By John Heisler
UCF Strategic Communications
Maybe it was fitting early Tuesday night as some clouds and light sprinkles on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale gave way to a massive rainbow over the ocean.
That’s the sort of year it has been for UCF athletics—and the latest stop on the Knights’ 2019 ChargeOn Tour set the stage for what’s to come.
UCF football coach Josh Heupel and vice president and director of athletics Danny White appeared with play-by-play voice Marc Daniels at Bubba Gump’s on the beach—signing schedule posters and photos, posing for dozens of photos and otherwise spreading the gospel on the latest in UCF athletics.
“It’s all about the Heup!” noted one enthusiastic fan as he shook the hand of the Knights’ head coach.
Just across the street from the beach, the event showcased plenty of black-and-gold apparel—from tank tops to T-shirts to polos, many featuring reminders of 13-0 seasons and league championships in the recent UCF football past.
As White reminded the Knight faithful, they are “part of the largest-growing fan base in the country,” Heupel took time to gauge where he stands after a full year in Orlando—and the 12-1 season that resulted.
He kidded that’s he’s already been easily sold on the Florida weather, sending a photo of his family in the Heupel pool back to friends in South Dakota where the weather (30 inches of snow in the middle of April) wasn’t ready to permit that sort of local behavior.
“I feel like I’ve caught my breath and have my feet on the ground,” added Heupel, as he and his staff plan for their second go-round in Orlando.
“Everybody knows our expectations now. I understand our players at a much better level—their athletic tools and how to use them. We’re way ahead of where we were a year ago in that regard.
“The communication between coaches and players is at a higher level and because of that the trust factor is there.”
UCF is one of only six Football Bowl Subdivision schools that returns its entire coaching staff intact, and Heupel expects that to pay dividends:
“I’m proud of the way we’re trending and the culture in our building. We believe we can compete with anyone,” he said. “We can go play with anybody as long as we put in the work.”
The Knights’ head coach used as an example a recent practice encounter between early-entry freshman quarterback Dillon Gabriel and graduate transfer quarterback Brandon Wimbush, neither of whom has been around for a regulation UCF football game as yet.
“Brandon ripped one on a vertical seam route and Dillon high-fived him as he came off the field,” Heupel said. “It speaks to the chemistry you’re creating in your building.”
One year as a head coach has convinced Heupel of the possibilities that exist for success in The American Athletic Conference.
“This conference can go play with anyone, anywhere, on any Saturday,” he said. “And we relish the chance to showcase our logo.”
With much of the UCF staff on the road recruiting these days, what’s the Knights’ pitch? Heupel did not hesitate:
“It’s really unique in my opinion.
“We are recruiting mostly kids who are three and a half to five hours away.
“You’re coming to the fastest growing city in America.
“It’s the second largest university in the country.
“You’re going to create a brand while you’re playing for us with UCF on the side of your helmet and your name on the back of your jersey.
“You can experience everything in college football in your four years, and that experience at UCF is going to empower you for the next 40 years of your life.”
White paid tribute to the success in Heupel’s first year as a head coach, suggesting that even he wouldn’t have raised his hand in the belief Heupel and his 2018 squad could match the title team’s record from the previous season in terms of producing another unbeaten regular season and another AAC crown.
“The job he did with his staff may have been the most difficult transition in college football, taking over an undefeated team,” said White. “And he handled it masterfully.”
White repeated his much-articulated vision for the entire UCF athletic program:
--Be the best athletic department in the state of Florida
--Be ranked top 25 in all sports (he reeled off a lengthy listing of what Knight teams have done in that regard in 2018-19)
--Do it the right way (he noted a 3.24 spring semester departmental grade-point average, the 23rd in succession over 3.0)
--Win the now-annual War on I-4 competition with USF
“We’re all having so much fun building something,” he said. “And we’re just getting started.
“You all get to be great ambassadors of UCF because we get to be the ones to build it.”
The UCF ChargeOn Tour moves to the Space Coast Wednesday night, Orlando Thursday night and then New York City May 23.