Feb. 24, 2010
By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
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When a prospect signs a National Letter of Intent to play football at UCF, head coach George O'Leary offers one promise. And it has nothing to do with playing time or position on the football field.
``When we recruit the athletes, the one thing I promise them is that they will get a degree -- if they want one,'' O'Leary said. ``I put it that way because it's the athlete and the parents who are involved in the process. We do everything possible to ensure the kid's success academically. A lot of programs give lip service to academics, but we follow up on it here and take great pride in kids getting their degrees.''
And UCF is doing just that at a rate that is among the highest of any football program in the country. They are able to ensure athletes of success in the classroom because of a highly structured, proactive program in place to monitor progress and promote learning.
UCF football's academic services staff, as coordinated by Kristy Belden and assisted by Lindsey Herold and Learning Specialist Lisa Moser, works with student-athletes to closely analyze their progress in school and report back to O'Leary and the other football coaches on staff. The program has allowed the Knights to show some amazing progress.
Some 55-percent of the football team is on the Honor Roll with a 3.2 grade-point average or higher. Sixty-nine Knights played last season while sporting a 3.0 GPA in the classroom. UCF had a team-wide GPA of 2.99 just before last season. Seven UCF players from last season's 8-5 team had already earned their bachelor's degree before the season, which ranked 10th nationally.
And the most recent Academic Progress Rate scores released by the NCAA showed that UCF ranked 23rd in the nation and ninth in the country among public non-service academy schools.
``Our coaches put a large emphasis on academics. Coach O'Leary's main focus is that the players graduate,'' said Herold, who just completed her first year as a full-time academic advisor. ``Having the coach's support is so big.''
Added Moser, who works extensively with the football team: ``In any academic program if you don't have the coaches' support then you will have a hard time. But Coach O'Leary makes our job easier because of his emphasis on academics.''
That emphasis comes on a daily basis by fostering an environment of learning. In the UCF football program, all freshmen are required to go through a full year of daily study hall sessions that last two hours. After the first year in school, players' requirements to attend study hall are based on grades - though many attend voluntarily because of the tutoring program in place. If an athlete's GPA ever drops below a 2.5, they are mandated to attend daily study hall sessions.
As many as 60 football players a day attend study hall sessions this semester. A usual two-hour session will have as many as 10 tutors to provide as much one-on-one attention with the athletes as possible.
``Seeing them grow is the most gratifying,'' Herold said. ``We see some of them first come in and not being able to manage their time, can't finish things on time and their schedules are all out of whack. But we try to help them with that. And seeing them learn to manage their time and watching them being excited about getting the job done is nice.''
But the involvement in each student-athlete's academic progress doesn't end there. Class checkers monitor classes every day for absentees and tardy notices. Belden, Moser, Black and two graduate assistants constantly e-mail professors to check on students' status. And progress reports sent out every 2-3 weeks.
Said Moser: ``We try to take a proactive approach and act before there are problems. They don't slip through the cracks here.''
UCF standout tailback Brynn Harvey said the system in place makes it almost impossible not to have academic success at UCF. Sessions with the advisers taught him how to manage his time in college and the tutoring program and study halls have helped him make significant progress in his hospitality management major.
``The academic advisors are great and they stay up with our professors and make sure we're getting the job done,'' said Harvey, who ran for 1,109 yards and 14 TDs as a sophomore. ``They make sure we're getting our work in and on top of things. They know about our own schedules more than we do.
``Coach O'Leary takes academics very seriously,'' Harvey continued. ``Academics are the first thing to come every day around here. It's taken very seriously.''
So much so that O'Leary moved football practice back from afternoons to mornings three years ago, so that student-athletes would have most of the day and night to focus on their classes. The move to morning practices has been such a success academically that O'Leary wonders why more schools don't use a similar schedule.
``I think the biggest thing is time management. They have to be up between 6:30 and 7:45 to have breakfast and they have football in the morning and then they have academics and study hall all day, so they know where the priorities are,'' O'Leary said. ``As I tell the kids, your faith is No. 1, academics is No. 2, football is No. 3 and your social life is No. 4. The guys who get in trouble have the order all screwed up.''
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John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFathletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@ucfathletics.edu.