Dec. 13, 2011
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By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - This year's city of Deltona Christmas Parade will feature two members of the UCF football team as Manny Messeguer and Willie Mitchell will serve as grand marshals Saturday, Dec. 17. For more information on the parade, check out www.DeltonaFL.gov.
Messeguer was recently inducted into the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame and serves as a special assistant to head coach George O'Leary. He has been with the Knights from the very beginning as a fan for UCF football's inaugural season in 1979. In 1982 he became a donor leader and has served the program in numerous capacities, including as a radio network sideline reporter and a personal pilot for former head coach Gene McDowell.
Prior to formally joining the UCF program in February of 2008, Messeguer spent 18 years as general manager and vice president of Tropical Ford Inc., one of the largest in Orlando. He served in the United States Air Force, where he was trained as a pilot during the Vietnam era and remains instrument rated as a private pilot.
A native of Deltona, Mitchell was an outstanding four-sport athlete at Pine Ridge High School before accepting a scholarship to play football for the Knights. As a senior at Pine Ridge he was named to the Orlando Sentinel All-Central Florida defensive football team and was ranked No. 72 on Bill Buchalter's 2011 Florida Top 100. Mitchell played in three games for UCF in 2011, and is looking forward to his sophomore season in 2012.