The Knights’ Tale: UCF’s Decline and the Shifting Sands of Florida Football

[Central Floridave]

The Knights’ Tale: UCF’s Decline and the Shifting Sands of Florida Football

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2...ts-george-o-leary-florida-football-landscape/

 

[Poolside Knight]

UCF is the head scrather of the season apparently. Grantland has good writers. The newer Florida programs have been mismanaged

" In Texas, the balance of power has been completely altered by coaches with innovative approaches"

 

[ucfversusbcs]

Resources? what does he mean by resources?

 

[Poolside Knight]

" it seems clear the program will have to be re-branded whenever O’Leary chooses to depart."

^definitely need to do this. Names on Jerseys, lots of alternate jersey combos, helmets, etc. Gotta be viewed as a fun place to play when competing against Blue Bloods

 

[cocoabeachjason]

" it seems clear the program will have to be re-branded whenever O’Leary chooses to depart."

^definitely need to do this. Names on Jerseys, lots of alternate jersey combos, helmets, etc. Gotta be viewed as a fun place to play when competing against Blue Bloods

I totally agree. We should do anything and everything (compliant with the rules of course) to entice recruits. Many will say, "well I don't want a player that chooses a school based on uniforms." I could give a flying crap WHY they choose UCF if they can play. I would rather have a playmaker who likes our school because he likes "the brand" than a player who is on the scout team but chose us for the right reasons.

When you aren't a blue blood program, you have to stand out in whatever way you can.

 

[Happy Hands]

" it seems clear the program will have to be re-branded whenever O’Leary chooses to depart."

^definitely need to do this. Names on Jerseys, lots of alternate jersey combos, helmets, etc. Gotta be viewed as a fun place to play when competing against Blue Bloods

Slip and Slides throughout the entire field, ipads stuck to the front of helmets, football jerseys made of candy so after a tackle you can eat them, the sidelines will be lines of cocaine(imagine how fast they will get back to the huddle), use Publix subs instead of footballs, and fu(kin jetpacks, man!

 

[Poolside Knight]

I totally agree. We should do anything and everything (compliant with the rules of course) to entice recruits. Many will say, "well I don't want a player that chooses a school based on uniforms." I could give a flying crap WHY they choose UCF if they can play. I would rather have a playmaker who likes our school because he likes "the brand" than a player who is on the scout team but chose us for the right reasons.

When you aren't a blue blood program, you have to stand out in whatever way you can.

+1
Recruits make decisions for reasons that blue hair GOL supporters just can't grasp but that is the landscape.

Do everything to sell UCF in the best way to an 18 year old Football Recruit. Stack the Gold Team with the best talent available to take them on their tours

 

[cocoabeachjason]

+1
Recruits make decisions on reasons that blue hair GOL supporters just can't grasp but that is the landscape.

Do everything to sell UCF in the best way to an 18 year old Football Recruit. Stack the Gold Team with the best talent available to take them on their tours

Have you ever heard of a recruit turning down a school because the uniforms were too awesome? Or, because the women guiding them around campus were too beautiful? I don't think so.

 

[Poolside Knight]

Have you ever heard of a recruit turning down a school because the uniforms were too awesome? Or, because the women guiding them around campus were too beautiful? I don't think so.

Have you watched a TCU game? They know what they are doing with priority seating for that extra dance team when they have visitors & that most likely goes back to when they were in the MW

 

[Happy Hands]

Seems to me some of you are suggesting the ole Pitino Party, the Cardinal Coitus Clash, the Louisville Looky-Loo, the Yum! Center(...actually, this one works on its own). Easy guys

 

[HammerB08]

I imagine some of it is also due to the overarching presence of the Southeastern Conference, whose schools have the ability to dip into Florida to recruit seemingly at will;

This is a big point. In Texas and California, the Big12 and the Pac12 have multiple Universities (4 Big 12 teams in TX and 4 Pac 12 teams in CA). The SEC has all but shut off membership at 1 school in FL. The ACC seems content with 2 Florida teams. No other power conference makes much sense for a FL team. Unless the Big12 is intent on creating a FL footprint or Miami/FSU make a big move, we're stuck and the recruits that we could target if we had decent conference affiliation will continue to get snapped of by mediocre P5 teams from all over the map.

 

[jetsaholic]

" it seems clear the program will have to be re-branded whenever O’Leary chooses to depart."

^definitely need to do this. Names on Jerseys, lots of alternate jersey combos, helmets, etc. Gotta be viewed as a fun place to play when competing against Blue Bloods

This is actually the most important point brought up in this article. 2007 served as a re-branding year with new logos, helmet, stadium, etc. and worked out for the most part but I believed O'Leary, set in his old man ways, cut that short and was narrow minded about the whole process. Perception is reality and we need to change the program's perception in the uneducated sports fan's eyes.

 

[firm_bizzle]

" it seems clear the program will have to be re-branded whenever O’Leary chooses to depart."

^definitely need to do this. Names on Jerseys, lots of alternate jersey combos, helmets, etc. Gotta be viewed as a fun place to play when competing against Blue Bloods

Gold helmets, black jerseys, all black combo, all black field, themes, more premium seating, DJs, etc.

 

[YouSeeF]

Anyone who thinks that stadium atmosphere, jerseys and branding, and personal recognition for players doesn't matter needs to pull their heads out of their ass and remember what it's like to be an 18-year old who gets flashy offers from schools who DON'T have their heads in their ass.

 

[firm_bizzle]

Anyone who thinks that stadium atmosphere, jerseys and branding, and personal recognition for players doesn't matter needs to pull their heads out of their ass and remember what it's like to be an 18-year old who gets flashy offers from schools who DON'T have their heads in their ass.

All you have to do is walk across the street to the arena. DJ might not be able to coach but he knows how to get recruits attention.

 

[2DogKnight]

" it seems clear the program will have to be re-branded whenever O’Leary chooses to depart."

^definitely need to do this. Names on Jerseys, lots of alternate jersey combos, helmets, etc. Gotta be viewed as a fun place to play when competing against Blue Bloods

Definitely "etc." such as COLORS! Give us school colors to be excited about! Colors we can find on generic items that allow us to purchase our school colors. Most items aren't even made in yellow...let alone vanilla / supposetobe' gold. And black? Well...black is black. Both of our colors are simply accent colors for most. Boring. We need bold colors. Yeah...it does matter.

 

[cocoabeachjason]

Definitely "etc." such as COLORS! Give us school colors to be excited about! Colors we can find on generic items that allow us to purchase our school colors. Most items aren't even made in yellow...let alone vanilla / supposetobe' gold. And black? Well...black is black. Both of our colors are simply accent colors for most. Boring. We need bold colors. Yeah...it does matter.

I like our colors fine. I do not like how we utilize them.

 

[CBlackwellRN]

I like our colors fine. I do not like how we utilize them.

Absolutely. Black & Gold are regal and colors of royalty. They should be utilized correctly. But other than that, those colors are our identity and should never change in all eternity of UCF's existence.