Got home late Saturday night, Sunday was the baseball game and then I watched Orlando City, afterward I hopped on the KL Podcast and then edited the spring game photos. There's still a lot more stuff I'll be posting throughout the week, including more interviews with coaches.
To echo the sentiments of others, the primetime spring game was a hit. I wasn't really into Vertical Horizon being that I was at baseball earlier and then returned a couple hours later for football, but kudos to the UCF staff for putting together a first-class day that appealed to fans of all ages.
I think the actual attendance was somewhere in between 15,000 and 23,000. Someone indicated maybe around 19,000. Regardless, it blew away the previous spring game high which was either 2008 or 2011. If you're UCF and coming off 0-12, and who knows what the Big 12 is really up to, it's nothing but a positive to publish a number like that. Is it SEC territory? No, but I'd tend to think it will probably be among the best (if not the best) among G5 and likely much better than a lot of P5 numbers.
Since Frost split the roster into two teams, going in I knew not to overanalyze what we saw out there. Before, when practices were open, you wouldn't fixate on a particular day, instead you'd obviously take into account everything you saw over the 15 days. That's kind of how I feel about Justin Holman. I'd love to go back and watch film of the spring game - that's another story - but I'm not going to jump to any conclusions just because he didn't have an overly impressive performance.
And it was somewhat annoying that the play was called dead as a "sack" if a defender simply breathed on a QB. That affected game play as well.
As far as QB play, based on chatter of those who have been at practices, it's been said by multiple people that Holman has been the clear No. 1 quarterback with Nick Patti a distant second. Now, you're trusting other people to have a keen eye in evaluation, but I think I would be surprised if the starting quarterback come September is not Holman.
Through the duration of spring, I had also heard positive things regarding Garrett Kruczek and Tyler Harris. If someone won the spring game, it probably was Kruczek. And he has time. Holman and Patti are seniors. Not to say Kruczek isn't hoping to earn a job this year, but take a look in 2017 and decide who might be left on the roster at quarterback. Kruzcek, McKenzie Milton and ??? I'm not sure Tyler Harris is a great fit for this offense.
Save for maybe one scrimmage during the spring, the constant theme we heard was the defense typically would dominate the offense. Though they were going to a 3-4, there's an easier learning curve and plus they're facing an offense still learning their way and going against players who frankly weren't recruit to play in this system.
Here's the general vibe I got from a variety of people:
QBs - Holman (and Patti) are serviceable for the first year. Frost still needs to find that player to build the offense around (Milton? Kruczek if he continues to develop?) but an experienced senior quarterback - and hopefully a healthy one - is nothing but a positive.
RBs - I'm not sure if the current roster has what Frost needs for this system. 2015 was an awful year for the rushing offense and you couldn't put all the blame on the offensive line. And if Frost is accustomed to working with Oregon-type speed, you know nobody on the current team has that. Of the incoming class, I would think Jawon Hamilton and Adrian Killins could see a lot of playing time from day one. They have the speed, you just hope they're sharp enough to pick everything else up quickly.
OL - Along with DL (more on them in a minute), I think this is the weakest link on the team. Frost has been mostly complimentary of the line's progress, but I think that group has the biggest adjustment to make. Guys have lost body fat (and will continue to do so) so maybe the summer of speed work and conditioning will get some of these guys better suited for this style of play. I don't believe they adjusted the first team much during the spring (other than elevating Chavis Dickey). I did hear there was a big drop-off between first and second line. You wonder if some of the freshmen - Jordan Johnson, Aaron Dowdell, etc. could see immediate action.
WRs - We know UCF has a big-time receiving threat in Tre'Quan Smith and I know that's something the new coaches feel as well. Tristan Payton was also said to have had a good spring. The other guy that seemed to generate the most chatter was Trey Anderson, a walk-on who joined the team last year after beginning his career at Appalachian State (I'll be posting an interview with him later this week).
