Latest news with #UCF
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4 days ago
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UCF Football Makes Major Announcement on Tuesday
UCF Football Makes Major Announcement on Tuesday originally appeared on Athlon Sports. It has been a college football offseason full of changes for the UCF Knights. On Tuesday, UCF revealed more changes are coming. Advertisement The news comes months after Gus Malzahn left the program for the Florida State Seminoles prompting the Knights to turn to a reunion with head coach Scott Frost. As Frost makes his return to Orlando, Fla., UCF will look a bit different as the Knights announced uniform changes on Tuesday. Fans may not immediately notice a sinificant difference in the new threads as there are a lot of similarities to the previous uniforms. One thing missing from the announcement is the return of pewter, gold or an alternate jersey as some fans were quick to point out on social media. UCF Head Football Coach Scott Frost during UCF Spring football practice at FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando, Friday, April 11, Cook/News-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images UCF dropped a video on Tuesday detailing the uniform changes, which are a nod to different eras of the program. The main differences include shadowed numbers, a revised Pegasus on the side of the jerseys and numbers above the shoulders. The new reveal included white and black jerseys along with the same colors for the updated pants. Advertisement "YES THE NUMBERS POP NOW. This set is incredible!!" one fan reacted. "We are so back!" said another. "An upgrade from the last set, for sure," one person reacted. "I'm holding out for a surprise pewter set and a gold helmet for a release later in the season." The Frost era will resume on Aug. 28 at home against Jacksonville State. Now, UCF will have new uniforms to match an overhauled coaching staff this season. Related: Ex-UCF Quarterback Puts Alabama on Notice With Blunt Message This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 24, 2025, where it first appeared.
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4 days ago
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5 things to know about Charlie Jilek, UCF commit and Michigan multi-sport athlete
Contacted "out of the blue" by UCF earlier this year, Charlie Jilek now only has his sights set on Orlando. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound rising senior popped onto the Knights radar from Portage Central High School in Michigan, and he quickly became a priority target at tight end. Jilek had little knowledge of the Knights around the time offensive quality control coach Alex Ward contacted him, but he knew a few key details. Advertisement "Who wouldn't want to play football in Florida? It's a cool school. It's Big 12 football. That's what I knew," Jilek said. Jilek, who attended the Knights' April 1 spring practice, is due to return June 20 for his lone scheduled official visit. According to 247Sports' composite rankings, he is the No. 24 overall player in Michigan and the No. 90 multi-position athlete for the 2026 recruiting cycle. Here are five things to know about Jilek, who has been locked into the Knights' class for the last two months. 1. UCF has not signed a Michigan high school recruit this century Portage (Mich.) Central tight end Charlie Jilek meets with UCF football coach Scott Frost during an unofficial visit April 1. Michigan is completely uncharted territory on the recruiting front for UCF, at least in the modern era. Advertisement According to databases from both Rivals and 247Sports, UCF has never pulled a high school recruit out of either the Upper or Lower Peninsulas over the last 25 years. The Knights will always prioritize their pipelines in Florida and Georgia, but Scott Frost got creative in his previous regime by pulling McKenzie Milton out of Hawai'i, another quarterback from Nebraska (Noah Vedral) and three recruits from Virginia. That's not to say UCF has not had a handful of natives from the Great Lakes State on the team in the past. In 2024, tight end/kickoff specialist Evan Morris (Ovid) and offensive lineman Keegan Smith (Jackson) joined the Knights from the transfer portal, arriving from Michigan State and Central Michigan, respectively. Portage, a city with an estimated population of just under 50,000 as of 2023, is located 6½ miles south of Kalamazoo in the southwestern corner of Michigan's oven mitt (Lower Peninsula). Coincidentally, Portage has produced one NFL tight end — Pete Metzelaars, who suited up for 235 games across 16 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers and Detroit Lions between 1982-97. 