UCF could be closing in on their first offensive line commit of the 2016 class.
Christian Beard, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound offensive tackle from Trinity Valley (Tex.) College, landed an offer on Tuesday and will officially visit this weekend. If all goes well, the Waco native with three years of eligibility remaining could sign next week and be enrolled for the spring semester.
"Coach (Ryan) Held stopped by and saw us," Beard said. "It's kind of funny because he said he was like 72 hours on the job. I think he was going everywhere. I'm pretty sure he was hopped up on Red Bull or something. He talked to us about UCF, said it's been a quick process. He talked to my coach who told him what kind of player I am. We got set up to take an official visit and then an hour later they called and said they're going to offer me. It all happened really quick."
Recruiting the junior colleges wasn't much of a learning curve for Held, who previously served as head football coach at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. He's already familiar with many of the players he's recruiting because he previously coached against them.
"He's seen us play," Beard said. "He was the coach at NEO, a team we played and he has that connection to all our coaches and the whole conference. That's a pretty big deal. He's evaluated everyone and knows everything. I like what he said. He told me about UCF, what they're doing with the offense and all that. It's going to be the offense from Oregon. That's what I really like. That's a big selling point to me. In offering me they said they feel like I would be able to showcase my ability in the best way possible with that offense and I totally agree."
Trinity Valley runs a similar spread-based offense so Beard is already familiar with the basic concepts.
"I played tackle, but I can play inside or outside," Beard said. "It doesn't really matter to me. Offensive line is offensive line."
Even before the contact from Held, Beard was pretty familiar with UCF thanks to the 2014 Fiesta Bowl.
"I've always been interested in UCF," Beard said. "I'm from Waco, where Baylor is located. So yeah, I watched the Fiesta Bowl. I've known about them and everybody in Waco knows about them too. I was shocked. Everybody around here was shocked. It definitely wasn't expected that they'd win. Wow. That's the best way to put it."
A graduate of Waco's Midway High School, Beard signed with Arkansas State and redshirted there in 2014. This was his first semester at Trinity Valley. Stephen F. Austin and Houston Baptist have offered while Kansas, North Texas, Tulsa and SMU have come forward in recent days trying to land visits.
"UCF is my favorite, definitely the one that intrigues me the most," Beard said. "If this visit goes how I think it will, with what I know about UCF... Yeah, it's definitely high up there. Top of my list right now."
Beard has been to Orlando a couple times, but never to the campus.
"I'm graduating this month so if they want me at mid-year I can be down there," Beard said. "That would be the plan. I'm all set to go. I redshirted at Arkansas State, so I'd have three years to play three. I'm still pretty young with everything. I'm real excited with everything I've heard about UCF and potentially having three years to be part of it and learning this offense."
That offense could end up being led by his quarterback at Trinity Valley, Jerod Evans, who also picked up an offer from UCF on Tuesday. Evans, considered by many to be the top-rated junior college quarterback in the nation, reportedly will soon choose between the Knights, Cal, Missouri and others.
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