Another Big Step for UCF Recruiting Under Scott Frost

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2016/1/18/10784398/another-big-step-for-ucf-recruiting-under-scott-frost

UCF's sluggish recruiting for 2016 took a clear leap forward once Scott Frost was in as head coach. On Sunday it took another step forward with the commitments of Jawon Hamilton and Nate Evans.

Hamilton especially is a tremendous pick-up for the Knights. The 5-foot-9, 185 pound Hamilton is an exciting prospect, one whom I believe will be vastly better than his three star ranking suggests. This season, the South Dade High Prospect rushed for 1,259 yards on 131 carries (9.6 ypc!) and 16 touchdowns. Those stats come against strong competition, by the way. Also promising, Hamilton recently won the South Florida Player of the Year Award[1] (which went to a guy named Dalvin Cook in 2013, by the way). And his highlights on Hudl are full of I-can't-believe-the-guy-has-not-gone-down moments:

Hamilton clearly fits this staff's mold of pursuing fast, in-state players. Of the Knights' 13 commits, he's the seventh from Florida and the fourth from south Florida (joining Dontay Mayfield, Bryon Brown, and classmate Boman Swanson).

There's an excellent chance that Hamilton competes immediately for playing time at UCF. He just may be our next great Knights running back (I know, I know: I said this about Will Stanback, but I really think I'm right this time). I'm certain to sound too bullish on Hamilton, and I get that. But the guy's the real deal and should make Knights fans cheer for years to come.

His commitment came to be expected, especially once he de-committed from the University of Miami (having previously also de-committed from FIU). Frost made it clear that Hamilton was a priority for this class - Hamilton was the first recruit that Scott Frost called in December and (seemingly) the first offer he extended. Hamilton's commitment is solid: though he had official visits to Syracuse and Louisville scheduled, the Orlando Sentinel quotes Hamilton as saying he's now "done visiting" and "locked in" to UCF.

Three star linebacker Nate Evans also pledged the Knights on Sunday. A 6-foot-one, 230 pound inside linebacker from New Orleans, Evans was one of the first recruits contacted by defensive coordinator Erik Chinander.  Evans pledged at the conclusion of his visit to UCF. Evans had previously taken an official visit to AAC Champion Houston.

These two commitments continue the big strides that Frost and company are making at UCF. The Knights get better on both sides of the ball with RB recruit Jawon Hamilton and ILB Nate Evans. Hamilton, in particular, may be someone the Knights lean on early.

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[1] . . . From the "Warren Henry Auto Group and Tournament of Champions, Inc." Dang that's a mouthful.

UCF 2016 Football Recruiting: Frost's Triumph

 http://www.underdogdynasty.com/recruiting/2016/2/5/10914796/ucf-2016-football-recruiting-huge-success-under-frost

Around these parts, we were already pretty excited about new UCF Head Coach Scott Frost. Well shucks, following a great signing day we discussed over here, things are even better.

There aren't many events that allow one to judge a new head coach who was not even held a practice yet. National Signing Day is one. For Frost, UCF's first class under his tenure looks to be a triumph, especially considering where the expectations were.

Frost walked into a tough situation. The 2015 Knights team was the worst in school history. It was a complete failure on the field and staggeringly uninteresting to watch. Historically, O'Leary's staff had done little to build meaningful connections in local high schools. O'Leary's last class, in fact, had more commits from Georgia than from Florida. And O'Leary's staff had nailed down relatively few commitments for 2016.

And Frost didn't have much time with which to work. He was hired in December. He recruited with an incomplete staff.

They hustled.

The focus was very clearly on in-state players. The Knights ended up with twelve of their twenty signees from Florida and picked up some excellent players from south Florida in particular -- including Jawon Hamilton from Homestead, whom I have already in my mind anointed as the Knights' next great running back.

Frost's staff nabbed a couple highly rated recruits, something that has been all too rare for UCF. The most obvious and talked about pick up on National Signing Day was Dredrick Snelson. A Minnesota commit who flipped and decided to stay close to home with the Knights. Depending on who you ask, Snelson is variously rated as a four star (Rivals, which puts him in its top 250 recruits and ESPN) or three star (Scout and 247Sports). He's the Knights' highest rated recruit this year. It's not just a feel good pick-up, either, but one that may have a huge impact. The WR corps has the potential to be one of the Knights' better units next year with Jordan Akins and Tre'Quan Smith (some of the few bright spots on a terrible team last year) back healthy. We're fairly giddy at the thought of Akins, Smith, and Snelson on the field simultaneously.

