A year ago at this time, a lot of this was still new to John Rhys Plumlee. It was the first time he entered a season as a starting quarterback and he was also still learning about UCF having just enrolled the previous January.
Now he's the face of the program.
"I know the offense a lot better than I did a year ago," Plumlee said. "I've played at the Bounce House before. Been around my teammates a little bit more than I had been a year ago today. Still super, super excited, though. I think that's kind of the difference one year ago to today."
Where has he made the biggest improvements working with new offensive coordinator Darin Hinshaw?
"(Hinshaw) has helped me a ton from the spring, summer and now to fall," Plumlee said. "He has helped me a ton footwork wise about how to navigate a pocket a lot better than I did last year. How to be able to make platform throws and off-platform throws a lot more accurate with a lot more zip on them too.
"I think he's helped me playing the quarterback position the right way. There's little tips and tricks that he has kind of learned over the years, and he's done himself as well. He's helped me a ton just develop as a passer, as a quarterback, mentally in the game as well. He's helped me a ton."
Though there can only be one center, both players competing for the job - Drake Metcalf and Bula Schmidt - earned starting positions. Metcalf won the center battle and Schmidt will play next to him at left guard.
"Super excited for those guys and super confident in them as well," Plumlee said. "I think that's the big piece, right? You don't want to go out there with somebody you're not confident in. Really all three of those guys I would have been confident in.
"So I'm super excited for Drake. Bula at left guard is something I'm excited about too. I don't know if y'all know much about Bula, but Bula's got something about him that's just a little bit different. He's got a little bit of an edge. He's gritty. He has fun playing ball. Those are the kind of guys you really, really love playing football with. I'm super excited to have those two in the starting five for sure."
As for Metcalf at center, Plumlee said the chemistry there is "really good."
"Quarterback/center exchange happens every play," Plumlee said. "It's something that you've got to be 100 percent in. He's done a really, really good job in that aspect of it. He's also a really funny dude. I got to spend a lot of time with him off the field for a while. He lived with Trent Whittemore. I was over there at their house a lot, spending time with him. He's musically inclined, unbelievable guy, hilarious. But he's really, really good at playing center too."
Could there be a bagpipes/piano collab in the works?
"We're working on something. We'll see where it goes."
Plumlee feels their running back room goes five-deep.
"If you had one explosive running back, you'd be good," Plumlee said. I mean, we've got five that are really, really talented. And obviously it starts with RJ (Harvey). He's kind of the leader in the group and extremely talented, but working all the way down those guys are unbelievably explosive. I wouldn't be surprised if all five of them touch the ball. They're unbelievable.
"You put Johnny (Richardson) in space with the ball in his hands, press record on your phone because something crazy is about to happen usually. It makes my job a lot easier. If we're running RPOs or we've got a third and short or a second and short, it's good to know that we've got backs that'll get it done. It takes the load off of me a little bit. It makes my job easy."
There's a lot of buzz Xavier Townsend will have a breakout year at wide receiver.
"X is unbelievable," Plumlee said. "What I really, really like about X is he's one of the hardest workers in the building. You'll see him every day, no matter what we've done. Fall camp practice, whether it's Tuesday, heavy (lift) day, X is going to be staying after doing something. A lot of times guys will be showered and leaving and X is just getting into the locker room. It's something that I really, really respect about X.
"Obviously the talent speaks for itself. He's unbelievable. He's explosive as well. I'm super, super excited to be able to play with him and have the opportunity to throw to him this year."
Asked about gameday routines, Plumlee likes to listen to the same Spotify playlist he's had since middle school.
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