TEs - If there's a strength on offense, I think it's the tight ends which should be a very big passing threat in this system. That group will gain Jordan Akins who was mostly limited this spring coming off the ACL injury, then added Jordan Franks who had been playing wide receiver. Guys like Michael Colubiale and Aaron Cochran were said to have good springs as well as Cal Bloom. And lo and behold we saw Mac Loudermilk step up in the spring game. There's plenty of options there. And if they are to be more of a receiving threat, there's no better person coaching them up than Sean Beckton.
DL - Like the OL, probably the other weakest link. I think Jamiyus Pittman is solid - a sentiment I've heard is shared - but not sure about the rest of the group which is largely why UCF went and signed five DL, three of whom are coming from JUCO. I think it's a plus Tony Guerad was welcomed back - there's still potential there - just not sure how the rest of the group is doing. Again, without seeing practice, it's hard to really know. Monte Taylor was recruited to come in and make a big impact, but like most JUCOs of the GOL era he didn't really pan out that first year.
LBs - A 3-4 could be a net positive for UCF's existing talent base as there are likely more LB type athletes than big uglies to stack on the defensive line. I think the back seven had a better spring but you just wonder if the talent is up to par. Chequan Burkett is a good player, but other "starters" this spring are largely unproven - Mark Rucker, Shaquem Griffin, Errol Clarke. Clarke though seemed to have a good spring as he was one of the few players publically praised by Chinander.
DBs - Probably the strength of the defense when you consider how senior-heavy it is - you could start four seniors at the four positions between Shaquill Griffin, D.J. Killings, Drico Johnson and T.J. Mutcherson. I had heard Mutcherson had become a more prominent player in that mix.
It's really tough when trying to gauge expectations for year one. In the poll, I voted 5-7. While I don't think UCF was as bad as an 0-12 team last year because yes there were injuries and other issues, there definitely some talent issues as well. You don't go 0-12 by accident. The lines had definitely degraded, for starters.
Here's a bunch of other random thoughts:
I know I'm going to forget guys but here's a running tally of players I saw: Sha'reff Rashad, Brandon Marshall, Kyle Israel, A.J. Bouye, Latavius Murray, Kemal Ishmael, Josh Robinson, Kamar Aiken, Jordan McCray, Justin McCray, Josh Reese, Bruce Miller, Josh Linam, Theo Goins, Kevin Garvy, Ronnie Weaver, Khymest Williams, Derrick Hallman, Quincy McDuffie, Alex Thompson, Terrance Plummer, Mike Palmer, Colby Watson, Domenic Spencer, Michael Campbell, Blake Davis, Jordan Rae, Sergio Joachim, Rannell Hall, Jackie Carter, Troy Gray, Ray Shipman... and there's still a ton more.
Saw Sha'reff Rashad for the first time in a few years. He's working in Salt Lake City. One of his former high school coaches had been on the Utah staff so he had caught a few Utes games the past couple years. I joked with him about the random soccer jerseys I'd always see him wearing through the years. He said he collects jerseys and has at least one from every major world league. He was wearing an Atletico Madrid Antoine Griezmann jersey at the game.
Blake Bortles was a no-show because he scheduled his charity golf tournament in St. Augustine the same weekend. I've heard Blake is thinking about making his permanent residence back here in Orlando - maybe something on the Winter Park Chain of Lakes. Right now he has the place on Jacksonville Beach.
I know a few folks joked about the Frost spring game poster with the Photoshopped Oregon polo - but if there's a signature pose for Frost, that completely nailed it with the one hand in the pocket. He walked out of the tunnel like that as well as nearly every other time I spotted him.
Not sure if UCF has put out a press release, but towards the end of the spring game they announced there would be a "coaches tour" once again. The Orlando stop will be at the Cheyenne Saloon on May 17 and I think there's also trips upcoming to Tampa and Jacksonville.
LOL, did anybody notice Shaquem Griffin right before the team ran out of the tunnel? He was bouncing around, then jumped on the ground on all fours like an animal while Aaron Cochran corralled him as if he was on a leash. It was crazy (funny crazy). I wonder if there's video of it somewhere.
