UCF’s Reign Has Come to an End

There are three states in the landscape of college football with so much talent and crazy fan bases that every university in that state should be good at football. California, Texas, and the great state of Florida. Most people would agree that college football in Florida has been down due to the big three (UM, FSU, and UF) all struggling or not finding consistency this past decade, which led to a new program to reign supreme over the rest of the better part of a decade. 

UCF is historically not a powerhouse football program. They have had moments of greatness; look at the 2013 season. Most people remember that as the Blake Bortles season where he had blown up on the scene, dominated all year, and helped the Knights win their first-ever BCS new year’s six bowls. The Knights’ highest of highs also came with the lowest of lows.

A couple of years after the Bortles 12-1 season, the Knights followed it up with a legendary 0-12 season in 2015. This led to the dismissal of long-time UCF coach George O’Leary. The program would rebound quickly after.

Scott Frost and Josh Heupel would take the reins for the next five years (Scott for two seasons and Heupel for three). UCF would go 47-15, which is just remarkable and pure dominance. Through these years, the Knights went undefeated in 2017 and proclaimed themselves as National Champions. To this day, it is a funny joke in the college football world, but if it makes UCF fans feel better about themselves, I will let it be because what I am about to say will upset all of Orlando.

UCF’s reign over Florida is over, and they will never be the top school in the state ever again. The big three in Florida (Miami, UF, and FSU) have all hired new coaches or relatively new coaches. FSU head coach Mike Norvell, who is in his third season, has the Seminoles rolling right now with their first 2-0 start since 2016. FSU looks like a top 25 team right now, and if they beat Louisville, all three of the big power Florida schools will become ranked.

Billy Napier has been the hottest name in coaching for a couple of years now, and the Gators were able to snag him in his first game; what did he do? He just upset a top ten team in the country in Utah. Also, Mario Cristobal was hired away from Oregon after he won a Pac-12 title. He has already made enormous strides in the recruiting circuit for the Miami Hurricanes.

Simply put, UCF will fall back down to earth.

It blows my mind how UCF fans act like they are a top 10 program in the country. Knight fans, hear me out. UCF got lucky that the state of Florida was in turmoil during the course of the last decade, so they were able to claw their way to the top when everyone was down. Now that all of the big dogs are back, UCF is returning to being an average to a little above-average football program. UCF at their best in 2017 still does not compare to some of the other Florida school’s best teams over the last six years. The 2019-2020 Florida Gators lost a heartbreaker to Alabama in the SEC championship. That Dan Mullen team had the ultimate firepower. With Kyle Trask throwing for over 40 touchdowns and generational talent Kyle Pitts at TE, it would have been too much to handle for UCF. Even when UCF sat on the throne, there were still many single-season instances from other schools where they had a team far better than UCF ever had.

Florida, Miami, and FSU were inconsistent this past decade, but all of those teams are moving with a full head of steam now and look to leave UCF in the dust again. 

I will leave you with one final note on why UCF will never sit on top again. Coaches dream of coaching at Miami, UF, and FSU, and those schools always get hot hires or proven coaches like Norvel, Cristobal, and Napier. UCF is a stepping stone for coaches to get bigger and better jobs. Scott Frost left after two seasons for Nebraska, Heupel stayed for three before leaving for Tennessee, and now he has them in the top 25. No one wants to stay at UCF.

If Gus Malzhan can keep winning nine games a season, he will be hired by a big-time program soon enough, but Malzhan is a safe coach, not a program-changing coach. It was a fantastic decade for UCF; for the better half of it, they dominated the state of Florida, but their reign is now over. 

The Knights just lost to a below average ACC team in Louisville. UCF didn’t score in the game’s second half this past Friday night. John Rhys Plumlee isn’t the answer at QB, to say the least. The Knights are simply in trouble because they play a team with offensive firepower this week in FAU, and if UCF cannot keep up with them and they get upset, they will have issues the rest of the season. There will be a big upset in Boca Raton this weekend…