The Knights' other four star recruit and fellow Rivals250 member, Aaron Dowdell was previously committed to Georgia . . . when Richt was the head coach. The Dawgs' loss is the Knights' gain here, and a crucial one given how porous the offensive line was both in 2015 (when it looked like it should have been a strength) and 2014.

Add to all of this the fact that Frost was able to in many instances get "his" guys. The Knights' only signee[1] at quarterback, McKenzie Milton had camped with Oregon and impressed Frost there. As Frost describes it, Milton would be one of the top two QB recruits in the country if he had been 6'4" instead of "six feet" tall (okay, okay, so he's really 5'11"). And Frost reeled in a number of Junior College transfers, which should help a team that last year had holes, uh, basically everywhere.

The Knights ended up with what is clearly one of the better classes in the Group of Five. Rivals is the most bullish and has the Knights as the third ranked G5 class, following only Houston (led of course by Future Texas or A&M Head Coach Tom Herman) and Boise State, which signed seven more players than the Knights did (and no four stars). Scout seems to think less of UCF. And 247Sports would rate the Knights at number seven.

It's a great inaugural class for Frost, and one that Knights fans should regard as his first victory.

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[1] But not only incoming QB. Kruczek the younger, son of former UCF head coach Mike Kruczek, will be a preferred walk-on.

Three Reasons to be Excited During UCF Football Spring Practice

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2016/4/4/11356330/three-reasons-to-be-excited-during-ucf-football-spring-practice

The Knights are now into the meat of spring practices, with their first team scrimmage under their belt and the second (of three total) happening today. With practices being closed, getting a clear evaluation of this team's progress is difficult. But with that being said, here are three reasons to be excited for UCF spring practices:

1. Position Changes

2016 brings a serious roster overhaul to the Knights, including a bevy of position changes. Most intriguing, Jordan Akins moves from wide receiver to tight end. He had promising moments in 2014 as a freshman and showed tremendous ability before getting injured on the opening kickoff of the third game and missing the balance of the year. He's a big bodied guy and a great pass catcher, so it will be exciting to see what he can do as a receiving tight end.

Jordan Franks also moves to TE, continuing his apparent quest to play every position on a football team. He has previously been a linebacker, and a defensive back, for the Knights, and contributed at WR last season (246 yards receiving and two touchdowns).

Another interesting move is Nick Patti back to quarterback. A transfer from Boise State, he failed to seize the starting job and last year was converted to WR, nominally. I say nominally because his contributions from the wildcat overshadowed his receiving last year. Patti had 50% of UCF's rushing touchdowns last season (two out of four. Sigh). He's competing with Justin Holman following the latter's inconsistent, turnover prone, and injury-marred 2015 campaign.

Likewise, another quarterback-turned-wide-receiver reverts to quarterback: Pete DiNovo. Much less likely to see the field than Patti, DiNovo will be remembered by Knights fans for illustrating former head coach George O'Leary's lackluster QB evaluation skills. DiNovo started the Penn State game in Ireland at 2014, where he was a flailing, noodle-armed disaster as Blake Bortles' successor before getting pulled for Justin Holman, who led a stirring comeback before falling short.

And while those are some of the more interesting position changes, there are a host of others that might matter. Errol Clarke moves from inside linebacker to outside in an effort to create a stronger presence on the edge -- at 6'3" 230, Clarke is a big guy. He returns to the position he played in high school at Miami Central. Shaquem Griffin moved from safety to outside linebacker as well. Jerod Boykins moved from inside linebacker to defensive back, and Mike Rogers is now a running back.

Hopefully these changes will help head coach Scott Frost squeeze more performance out of what is still going to be a young roster.

2. The Offensive Line

Some claim they're the most improved position group. Hopefully is borne out in the Fall. I was optimistic about them last year after a tepid 2014 campaign with lots of youth, and it felt like they should have been a strength of the team in 2015. It wasn't. The line gave up 23 sacks and failed to open up holes for the running game. Ever. That was under the tutelage of Brent Key, now the offensive line coach at Alabama (yes, I am still laughing). Under new Offensive Line coach Greg Austin, we'll hope for better.

It's going to be essential for the line to improve for many reasons, not least of which the fact that in head coach Scott Frost's offense, all the linemen make calls.

3. Wide Receivers

These guys are going to make us very happy next year, and it will be exciting to hear of the progress being made in the wide receiving corps during Spring Practice.

