trying to make sure you guys are all on the same page when it comes to game-day stuff?
"Yeah, I think that's a great question. I mean, I think any time, even me and Ted (Roof), we coached together for three years, but it's been a long time ago. And, you know, in the scrimmages, I'm usually calling the offense. He's on the defense. But it's good. We got a good plan of how we're going to communicate.
"I think the big thing is the communication with the quarterbacks. That's obviously new. The tablets and getting information how you're going to be organized. I talked to a couple coaches that already played and asked if there were any growing pains or anything you didn't expect or whatever like that.
"So that's really the newness. Everything else, I think, will be pretty easy."
Coach, how happy are you just to get done with all the all-season hype and outside the room stuff and just be able to put the ball down, coach football, and just play?
"Yeah, there's been a lot of talk. Everybody's sick of talking and now we're ready to play and see what happens, put the ball down, so you're exactly right. There's around our building, it's been that way probably for the last two or three days, ready to get this thing going."
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire announced that they'll be releasing player availability reports each week. Will you do the same?
"No, not unless they make you. You know, I don't know what he... I mean, I don't know how you do that until... a lot of times you don't find out if a guy is available until before the game sometimes.
"I did see that. I didn't know exactly what that meant, but no, we won't be. Does that hurt your feelings? Is that okay? Disappointed that we're not?"
What do you say about how far the run defense has come? What do you want to see out of them?
"I want to stop the run this year. That's what I want to see."
You talked about talking to some of the coaches who may have played already this weekend. Obviously, Mike Norvell at Florida State, you saw what happened to them. How much is it like trying to avoid maybe the hype train going into the season and making sure that everyone's on the same page? How important is that maybe to kind of not get distracted?
"I'm sure both those teams probably had a lot of new players, and you learn a lot about your team. We played Georgia Tech in the bowl game. They're a good team. And so, I don't know. They got good players, and they're a good team."
Obviously, there was some struggle to stop the run last year, so you brought in a bunch of transfers. Andrew Harris, though, is the only returner to make the two-deep at linebacker. What have you seen from him this camp?
"He's a more veteran guy. He was still green and young last year. He's got a skill set. We knew that. But he's more confident."
You mentioned the communication with the quarterback. What's that process been like for you?
"I've got a veteran quarterback in KJ. I see a lot of these guys. You can tell they're talking a whole lot. I'm trying not to talk too much. I mean, let the guy play. There are certain things that you want to give reminders, probably especially early on in the season that maybe he's still learning the offense and everything that goes with it. But he's a veteran guy, and so I'm not going to over-talk.
There's a proposal to eliminate the spring transfer portal window and just have the winter one in December, early January. Do you have an opinion on that? Is that something, as coaches, you'd like to see it shrunk down?
"Yeah, I think the more you can shrink it down, I think that helps. I'm thinking about New Hampshire now. I'll answer that question better after the season."
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