The finality of a senior season is not lost on Joey Grant. For everything the team goes through, the UCF center knows it'll be his last time. His last preseason camp. His last college season opener.
"It's funny," Grant said following a recent practice. "At practice and stuff, Coach Josh Linam, who played here, he's been messing with me. It's my last first week preparation for a game week. My last camp. Everything is last this, last that. It's kind of a joke, but at the same time it's serious. After this year I'm never going to be able to put on a UCF helmet again. It's been the best four or five years of my life. I want to go out the best way I can and showing these younger guys how we want to carry on the tradition. After I'm gone I plan on coming to every UCF game. Once a Knight, always a Knight. All the seniors that have come and gone have believed in that. I still talk to all my teammates. I think it's just coming out here with playing every down like it's your last because you never know when it might be. I know some time at the end of the season it is going to be my last, and I want to do it the right way."
Grant, saddled by injury issues during his junior year, underwent a second shoulder surgery - this one successful - last December.
"I feel perfect," he said. "I feel good to go coming out here every day. Getting stronger. Building chemistry with the offensive line. I feel like we're coming out here ready to work every single day. I feel we have good leadership coming on the field and getting the younger guys ready to work to win a game."
Not only does he feel 100 percent physically, he's also in the best football shape of his life with a noticeable leaner and stronger frame.
"At the end of last year, I felt I was getting a little sloppy," Grant said. "I was around 290, 292. My body fat was 25 percent, pretty bad. I kind of told the coaches over the spring and the summer that I was going to lose a little bit. I believe I got down to 270. 269 I think was my lowest. Really trying to eat a lot better, eat a lot cleaner. Over the summer, I was full-go in the weight program so I put muscle back on. Right now I'm around 285."
Perhaps the biggest surprise on the offensive line this camp was the emergence of true freshman Tyler Hudanick, who spent time on the first and was listed as a backup when UCF released their depth chart on Sunday. It appears he's in line to contribute this season. What does Grant think about the newcomer?
"I'm not a coach so I can't comment on all the technique wise and stuff, but just as a freshman coming in he works really hard," Grant said. "He's a really tough kid. I think one of the first days we put on pads, Coach Key in front of everybody showed a couple plays of Tyler pancaking people. He's a real tough kid, a hard-nosed kid. He's from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They breed them tough up there, drinking brown gravy. He's a really tough, really smart kid who wants to learn the game. He wants to be great. I think it's been great for the offensive line just to see someone who's so young want to be great. Obviously you see that from the leaders, but to see it from a freshman, it forces everybody to rise up. Competition breeds greatness."
Since he brought up pancakes (i.e. taking your blocking assignment to the ground), should that be an official NCAA stat?
"I think that's like a fake stat. I think they're listed somewhere... I guarantee you (the leader) wouldn't be me (on this team). I'm not pancaking everybody I see. I think offensive linemen, we don't really want the credit. That's why we play offensive line. Our stats are the running back's rushing yards, his touchdowns. The quarterback being able to throw the ball. That's what we take pride in. We come in, watch film, see if we do our job. If we do, you see the stats in the run game and passing game."
