ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – Hours after being announced as the 11th head football coach in program history, Josh Heupel was formally introduced to the UCF and Orlando communities in a press conference Tuesday afternoon at Spectrum Stadium.
University President Dr. John C. Hitt, Vice President and Director of Athletics Dr. Daniel J. White, in addition to University and Athletics administration and staff, along with local media, were on hand to welcome Heupel and new defensive coordinator Randy Shannon to the UCF Family.
WHAT THEY SAID
UCF President Dr. John C. Hitt
"You don't have to be around Josh for very long at all to know that he is a fierce competitor who wants to win. Think about it. Our student-athletes have gotten the message – if you come to UCF, you're going to play for championships. We've won three conference championships in the past five seasons. The Knights are playing in a New Year's Day bowl for the second time in five seasons. This is a great place for competitors, for winners. Josh, I'm sure that you're going to build that perception and reality even higher."
UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Dr. Daniel J. White
"Josh and I, in our conversations, talked about a vision for UCF and I've talked about it a bunch here. I think I have the best job in America. I think this place is an absolute gold mine. The sky's the limit for where we can take UCF Athletics and I know Josh sees the same thing in this football program. I couldn't be more proud to have him here and certainly to have his level of commitment into the future as we both continue to build our football program. With that, it's my honor to introduce your new head football coach Josh Heupel."
Head Coach Josh Heupel
"It's really a fulfillment of a dream of being able to be the head football coach at a university where you have a chance to compete for championships and play on the biggest stages year in and year out. That's what I've found here at UCF. I'd like to thank President Hitt, Provost Whitaker and Danny for affording me this opportunity. I'm truly privileged, and I'm going to make the most of this opportunity, and make you and this state very proud of the product that we put out there on the football field."
For more quotes from the press conference, click here.
WATCH THE INTRODUCTORY PRESS CONFERENCE
Hear from Coach Shannon
PHOTOS