UCF Sports Thread: 2025 Spring Football is Underway

Kent · Post #101 » by **Kent** » Mon Nov 11, 2024 4:49 am

I love Gus the person and get why he is good at recruiting, but you get the feeling that when we do win, it's in spite of the head coach.

In other words, we're leaving wins on the table.

Post #102 » by **UCF** » Mon Nov 11, 2024 6:36 pm

Recruiting has been going backwards too. I hope he can figure out what’s going on.

Ducklett · Post #103 » by **Ducklett** » Sat Nov 23, 2024 9:59 pm

UF beat Ole Miss and knocked them out of the playoffs! Yall can be Gator fans with me for a while, if you want

Post #104 » by **UCFJayBird** » Mon Nov 25, 2024 6:27 pm

Disappointing and frustrating loss by the men's basketball team yesterday. Blew a 20 point lead to a tough LSU team in 3OT. Should've won that game, team quite frankly looked like they ran out of energy and focus and couldn't regain any moment. Was quite frankly lucky to hang on for three overtimes.

Optimus_Steel · Post #105 » by **Optimus_Steel** » Sat Nov 30, 2024 9:48 pm

Thank goodness Gus stepped down. Going to FSU as offensive coordinator???? What a joke for both. Gus the train wreck. Not even saying bye. Now got to undue all the backwards steps under Gus the Train Wreck.

Ducklett · Post #106 » by **Ducklett** » Sat Nov 30, 2024 10:14 pm

Gus going to ruin FSU for us was not on my bingo card.

Kent · Post #107 » by **Kent** » Sat Nov 30, 2024 10:29 pm

There's going to be a lot of interest in this job and rightfully so.

We're going to be okay.

Post #108 » by **Knightro** » Sun Dec 1, 2024 12:27 am

My two cents...

Gus, knowing that this roster was going to need a massive overhaul, saw the writing on the wall that 2025 was very likely going to be a ROUGH season if he stayed on as head coach.

Thus he was looking for an exit.

But UCF did not have the money to fire him and they made it clear to Gus and his agent (the legendary Jimmy Sexton) that them paying Gus the $12M buyout simply wasn’t an option for them.

That left Gus with two options…

1. Be the head coach of UCF in 2025 and sit through another miserable slog of a season which would further lower his stature nationally even more than it already has been lowered.

2. Leave now and avoid that.

He chose the latter.

It was certainly not about doing UCF a solid as far as I’m concerned.

dsg2003mach1 · Post #109 » by **dsg2003mach1** » Sun Dec 1, 2024 11:54 am

Thank god. Hopefully they can right the ship quickly

CZ Eddie · Post #110 » by **CZ Eddie** » Sun Dec 1, 2024 7:29 pm

What's the deal with UCF's NIL?
I'm hearing UCF doesn't know how to NIL and is leaving their foundation?

Post #111 » by **Knightro** » Sun Dec 1, 2024 8:08 pm

CZ Eddie wrote:What's the deal with UCF's NIL?
I'm hearing UCF doesn't know how to NIL and is leaving their foundation?

NIL is being moved fully in-house.

CZ Eddie · Post #112 » by **CZ Eddie** » Mon Dec 2, 2024 12:26 am

Great, so NIL is going to be subpar for a year or two and maybe a lot longer if UCF doesn't figure things out.

https://www.si.com/fannation/name-image-likeness/nil-news/ucf-emerges-as-first-power-four-school-to-eliminate-nil-collective-program-#:~:text=In%20a%20recent%20shift%2C%20the,revenue%20to%20enhance%20NIL%20deals.

CZ Eddie · Post #113 » by **CZ Eddie** » Mon Dec 2, 2024 12:27 am

NIL issues might also have been part of Gus wanting to leave.

Post #114 » by **Knightro** » Mon Dec 2, 2024 1:42 am

CZ Eddie wrote:NIL issues might also have been part of Gus wanting to leave.

It wasn't that.

UCF's NIL is working fine generally speaking, considering they don't have a ton of old money donors.

Gus wants to be a P4 head coach in 2026 and beyond. Another miserable season at UCF in 2025 would have more or less ended his P4 head coaching career.

So he tried to get ahead of it by ejecting one year early. Not dissimilar to what Chip Kelly did by leaving UCLA one year ahead of being fired to go be the OC at Ohio State.

Post #115 » by **UCFJayBird** » Mon Dec 2, 2024 12:58 pm

Knightro wrote:My two cents...

Gus, knowing that this roster was going to need a massive overhaul, saw the writing on the wall that 2025 was very likely going to be a ROUGH season if he stayed on as head coach.

Thus he was looking for an exit.

But UCF did not have the money to fire him and they made it clear to Gus and his agent (the legendary Jimmy Sexton) that them paying Gus the $12M buyout simply wasn’t an option for them.

That left Gus with two options…

1. Be the head coach of UCF in 2025 and sit through another miserable slog of a season which would further lower his stature nationally even more than it already has been lowered.

2. Leave now and avoid that.

He chose the latter.

It was certainly not about doing UCF a solid as far as I’m concerned.

For the record, UCF DID have the money to pay it if they wanted to, if push came to shove. They obviously didn't want to spend it if they could avoid it, but I think the way things were going they were going to have to hold their nose and bite that bullet.