2. Charlie Jilek has 4 Division I offers to play defense Not every team that has recruited Jilek envisioned him playing tight end. Advertisement Three schools in the Mid-American Conference — Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Ohio — and Cornell, hailing from the Ivy League, verbally offered him to play defense. He tallied 104 tackles with eight tackles for loss, three sacks, one interception, four pass breakups, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery to earn a spot on MLive's Kalamazoo Football Dream Team. UCF was the most recent school to offer Jilek, doing so when he flew down for an unofficial visit in April. Other schools that have pursued him include Arkansas State, Ball State, San Diego State and Western Michigan. 3. Charlie Jilek broke bones in both hands during 2024 season Charlie Jilek topped the 100-tackle mark as a junior at Portage (Mich.) Central despite playing the season with broken bones in both hands. Making Jilek's junior-year numbers all the more impressive is the fact that he broke both of his hands at various points of the 2024 season. Advertisement Prior to the season, Jilek got his left index finger twisted in a teammate's jersey during a tackling drill and broke the second metacarpal bone. After undergoing an X-ray, Jilek donned a club for the first five games of Portage Central's season. Four days before the club on his left hand was set to be removed, Jilek broke the second and third metacarpals on his right hand while making a sack against rival Mattawan, the same opponent against whom he tore his ACL the season before. Portage Central coach Mick Enders added: "It couldn't have played out in a movie any more weird than it did." Instead, he had a club on the right hand for the Mustangs' final seven games, including a 22-0 playoff victory against Mattawan. The hand injuries did, however, prevent Jilek from registering a reception for Portage Central's offense. 4. Charlie Jilek loves being an aggressive run blocker The offensive highlights sprinkled into Jilek's junior tape demonstrate his willingness to punish opposing defenders as a run blocker. Portage Central utilizes the triple option, and Jilek plays a key role in setting the edge and getting to the second level. Advertisement Rob Gronkowski and George Kittle stand out as influences to Jilek in terms of his play style, wanting to be a factor on all three downs and in all situations. "I feel like they're so aggressive coming off the ball," Jilek said. "Some guys aren't willing to put in the dirty work, but I'm not afraid to put my head in someone's chest. And I'm really excited to open up the pass game for my team — with both hands." 5. Charlie Jilek is an all-conference basketball player MLive honored Jilek among its best basketball players in the Kalamazoo area, too. Jilek earned SMAC-West all-conference first-team honors for the 2024-25 season, helping the Mustangs to a 14-9 record and wins in nine of their final 11 games. Advertisement Football remains Jilek's first love, but he started playing hoops around the age of 4. He sent some basketball highlights, including a few dunks, to Knights offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Steve Cooper early in the evaluation process. Cooper converted four-year basketball letterwinner Julius Thomas into a tight end at Portland State, and he blossomed into an NFL draft pick — and later a Pro Bowler — for the Denver Broncos. He will look to repeat the feat with UCF's Deebo Coleman, following a report from 247Sports' Stephen Leonard that the shooting guard is joining the football team for 2025. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights football recruiting: 5 things to know about Charlie Jilek
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4 days ago
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5 things to know about Kaj Baker, UCF RB commit and speedy South Florida sprinter
ORLANDO — Kaj Baker checked out of The Celeste Hotel on UCF's campus to a round of applause. Moments after exiting a June 8 face-to-face meeting with Knights head coach Scott Frost, the 5-foot-7, 165-pound South Florida speedster informed the team's staff of his verbal commitment in the lobby. Advertisement "It was an amazing experience," Baker said at the conclusion of his UCF official visit. "Getting to know all the coaches and the staff, feeling the love and the energy. Genuine love. And awesome food." Baker is the lone running back prospect in the Knights' 2026 recruiting class; Jayvian Tanelus, from the Community School of Naples, chose Duke a weekend after visiting UCF. He is the third-highest ranked prospect in the group, per 247Sports, and the No. 38 multi-purpose athlete among rising seniors in the nation. Here are five things to know about the potential game-breaker from Somerset Academy in Pembroke Pines. 