To echo the sentiments of others, the primetime spring game was a hit. I wasn't really into Vertical Horizon being that I was at baseball earlier and then returned a couple hours later for football, but kudos to the UCF staff for putting together a first-class day that appealed to fans of all ages.
I think the actual attendance was somewhere in between 15,000 and 23,000. Someone indicated maybe around 19,000. Regardless, it blew away the previous spring game high which was either 2008 or 2011. If you're UCF and coming off 0-12, and who knows what the Big 12 is really up to, it's nothing but a positive to publish a number like that. Is it SEC territory? No, but I'd tend to think it will probably be among the best (if not the best) among G5 and likely much better than a lot of P5 numbers.
Since Frost split the roster into two teams, going in I knew not to overanalyze what we saw out there. Before, when practices were open, you wouldn't fixate on a particular day, instead you'd obviously take into account everything you saw over the 15 days. That's kind of how I feel about Justin Holman. I'd love to go back and watch film of the spring game - that's another story - but I'm not going to jump to any conclusions just because he didn't have an overly impressive performance.
And it was somewhat annoying that the play was called dead as a "sack" if a defender simply breathed on a QB. That affected game play as well.
As far as QB play, based on chatter of those who have been at practices, it's been said by multiple people that Holman has been the clear No. 1 quarterback with Nick Patti a distant second. Now, you're trusting other people to have a keen eye in evaluation, but I think I would be surprised if the starting quarterback come September is not Holman.
Through the duration of spring, I had also heard positive things regarding Garrett Kruczek and Tyler Harris. If someone won the spring game, it probably was Kruczek. And he has time. Holman and Patti are seniors. Not to say Kruczek isn't hoping to earn a job this year, but take a look in 2017 and decide who might be left on the roster at quarterback. Kruzcek, McKenzie Milton and ??? I'm not sure Tyler Harris is a great fit for this offense.
Save for maybe one scrimmage during the spring, the constant theme we heard was the defense typically would dominate the offense. Though they were going to a 3-4, there's an easier learning curve and plus they're facing an offense still learning their way and going against players who frankly weren't recruit to play in this system.
Here's the general vibe I got from a variety of people:
QBs - Holman (and Patti) are serviceable for the first year. Frost still needs to find that player to build the offense around (Milton? Kruczek if he continues to develop?) but an experienced senior quarterback - and hopefully a healthy one - is nothing but a positive.
RBs - I'm not sure if the current roster has what Frost needs for this system. 2015 was an awful year for the rushing offense and you couldn't put all the blame on the offensive line. And if Frost is accustomed to working with Oregon-type speed, you know nobody on the current team has that. Of the incoming class, I would think Jawon Hamilton and Adrian Killins could see a lot of playing time from day one. They have the speed, you just hope they're sharp enough to pick everything else up quickly.
OL - Along with DL (more on them in a minute), I think this is the weakest link on the team. Frost has been mostly complimentary of the line's progress, but I think that group has the biggest adjustment to make. Guys have lost body fat (and will continue to do so) so maybe the summer of speed work and conditioning will get some of these guys better suited for this style of play. I don't believe they adjusted the first team much during the spring (other than elevating Chavis Dickey). I did hear there was a big drop-off between first and second line. You wonder if some of the freshmen - Jordan Johnson, Aaron Dowdell, etc. could see immediate action.
WRs - We know UCF has a big-time receiving threat in Tre'Quan Smith and I know that's something the new coaches feel as well. Tristan Payton was also said to have had a good spring. The other guy that seemed to generate the most chatter was Trey Anderson, a walk-on who joined the team last year after beginning his career at Appalachian State (I'll be posting an interview with him later this week).