Especially with Jordan Akins at TE now, Tre'Quan Smith should be the clear number one wide receiver. Last year, he had arguably the best freshman season of any UCF WR ever, ending with 52 receptions for 724 yards and four touchdowns. And these included some serious catches:

.Guys like Tristan Payton (second most receptions on team in 2015) showed significant promise last season, and Cam Stewart has shown some potential. And of course, the Knights' highest ranked recruit of 2016, Dredrick Snelson, will have the opportunity to compete.  Snelson was a flip form Minnesota who opted to stay closer to home with the Knights. If consistency can be had at the quarterback position, look for this group to evolve and make a serious impact.

UCF's Image Overhaul Continues in Scott Frost Era

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2016/5/5/11571438/ucfs-image-overhaul-continues-in-scott-frost-era

I love the Knights. Coming off a winless season, I, like so many others, am thrilled with the excitement that Scott Frost has brought to the program as head coach. He's already done much to generate buzz and improve the image of a team that was catastrophically bad last year.  And I say this as a person who has often been critical of UCF's efforts to build its image.

Many of UCF's historical sports marketing efforts were groan-inducing. Frankly, I'll even peg this back to the rejection of the Citronaut and adopting "Knights,"[1] as a mascot -€” a move that sacrificed a delightfully absurd choice for a name unconnected to the university or state in any respect.[2]

The choices made in the more recent past have been awkward. George O'Leary was hired in 2003. 

All of the branding was focused on GOL-as-jerk-and-tough-guy. We've previously talked here about "Change is Nothing to FEAR. The Coach, now that's another story." And I'll never tire of excuses to remind everyone that this weirdness exists:

Of course, GOL would go winless that year, just as he ended his UCF career.

Missteps would continue, though perhaps getting less awkward in time. There was "UKnight and Get ‘the Patch,’" which deserves to slip into the memory hole but somehow has not. There have been efforts at catch phrases and hash tags. I can remember when "Armor Up!" was a thing (check Twitter now and you’ll high schools using the phrase but mercifully only a handful of UCF fans). I will also admit to loathing "#ChargeOn," though on that count I’m clearly in the minority. But even the most enthusiastic Knights fan has to concede that UCF’s track record of establishing a brand have been checkered at best.

Conversely, even the most pessimistic fan has to acknowledge the tremendous strides made by UCF under Athletic Director Danny White. Frost has done his part so far – adopting the fast-paced Oregon-style offense and talking about it at every opportunity. This is good stuff from an image-building, not to mention a recruiting, stand point. David Wunderlich at Team Speed Kills has argued why that makes the Frost hire the savviest of this past off season:

So imagine you're a fast high school player in the state of Florida who wants to play in an exciting, cutting edge spread offense. Your choices lately have been either to go nearby out of state to Clemson or Auburn or to go even farther out of state to one of the Mississippi schools or Tennessee or beyond.

Now with the Frost hire, UCF is a place you can play in that kind of scheme while staying in-state. Depending on how good you are, you might still decide to go to one of those pro-style Power 5 programs anyway. But UCF isn't a bad program; it just beat Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl a couple of years ago. It no longer has a verbally abusive septuagenarian who was the top reason why the UCF Athletics Association was found liable for a player's death, and instead it has a bright young guy who intends to install not just the Chip Kelly offense but the Chip Kelly do-everything-fast ethos.

The notion of #UCFast has been enthusiastically embraced and to good effect. UCF dubbed its recent Spring Game #UCFastival) and built a series of events around it. This Knights team -€” perhaps the worst in the nation last year -€” wound up with attendance of 23,147, good for twenty-second highest spring game attendance in the country and record attendance for a UCF spring game. Yes, a Knights team that was winless last year generated the best spring game attendance of any Group of Five school.

The comparison to rival USF is inevitable and drives home what a huge success for UCF this spring game was. The Bulls, which ended the season on a tremendous surge and should provide their fans with much optimism heading into next season, had a paltry 4,418 (and that was 1,163 more than the Bulls' 2015 spring game).

It gets better. UCF will have new uniforms -€” and yes, with names on the back of jerseys restored. Rivals previewed a prototype helmet, another effort to take a play from Oregon's book:

And UCF expanded its deal with Nike through 2022, a move which may also mean that the Knights could have as many as four custom helmets during the season. The design ethos is intended to invoke associations with knightly armor and the space program.

Oh.

Did you want to see what the new Knights uniforms will actually look like? That's great, because UCF just unveiled the designs today:

It remains to be seen how much success the Knights will have on the field in the Scott Frost era. But in even a short time period, much has been done to improve UCF's image and excitement among fans.

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[1] Which evolved into "Golden Knights" in 1993 and then back to "Knights" as part of the 2007 rebrand coinciding with the opening of UCF's on-campus stadium.

[2] Obvious instate comparisons here to the Gators, the Seminoles, and the Hurricanes.