1. Kaj Baker twice finished top-4 in Florida's Class 3A 100-meter dash Kaj Baker finished fourth in the Class 3A 100-meter dash at the Florida High School Athletic Association's track and field championships in May, posting a time of 10.76 seconds. Baker twice finished among Florida's fastest sprinters in Class 3A, placing runner-up in the 100-meter dash (wind-aided 10.38 seconds) and the 200 (personal-best 20.89) as a freshman at Somerset Academy. He returned to Jacksonville in May and took fourth with a time of 10.76, crossing the line ahead of Miami Northwestern four-star cornerback J'Vari Flowers (Florida signee) and American Heritage four-star wide receiver Brandon Bennett (Florida State commit). Advertisement According to Milesplit, Baker consistently ran within the 10.7-second range in the 100 throughout the 2025 track and field season. The lone outlier occurred at the Region 4-3A meet in Satellite Beach, where he posted a wind-aided 10.53. Speed tops the list of traits that first-year UCF running backs coach Jimmy Beal is seeking at the position, making Baker a potentially exciting complementary piece for the team's future backfield alongside Stacy Gage and Taevion Swint. "I'm already the fastest on the track, so when I get on the (football) field, nobody can catch me," Baker said. "I'm just running away from everybody." 2. Kaj Baker has played Florida high school football since 7th grade Kaj Baker had 520 rushing yards, 756 receiving yards and 19 total touchdowns during his junior year at Pembroke Pines Somerset Academy. This fall marks Baker's sixth high school season, debuting for Somerset Acacemy as a seventh-grader in 2020. According to MaxPreps, he has totaled 3,924 all-purpose yards and 43 touchdowns, including a one-year spell at Miami Central (2023). Advertisement Baker set a career high with 19 touchdowns during his junior campaign, topping the 100-yard receiving mark on four separate occasions. The Panthers posted a 7-4 record and advanced to the Florida High School Athletic Association's Class 3A playoffs, losing to Cypress Lake in the regional quarterfinals. 3. Kaj Baker inherited 'Nitro' nickname from his father Pembroke Pines Somerset Academy running back/receiver Kaj Baker committed to UCF on June 8, following his official visit. With all that speed to burn, it was only fitting that Baker inherited the same nickname his father had on the track at Florida State — "Nitro," not to be confused with the moniker of UCF's athletics mascot, Knightro. Miami native Derrick Baker helped the Seminoles win back-to-back ACC indoor championships in the 4x400-meter relay in 2003-04. He later transferred to Norfolk State and produced a pair of productive campaigns at wide receiver, catching 37 balls for 666 yards and five touchdowns during the 2005-06 seasons. Advertisement Asked if his dad can keep pace with him out of the blocks, Baker replied, "He has no chance." 4. Kaj Baker said his college recruitment is 'shut down' Kaj Baker shut down his recruitment following his official visit to UCF in June, canceling scheduled trips to Pittsburgh and Virginia. Baker's official visit to UCF will be his only one, saying afterward, "I shut (any future visits) down. I'm committed." He loves the fit in Frost's scheme, and the relationship forged with the head coach, Beal and offensive coordinator Steve Cooper. "They were just showing me love, and I feel it's genuine," Baker said. "I'm ready to lock in, and I don't want to waste no time." UCF reoffered Baker on Jan. 18, following the upheaval of the coaching staff. He holds 18 Division I offers according to 247Sports, a list that includes Duke, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Wake Forest. Advertisement Baker told The News-Journal he canceled planned June trips for Pittsburgh and Virginia. UCF will face Pitt in a home-and-home series in 2026 and '29. 5. Former UCF RB Adrian Killins approves of Kaj Baker's commitment Baker's commitment caught the eye, and has the approval, of a similarly undersized speedster who thrived under Frost at UCF — Daytona Beach native Adrian Killins Jr. Killins chose the Knights in 2016 shortly after Frost accepted the job, and he went on to enjoy a highly productive four-year career with 4,361 all-purpose yards and 34 touchdowns. Like Baker, Killins garnered a reputation as one of Florida's fastest prepsters after winning consecutive Class 3A 200-meter titles. "I love this commitment here," Killins posted onto an Instagram story in all caps, accompanied by a pair of fire emojis. Advertisement Killins can easily be seen as a comparable player to Baker's skill set and measurables. Same with former Oregon standout De'Anthony Thomas. Baker said he watched side-by-side clips of his film and the highlights Thomas produced for the Ducks and felt confident he could replicate them at the college level. "The type of offense they've had in the past — super fast guys, super quick guys that can score in one play like De'Anthony Thomas. They were showing me plays, and I feel like I can do a lot of the same stuff they were doing," Baker said. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights football recruiting: Meet Somerset Academy RB Kaj Baker