But I think you're right, Gus saw that the fanbase had turned on him, he knew next year wasn't going to by any better (likely worse) because so many key contributors were graduating or transferring, there's all this new stuff with NIL changes, some recruits were already decommitting, etc. So why stay on a sinking ship?

Gus started looking around last week for a life raft. FSU wanted to move fast and have an OC in place before signing day, and I think Gus, UCF, and FSU came to an agreement. Gus would resign and go join FSU, letting UCF off the hook for his $12-13m buyout, and in exchange FSU would not have to pay UCF the payment to "poach" Gus, $6m that they would normally owe UCF.

All sides win, all sides are happy. Literally the best outcome for UCF (outside still getting that $6m, haha). An early Christmas miracle.

Post #116 » by **UCFJayBird** » Mon Dec 2, 2024 1:14 pm

I imagine UCF is moving fast on finding a new coach. Early signing day is this week and I imagine they'd like to have a coach in place who can bring over some of their recruits before they sign with their current team (same reason FSU did it). Not sure if they'll move that fast though because some of the coaches they'll be interested in are either coaching in conference title games or heading for the college football playoff.

Tough spot really. Early names seeing a lot are:
GJ Kinne - Texas State HC, former UCF OC who went to Incarnate Ward and won a conf title immediately with them, went to Texas State and took them to two straight bowls. Hasn't exactly crushed the ASUN these two years with Texas State, but did improve the team.

Jon Sumrall - Tulane HC. Problem is probably his buyout at the moment, I think. He's also got a lot of interest from UNC and probably West Virginia and Purdue (the other 3 big job openings currently available). I think we're the best option of the 4. Some feel whoever hires him is probably only getting him until Kentucky has an opening though, as he's an alum and it's probably a Frost situation where he'd love to go coach there.

Will Stein - Oregon OC. Similar to Frost hiring except he's even younger and less experienced than Frost was. But he's a rising star in the college football coaching world.

Brian Hartline - Ohio State co-OC and WR coach. Also considered a rising star in the coaching circles. Some OSU fans even want him to take over for Ryan Day, lol. Only downside is he doesn't currently call plays so tough to gauge how responsible he is for OSU IMO.

Andy Kotelnicki - Penn State OC, also getting a lot of interest and considered another guy who will get a HC gig soon. Leads another high scoring offense.

I think it'll be interesting to see if UCF wants to go for another high rising OC like the last three, or someone like the first two (Kinne and Sumrall) who are HCs already.

Of course there's also the cries from some fans for a return of Scott Frost, who is currently working for the LA Rams. Frost flamed out at Nebraska, but had a LOT of close games, where you could argue a few lucky bounces or different situations and he might've been more successful. Could argue his offense just doesn't work there. I think he would instantly bring back some swag and excitement to the program, a lot of VERY popular players would be coming around and helping him out on the recruiting trail and helping to revitalize the program. Obviously some UCF fans are still very bitter about the way his departure went down as well, and he had a lot of off the field personal issues while at Nebraska that I think contributed to his failure. The question is does UCF want to retread there and try and recapture the Magic, that rarely works (but is possible). Or because he's been out of the college game for a few years does UCF want someone still on the recruiting trail and with recent success. Maybe Frost would be an option down the road after he gets some experience as an OC or HC at a G5 or something.

I won't be upset with any of the above hires, though I think I'd prefer Stein, Kotelnicki, or Sumrall.

Kent · Post #117 » by **Kent** » Mon Dec 2, 2024 4:38 pm

I like Sumrall myself. Listen to him talk and it's hard not to get excited. And his results speak for themselves.

I support a Frost reunion. His Nebraska tenure wasn't good, but that program is still only marginally better now than it is when he started and left. He took that job because of dad mainly, and truly wanted to stay here. I feel it wasn't a true alignment from the jump. He left on good terms too.

I believe UCF and Frost could help each other now just as they did years back.

It's funny... Frost beats Gus in the Peach Bowl, Frost leaves, Gus eventually coaches at UCF only to flame out, leaving the door open for Frost to elevate the program once more and again make Gus look like a loser.

It'd be pretty poetic, I'll say that.

Post #118 » by **Knightro** » Mon Dec 2, 2024 4:44 pm

I think Sumrall is going to sit tight where he's at, wait one more year, and ultimately land one of the 3-4 SEC jobs that will inevitably open up next cycle.

I have zero interest in a reunion with Scott Frost.

I'm thinking head coaching experience will be prioritized - GJ Kinne, Barry Odom, Willie Simmons, Jamey Chadwell, Ryan Silverfield

Post #119 » by **UCF** » Tue Dec 3, 2024 12:29 am

Read on Twitter

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MasterGMer · Post #120 » by **MasterGMer** » Tue Dec 3, 2024 1:14 am

I like a Scott Frost re-union. But the press and media is not going to be too kind this time around when that happens. Why? Because re-union is an odd situation with bad taste. Could it work? Yup. But how is the country going to look at it?

UCF is certainly not like 2016 anymore. We are in the Big 12 and tons more attractive in the coaching circle. If it is Frost, I support it. Even though he might not be my NO.1 choice, I like Scott Frost coming back to UCF. Just win and just win. Winning means everything.