May 24, 2011
="" alt="Knight Head" border="0" class="imported"> Read John Denton's Knights Insider | ="" alt="Twitter Logo" border="0" class="imported">Follow us on Twitter | ="" alt="Facebook Logo" border="0" class="imported">Get social with the Knights on Facebook
By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - More than 150 UCF fans packed a downtown Orlando restaurant Monday night to hear George O'Leary's one-liners and predictions for the upcoming football season, but the Knights' coach is already looking forward to the day when that sort of facility isn't sufficient to contain the program's fandom.
"We have 150,000 alumni in Florida and 70,000 in Orange County, so we should be getting where we're holding these type of events at big places like the fairgrounds," O'Leary said. "That's where you the fans come into play. We have to get more and more people involved with the program."
O'Leary and several other UCF coaches made an appearance Monday night at the eighth stop of the 2011 UKNIGHT tour at 310 Lakeside. The facility was packed with black-and-gold clad supporters who came filled with optimism and questions for UCF's coaching staff.
Hopes are higher than ever for the football program following the most successful season in school history. UCF went 11-3 last season and won both the Conference USA title and the Liberty Bowl. The 10-6 defeat of Georgia was the school's first-ever bowl victory. That allowed the Knights to finish the season at No. 20 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, another first for the program.
O'Leary is well aware that the bar of expectations has been raised and the program is hungry for even greater success and strides this season.
"It's hard to get into the Top 25, but it's even harder to stay there,'' O'Leary said. "(Winning the Liberty Bowl) was a great, great day for UCF."
The Knights should be favorites to win C-USA's East Division again this season and compete for another bowl berth what with the proliferation of skilled players back on both sides of the ball. Freshman sensation Jeff Godfrey is back at quarterback as well as C-USA title game and Liberty Bowl MVP Latavius Murray. Standout defensive backs Josh Robinson and Kemal Ishmael anchor a defense that will be trying to fill holes at linebacker and defensive line.
Combine that returning talent with a top 40-ranked recruiting class and UCF should be at the point of reloading and not rebuilding, O'Leary said.
"If we play like we should, we should have a chance to win every game that we play," O'Leary said.
O'Leary said that if his tour around the state of Florida has shown him anything it's that the UCF brand is growing by leaps and bounds on a daily basis. He said the UCF name and logos are far more prevalent in south Florida and along the coasts than ever before, and following the success of last season more people are aware of the Knights than ever.
"There's no question about it that there is a lot more UCF paraphernalia all over the state now with the license plates and the flags," O'Leary said. "That's where we're getting better and growing as a program. We just have to take more pride in our school and support all of our programs here at UCF. It shouldn't be a matter of how many people are we going to have at games. We should have a packed house every game. It makes a difference to the kids and the fans are the ones who set the traditions."
Stephan Benson, UCF's senior associate athletic director for external affairs, also spoke to the group of boosters about the power of uniting at games to support the programs. Benson lauded UCF for having several conference champions this past year - football, women's basketball, women's soccer, men's golf and outdoor and indoor track & field titles. Benson also raved about the school's commitment to academics with 52 percent of all football student-athletes holding a 3.0 grade-point average or higher.
UCF associate men's basketball coach Sean Finney also recapped arguably the most successful season ever for the Knights and took questions from the crowd. UCF started last season 14-0 and was ranked for the first time ever under new head coach Donnie Jones, who was travelling and unavailable to attend the event. The Knights stumbled some in C-USA play, but closed out the year by winning seven of 10 games. And a big smile came to Finney's face when a fan posed a statement instead of a question, highlighting one of the top moments in school history.
``Coach, I just want to say thanks for making us all proud by beating the Florida Gators. It was a great day for the UCF program,'' the fan said.
John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFAthletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.