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4 days ago
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UCF Knights football stadium name change approved by board of trustees
Now, it's official. UCF's board of trustees unanimously approved the FBC Mortgage Stadium name change during its meeting on June 12. The new moniker: the Acrisure Bounce House. That broke earlier this week when the agenda for the meeting, which listed the name, was posted online. But talks of a change have swirled since Acrisure bought FBC Mortgage in 2024. Advertisement Knights athletic director Terry Mojahir commented on the matter at the Big 12's spring meetings last month, mentioning Acrisure wanted to modify the name. He introduced the topic at the board of trustees meeting. "We believe Acrisure Bounce House allows us to maintain the spirit and excitement of the Bounce House while continuing the partnership with the company that shares our growth and mindset and long-term vision," Mojahir said Thursday. FBC Mortgage reached a 10-year naming rights agreement worth $19.5 million with UCF in 2022. GETTING TO KNOW YOU: 5 things to know about Charlie Jilek, UCF commit and Michigan multi-sport athlete Advertisement Let's break down the new name and everything behind it. Why did UCF change its football stadium name to Acrisure Bounce House? Acrisure acquired FBC Mortgage in April 2024. FBC Mortgage will officially transition to Acrisure Mortgage on July 1. When does the UCF football stadium name change take effect? Just like the FBC Mortgage to Acrisure Mortgage switch, the new stadium name will go into effect on July 1. But really, the 2025 football season is the important upcoming marker. The university will remove current signage and hang updated versions with the new moniker in the coming weeks. How many names has the UCF football stadium had? Nov 24, 2017; Orlando, FL, USA; A wide angle view of a sold out stadium in a game between the UCF Knights and the South Florida Bulls during the second half at Spectrum Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports This is the fifth name since the building opened in 2007. Advertisement During the first 10 years of its existence, it went by Bright House Networks Stadium. It shifted to Spectrum Stadium from 2017 to 2020. The Bounce House rose from nickname to official title in 2020 and 2021 when the Spectrum naming rights deal expired and no successor materialized. FBC Mortgage filled the void in 2022. Now, the venue will adopt the Acrisure Bounce House label. Why is UCF's football stadium called the Bounce House? Sep 9, 2022; Orlando, Florida, USA; UCF Knights fans get loud before the game against the Louisville Cardinals at FBC Mortgage Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports The Bounce House earned its nickname shortly after it was built. When fans jump in union, the stadium shakes. Independent contractors reviewed the structure and determined it was sound. They ensured UCF the bouncing would not damage or shorten the building's lifespan. Advertisement Reinforcements were added before the 2008 season to lessen the bouncing effect. The nickname stuck, though. "Congratulations for getting the name 'Bounce House' officially in there," board member Stephen King said. "That's big." "If they didn't approve, I wasn't sure what we were going to call it," Mohajir responded with a chuckle. "But where it landed is phenomenal," King said, "so thank you for whatever it took to get that in there." (This story has been updated to add new information.) This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF football stadium name change approved: Acrisure Bounce House
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UCF football recruiting: Where things stand as official visits end
Nearly three-dozen high school recruits toured UCF's football facilities — and Universal Studios Florida, for that matter — over the last month on official visits. Scott Frost, back on the Bounce House sidelines for the first time in eight years, gets his first full recruiting cycle to build the program into a Big 12 winner. Monday begins the dead period, with contact impermissible all the way until July 31. In such time, many athletes will weigh the pros and cons of their prospective choices before announcing a decision ahead of their senior seasons. Advertisement UCF has searched all over the map to bolster its roster, supplementing four in-state commits with targets from another eight states (Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas). According to 247Sports, the Knights are positioned 56th nationally in