ORLANDO — And you thought last offseason was hectic.
Well, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Welcome to the most important winter in UCF football history.
It started just before midnight Friday. The Knights slumped to a 28-14 defeat against Utah at FBC Mortgage Stadium. It marked their eighth loss in nine games.
Now, the string of critical offseasons continues — and intensifies.
Two years ago, the Knights prepared to leap from the American Athletic Conference to the Big 12. Last year, after a 6-7 first campaign at the Power Five level, they brought in two new coordinators and more than 40 new players. Approximately half of those arrived via the transfer portal, including former Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson.
They whiffed. UCF went 4-8.
Which brings the program to this point, its lowest since going winless in 2015. And the Big 12 grace period is over, especially with newcomers like Arizona State, BYU and Colorado contending immediately.
The checklist looks similar to the last two years.
Gus Malzahn will need to hire at least one new coordinator. Again.
He dismissed DC Ted Roof in October after only eight games. Will Malzahn stick with Addison Williams, who served in the role in 2023 and again after Roof’s firing, or will he want a fresh voice?
He may have to replace offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr., too. In mid-November, Sports Illustrated listed Harris as a name to watch if the Florida International head coach job becomes available.
Either way, the staff will deal with a new cast of characters.
RJ Harvey, who broke the school’s touchdown record Friday, is gone. Deshawn Pace and Kobe Hudson are leaving. Ladarius Tennison, Ethan Barr, Amari Kight and BJ Adams? All of them ran out of the Bounce House tunnel for the final time on Senior Night against Utah.
The Knights will return to the portal. They have no choice, trying to plug holes and supplement a high school recruiting class the industry doesn’t love. It ranks ninth out of 16 teams in the Big 12 according to On3 and 15th according to 247 Sports and Rivals.
Flipping a roster in one offseason can be done effectively, though. Ask Curt Cignetti and Indiana.
It also can go wide left. Ask Mike Norvell and Florida State — or Malzahn and Jefferson.
Like last offseason, Malzahn has to find a quarterback, either on the roster or with another reach into the portal.
The Jefferson experiment failed through five games. The merry-go-round of Jacurri Brown, EJ Colson and Dylan Rizk didn’t produce positive results during the final seven, either. (An hour after the Utah loss, Colson announced his plans to bolt from UCF.)
All of this assumes UCF decides to keep Malzahn. As of Dec. 1, it would cost the athletic department $13.75 million to buy him out. If it slashes him, the program hits a hard reset. It would have to nail the ensuing hire. Botching it would set the Knights back half a decade.
If they do retain him for another year, this is his last chance. Coaches receive only so many cracks at a rebuild. They can fire coordinators and pursue impact transfers only so many times. Eventually, the decision-makers lose faith.
Malzahn has nine months to complete his vision from four years ago.
There’s a sign hanging on the FBC Mortgage Stadium facade that says, “The future of college football is here.”
It’s not far-fetched.
The school sits in a great location; people want to live in Central Florida, and the state’s high school talent pool is rich. The program now resides in a power conference, and it formed a recent history of punching above its former Group-of-Five weight class. The student population is huge. Even the uniform combos, like the annual Space Game digs, circulate on the internet and dazzle fans and players alike.
But if the Knights don’t get this offseason right, the future will continue being just that.
For who knows how long.
