Could UCF be moving up to a more prestigious conference, maybe the Big 12? Recent comments from George O'Leary and Todd Stansbury have left fans buzzing that something could be in the works.
Last week's "Downtown Huddle" at the Cheyenne Saloon had a markedly different feel than the campus "Hometown Huddle" a few weeks prior.
For starters, the ambience is much better at the 1980s-era bar venue (or should I say 1880s) not to mention the open bar. The crowd seemed larger too. While less than 100 attended the first event at the stadium, there were at least double and maybe even triple that number (it's hard to count with the multiple-level layout).
The evening began with brief commentary from Mark Wright (Assistant Vice President/Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development) who introduced Michael Morsberger, UCF's new VP for Alumni Relations and Development and the UCF Foundation's new CEO.
A few minutes later it was time for GOL to take the podium. With the #CivilConflict making national headlines just a couple days earlier, no surprise at what his first comments were about.
"Yes, we lost at UConn," O'Leary said. "Yes, it cost us the Fiesta Bowl. You probably didn't know that. Now you know. Those things happen. I take blame for it. It had nothing to do with the weather."
O'Leary suggesting that a 10-2 UCF would have gotten the access bowl nod over an 11-2 Boise State that had a conference championship win to enhance their resume. If that happened, I would have assumed UCF to the Peach Bowl for geography reasons while TCU would have been sent to the Fiesta.
As he's been doing lately in multiple speeches and interviews, GOL offered his good riddance to the departing "me guys" aka the wide receivers. He then said they usually perform better when they don't have as many seniors.
"We will be a solid football team," O'Leary said. "There's no question about that."
After a mention of the recent APR rankings, O'Leary dropped this bombshell:
"We are in that Group of Five," he said. "That is the problem. Everything is being geared toward that Power Five. But believe me. We will be in the Power Five."
Loud cheers erupted throughout the Cheyenne Saloon. GOL continued:
"That's why Todd's here. That's why we hired Mike. I think with everything UCF has going for it. I think with the TV network and all that taking place, all the networks these conferences are running, they have to close the gap with the revenue stream. I think that's the big determining factor for what takes place, it really is."
Reading between the lines, could GOL be suggesting the Big 12 is developing a long-term strategy for a conference network? The Big 12 and ACC are the only Power Five leagues lacking a conference network, but the ACC is working on one. The Big 12 has not made a similar declaration because its schools' third-tier rights are locked up in their own long-term deals (which of course include Texas and the Longhorn Network).
If a Big 12 Network ever became a reality (with or without Texas), expanding the footprint to Florida would make a lot of sense, potentially putting UCF at the top of the expansion candidate list.
GOL then predicably ripped the attendance at the event (in the grand scheme of things it wasn't all that good) and then gave his spiel about "taking ownership."
Here are a few old GOL jokes he brought out of the archives:
-If you send GOL an e-mail, it goes into "File C, the garbage." He rarely answers emails because most people don't put their name on it. Those are the "FIWs" or the "Faceless Internet Weasels." He "doesn't deal with anyone who doesn't use their God-given name."
-Assistant coaches will have their phone numbers embroidered on their shirts at games so you can call them to complain. "This way you can deal with them directly instead of wasting my time."
-After GOL retires, he's going to join Marc Daniels in the booth as color analyst. He'll call out all the under-performing players and point out where their helicopter parents are sitting. "I'll only last one game."
-GOL asked the players if they wanted names on the jerseys and they said they didn't. Only the players who don't play want names. Besides, you aren't a real fan if you don't know players by their numbers.
Brent Key got up and spoke a little bit about the offense, while GOL came back up to talk defense. Chuck Bresnahan had a family obligation or he would've been there. GOL really likes the defensive line coming back and feels they have good depth at linebacker though Terrance Plummer will be a loss. Without naming names, GOL seems really high on incoming kicker Donald Delahaye.
Some weird questions, including a guy who suggested that Justin Holman would "turn pro next year" and then asked GOL if he'd visit his condo in San Francisco prior to the Stanford game.
Perfect opportunity for someone to ask, "Coach, are we joining the Big 12?" but of course nobody did. Some grandma asked about walk-ons though.
Though he wasn't scheduled to speak, AD Todd Stansbury wanted the mic. What happened next stunned the crowd. No disrespect to Stansbury, but he hasn't been known as a rah-rah big-speech guy. In settings like this, he's usually content to remain in the background.
Passionate and forceful, Stansbury stole the show.
"We are not a one-trick pony," Stansbury began. "Of course our football team leads the charge. This year we won seven conference championships. We had the highest graduation rate of any athletic department in the country. There's a lot of talk about Power Five, non-Power Five. We have the No. 1 winning record against Power Five teams in the country. Any way you slice it and dice it, UCF is on the map and people have taken notice. It's because people like Geortge O'Leary are doing their job."
Then after a brief pause, you could tell Stansbury was thinking carefully about what he was going to say next. Given the fact these comments were instantly tweeted by fans (including streamed on Periscope) I think it's okay to post within the private walls of the Dungeon. Of course, his comments were so vague and open to interpretation they wouldn't get him in trouble anyway.
"Of course with Twitter and Facebook, I'm tyring to be careful what I say and how I say it," Stansbury said. "Dont quote me. I don't want to see it in the papers tomorrow. This is not a marathon. The dreams of UCF and what you want, we are not talking about a marathon. We are talking about a sprint. These guys have done their job. The student-athletes have done their job."
Then Stansbury went into a diatribe about some recent click-bait story. He said it was on ESPN and I know I remember reading it too, but I can't locate it at the moment.
"There was an article on ESPN three or vour months ago about the top non-Power Five programs. It went down each one. We all know the usaul suspects. BYU, UConn, Cincinnati, UCF, USF, Boise. Then it said what are the weaknesses of each. Our weakness was the fan support. But it's a myth. When you look at the last three years of football attendance, we are No. 3 in the country of the non-Power Five and we're above at least 10 Power Five programs in football attendance. BYU is ahead of us and ECU. Hey, you gotta give it to them. They have a great following, they love their football and I love they're on the East side of our conference so we play them every year. It's UCF No. 3 and everybody else. So it's not true.
"We've got to elminate the myths. Coaches have done their jobs. Student-athletes have done their job. We're winning. We're graduating. We're doing all the things you want them to do. Now it's up to you to do your job. You've got to be there. It's not a marathon. It's a sprint. That means tickets, GKC, that means you show up when we have an event.
"Before I took this job, everybody told me you want that job. I knew that. I wanted this job, I applied two times before I got it. Nobody is interested in a sleeping giant. We're not a sleeping giant. They're not interested in big. They're interested in who shows up. Let's get over the big, the sleeping giant. At the end of the day, it's eyeballs on TV sets and it's who showed up at the game. I wasn't supposed to speak tonight, but we got a great crowd. I know I'm speaking to the choir, so now go out there and sing. Charge on!"
So there you have it. GOL emphatically states UCF "will be in a Power Five conference." Of course, he could be speaking in generalities figuring that it eventually has to happen. And Stansbury could have just been in a good mood and wanting to talk, though the whole "it's a sprint and not a marathon" statement could make one believe there's possible imminent movement (such as the next year) so it's vitally important UCF has a great year attendance wise to perhaps cement inclusion.
Though it didn't pick up national traction because guys like McMurphy generally scoff at possible G5 promotion, the West Virginia AD did recently acknowledge the Big 12 has a "presidential committee" looking at expansion.
Of course, it could be nothing at all. Just rah-rah talk to fire up a fanbase in the summer. What do you think?
Photos courtesy of UCF Athletics.