the team recruiting rankings and 11th among the Big 12 Conference's 16 programs. Let's recap the last month for the Knights, analyzing who rolled through Orlando, what they have gained and lost to date and what positional needs still remain. Which high school players took official visits to UCF in June? May 30-June 1 Shmar Akande, CB, West Broward (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) Dante Carr, QB, Minersville Area (Minersville, Pa.) Kasiyah Charlton, OT, Brunswick (Brunswick, Ga.) Jayden Curtis, DT, St. Martin (Ocean Springs, Miss.) Max Mohring, LB, Malvern Prep (Malvern, Pa.) Kymani Morales, LB, American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) Leon Noil Jr., IOL, Edna Karr (New Orleans, La.) Jayvian Tanelus, RB, Community School of Naples (Naples, Fla.) Tyren Wortham, WR, Booker (Sarasota, Fla.) Advertisement June 2-4 Devonte Anderson, DB, West Orange (Winter Garden, Fla.) Matt Occhipinti, LB, Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) June 6-8 Kaj Baker, RB, Somerset Academy (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) Alhassan Iddrissu, EDGE, St. Thomas More (Oakdale, Conn.) Desmond Johnson, LB, Miami Northwestern (Miami, Fla.) Elijah Keys, CB, Fletcher (Neptune Beach, Fla.) Isaiah McNish, DT, Wekiva (Apopka, Fla.) Eric Parks, S, Tampa Bay Tech (Tampa, Fla.) Jarius Rodgers, EDGE, Fleming Island (Fleming Island, Fla.) June 9-11 Kamron Wilson, EDGE, Miami Southridge (Miami, Fla.) June 13-15 Wihtlley Cadeau, DT, Booker T. Washington (Atlanta, Ga.) Ben Gula, IOL, Cypress Bay (Weston, Fla.) Gary Hadley Jr., WR, Cardinal Gibbons (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Julius Miles, TE, Freeport (Freeport, Fla.) Amarion Queen, DB, Martin County (Stuart, Fla.) Amahn Williams, IOL, Tabor Academy (Marion, Mass.) June 20-22 Kane Archer, QB, Greenwood (Greenwood, Ark.) Preston Hall, LB, Ridge Point (Missouri City, Texas) Ja'Cari Jackson, DB, Olympia (Orlando, Fla.) Coi Jean-Noel, WR, American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) Charlie Jilek, TE, Portage Central (Portage, Mich.) Grant Kuhlmann, EDGE, Lincoln Lutheran (Lincoln, Neb.) Arthur Lewis IV, RB, Bartram Trail (St. Johns, Fla.) E'Shawn Sutton, S, Winter Park (Winter Park, Fla.) How many players are committed to UCF's 2026 class? Greenwood's Kane Archer fends off a Pulaski Academy defender during the 5A West Conference game on Oct. 28 at Smith Robinson Stadium. Greenwood Pul Acad Fb 102822 05 Its class has gone through some significant shuffling over the last month, but UCF has 12 players committed for the 2026 recruiting cycle as of June 23. Iddrissu, a 6-foot-7, 255-pound Ghana native with an 86-inch wingspan, became the second consensus four-star prospect to join the class when he committed June 12. It concluded a productive second visit weekend for the Knights which also produced pledges from versatile speedster Baker and emerging defensive interior force McNish. Frost, offensive coordinator Steve Cooper and quarterbacks coach McKenzie Milton doubled down on the quarterback position, adding Pennsylvania dual-threat Carr to the mix. He and Gatorade Arkansas Player of the Year Archer combined for 7,619 yards of offense and 112 touchdowns during their respective junior campaigns. Advertisement Three more players made their decisions in UCF's favor during the month, including a pair hailing from the Northeast. Sep 28, 2024; Oradell, NJ, USA; Don Bosco football at Bergen Catholic. DB #33 Matthew Occhipinti. Williams is a 6-foot-4, 280-pound stalwart at left guard for a Tabor Academy team that went 8-1 and averaged 40.5 points per game. Occhipinti had 75 tackles with seven TFLs and five sacks, earned All-New Jersey honors for Don Bosco Prep and reportedly visited UConn, Cincinnati and West Virginia in addition to the Knights. Rounding out the group is the Knights' latest addition, Hall — a 6-foot-3, 215-pound linebacker who is the son of former Tennessee Titans fullback Ahmard Hall. Colorado State and San Diego State headlined the list of contenders for Hall prior to this past weekend. Which players decommitted or flipped from UCF's 2026 class? Booker's Tyren Wortham rushes for yards during the first quarter of an FHSAA Class 3A state football semifinal matchup Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 at Raines High School in Jacksonville, Fla. UCF's linebacker recruiting has been in a state of flux over the last six weeks. The Knights entered May with commitments from Morales, Ocoee's Michael McClenton and Palm Beach Central's Antoine Sharp; none of them are still in the Knights' class as of June 18. Advertisement McClenton since reopened his recruitment, took visits to Florida International and Appalachian State and transferred to Edgewater. Sharp joined West Virginia's class following a visit the second weekend of June, and Morales flipped