TEs - If there's a strength on offense, I think it's the tight ends which should be a very big passing threat in this system. That group will gain Jordan Akins who was mostly limited this spring coming off the ACL injury, then added Jordan Franks who had been playing wide receiver. Guys like Michael Colubiale and Aaron Cochran were said to have good springs as well as Cal Bloom. And lo and behold we saw Mac Loudermilk step up in the spring game. There's plenty of options there. And if they are to be more of a receiving threat, there's no better person coaching them up than Sean Beckton.
DL - Like the OL, probably the other weakest link. I think Jamiyus Pittman is solid - a sentiment I've heard is shared - but not sure about the rest of the group which is largely why UCF went and signed five DL, three of whom are coming from JUCO. I think it's a plus Tony Guerad was welcomed back - there's still potential there - just not sure how the rest of the group is doing. Again, without seeing practice, it's hard to really know. Monte Taylor was recruited to come in and make a big impact, but like most JUCOs of the GOL era he didn't really pan out that first year.
LBs - A 3-4 could be a net positive for UCF's existing talent base as there are likely more LB type athletes than big uglies to stack on the defensive line. I think the back seven had a better spring but you just wonder if the talent is up to par. Chequan Burkett is a good player, but other "starters" this spring are largely unproven - Mark Rucker, Shaquem Griffin, Errol Clarke. Clarke though seemed to have a good spring as he was one of the few players publically praised by Chinander.
DBs - Probably the strength of the defense when you consider how senior-heavy it is - you could start four seniors at the four positions between Shaquill Griffin, D.J. Killings, Drico Johnson and T.J. Mutcherson. I had heard Mutcherson had become a more prominent player in that mix.
It's really tough when trying to gauge expectations for year one. In the poll, I voted 5-7. While I don't think UCF was as bad as an 0-12 team last year because yes there were injuries and other issues, there definitely some talent issues as well. You don't go 0-12 by accident. The lines had definitely degraded, for starters.
Here's a bunch of other random thoughts:
I know I'm going to forget guys but here's a running tally of players I saw: Sha'reff Rashad, Brandon Marshall, Kyle Israel, A.J. Bouye, Latavius Murray, Kemal Ishmael, Josh Robinson, Kamar Aiken, Jordan McCray, Justin McCray, Josh Reese, Bruce Miller, Josh Linam, Theo Goins, Kevin Garvy, Ronnie Weaver, Khymest Williams, Derrick Hallman, Quincy McDuffie, Alex Thompson, Terrance Plummer, Mike Palmer, Colby Watson, Domenic Spencer, Michael Campbell, Blake Davis, Jordan Rae, Sergio Joachim, Rannell Hall, Jackie Carter, Troy Gray, Ray Shipman... and there's still a ton more.
Saw Sha'reff Rashad for the first time in a few years. He's working in Salt Lake City. One of his former high school coaches had been on the Utah staff so he had caught a few Utes games the past couple years. I joked with him about the random soccer jerseys I'd always see him wearing through the years. He said he collects jerseys and has at least one from every major world league. He was wearing an Atletico Madrid Antoine Griezmann jersey at the game.
Blake Bortles was a no-show because he scheduled his charity golf tournament in St. Augustine the same weekend. I've heard Blake is thinking about making his permanent residence back here in Orlando - maybe something on the Winter Park Chain of Lakes. Right now he has the place on Jacksonville Beach.
I know a few folks joked about the Frost spring game poster with the Photoshopped Oregon polo - but if there's a signature pose for Frost, that completely nailed it with the one hand in the pocket. He walked out of the tunnel like that as well as nearly every other time I spotted him.
Not sure if UCF has put out a press release, but towards the end of the spring game they announced there would be a "coaches tour" once again. The Orlando stop will be at the Cheyenne Saloon on May 17 and I think there's also trips upcoming to Tampa and Jacksonville.
LOL, did anybody notice Shaquem Griffin right before the team ran out of the tunnel? He was bouncing around, then jumped on the ground on all fours like an animal while Aaron Cochran corralled him as if he was on a leash. It was crazy (funny crazy). I wonder if there's video of it somewhere.