to Georgia Tech three days after returning home from Atlanta. Arguably, UCF's biggest recruiting blow came June 22 when Wortham, who had 1,360 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns on just 67 catches, flipped in favor of Michigan State. The Knights held onto the 6-foot, 180-pounder through prior trips to Georgia and Kansas State, but could not fend off the Spartans' push. Which UCF visitors committed elsewhere this month? Lely Trojans running back Jayvian Tanelus (0) breaks a tackle from Estero Wildcats linebacker Kyle King (17) in the backfield during the third quarter of a spring football game at Lely High School on Friday, May 19, 2023. Tanelus transferred to CSN for the 2024 season. Kentucky moved quickly for Mohring at the end of April, issuing his first Power Four offer. Though UCF got the first crack at him on campus, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound linebacker instead chose the Wildcats. Advertisement Similarly, Johnson, who helped Northwestern win the FHSAA Class 3A championship last fall, committed to Pittsburgh after first checking out UCF. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound WILL linebacker registered 83 tackles, seven sacks, three interceptions two forced fumbles for Teddy Bridgewater's Bulls. Tanelus, who topped 1,500 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior, picked Duke on June 13. Two days later, Parks and Tampa Bay Tech teammate Tyson Stroud, the younger brother of UCF freshman cornerback Rukeem Stroud, announced commitments to Florida Atlantic. Cadeau, a 6-foot-5, 295-pound defensive lineman out of Atlanta, locked in a commitment with Florida State before touring UCF. Which UCF targets are worth monitoring in the weeks ahead? WR Jeffar Jean-Noel (American Heritage) was named MVP of his position group at the Under Armour Next camp in Miami on Sunday, March 2, 2025. Four key uncommitted to players to monitor entering July are Noil, Anderson, Curtis and Jean-Noel. Advertisement UCF is battling two Big 12 rivals, Baylor and Houston, as well as Mississippi State and Nebraska for the New Orleans native. Noil (6-5, 270) told 247Sports' Rion Young that he plans to announce a commitment on July 7. Anderson (6-1, 190) toured six schools in the space of a month: Louisville, UCF, Rutgers, Auburn, Maryland and Miami. Being able to keep Anderson — who had 38 tackles, 10 pass breakups and three interceptions for West Orange as a junior — home would be an enormous win. Curtis (6-3, 265), brought to Orlando on the opening weekend, is a primary defensive tackle target. Ole Miss entered the picture at the start of June and had the last chance to make an impression in person. Previously committed to West Virginia, Jean-Noel (5-10, 170) snagged 34 receptions for 505 yards and five TDs in American Heritage's title-winning campaign. Per 247Sports' Stephen Leonard, Jean-Noel could move up plans to commit on Aug. 12, with Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Pittsburgh and Purdue also in the mix. Bartram Trail's Arthur Lewis IV (0) scores a touchdown during the second quarter of a high school football matchup Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024 at Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. The Nease Panthers held off the Bartram Trail Bears 56-42. As for potential flips in the Knights' favor, Liberty commit Lewis — coming off a junior year in which he rushed for 1,666 yards and 21 TDs — gained an offer while in Orlando. The same could be said of Carr and Hall, both of whom committed almost immediately in the aftermath. Advertisement Syracuse has emerged as a new recruiting adversary throughout the Sunshine State for UCF, but the Knights have the chance to snatch Sutton from nearby Winter Park and, perhaps, a premier edge rusher in Rodgers or Wilson. What are UCF's biggest needs remaining for the 2026 class? With Wortham's departure from the group, wide receiver skyrockets to the top of the list of positional needs. UCF's current depth chart at the position already feels thin, despite the impressive displays put forward in the spring by early enrollees Waden Charles and Carl Jenkins Jr. Sean Beckton, the Knights' wide receivers coach, described the duo as the "future" of the receiving corps, and they could be counted on to make plays early in their respective careers. As mentioned earlier, Jean-Noel is a huge priority at this point, though UCF faces plenty of Power Four competition. Advertisement Considering that, at one point, Mark D'Onofrio had three linebackers simultaneously committed, it's fair to assume the position will continue to be a point of emphasis — either by expanding the board further or making additions via the transfer portal at year's end. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights football recruiting overview after official visits
