Official UCF Sports Thread - Basketball: NIT Bid? Football: Spring Practice Underway

Post #1641 » by **UCFJayBird** » Mon Nov 15, 2021 4:50 pm

I saw a surprising note on twitter a few weeks back about how the first (or maybe second?) Heupel recruiting class should be juniors/seniors now, and you'd typically expect something like 6 starters from each class, but that recruiting group has zero starters, i think half of them aren't even on the team anymore, and the rest are backups or practice squad guys. Not sure how legit that is, but if so it certainly helps understand why the team lacks depth at the moment and the injuries have been so devastating this year (even in a normal year this amount of injuries to key guys would be tough to get past). Hopefully we can finish up 8-4 to end the season going into a bowl game. A disappointing year but understandable.

The bright spot is that Gus already has the best recruiting class UCF has ever had. We're going to need some good recruiting classes as we move over to the Big XII.

At this point i'm just hopeful DG doesn't decide to transfer elsewhere next season.

OrlMagic05 · Post #1642 » by **OrlMagic05** » Mon Nov 15, 2021 5:42 pm

UCFJayBird wrote:I saw a surprising note on twitter a few weeks back about how the first (or maybe second?) Heupel recruiting class should be juniors/seniors now, and you'd typically expect something like 6 starters from each class, but that recruiting group has zero starters, i think half of them aren't even on the team anymore, and the rest are backups or practice squad guys. Not sure how legit that is, but if so it certainly helps understand why the team lacks depth at the moment and the injuries have been so devastating this year (even in a normal year this amount of injuries to key guys would be tough to get past). Hopefully we can finish up 8-4 to end the season going into a bowl game. A disappointing year but understandable.

The bright spot is that Gus already has the best recruiting class UCF has ever had. We're going to need some good recruiting classes as we move over to the Big XII.

At this point i'm just hopeful DG doesn't decide to transfer elsewhere next season.

I saw this as well, really put things into perspective. The fact that Gus has recruited UCF's best class ever in his first season is very encouraging.

Has there been talk about DG transferring? That last sentence worries me lol

Post #1643 » by **UCFJayBird** » Mon Nov 15, 2021 6:19 pm

OrlMagic05 wrote:
UCFJayBird wrote:I saw a surprising note on twitter a few weeks back about how the first (or maybe second?) Heupel recruiting class should be juniors/seniors now, and you'd typically expect something like 6 starters from each class, but that recruiting group has zero starters, i think half of them aren't even on the team anymore, and the rest are backups or practice squad guys. Not sure how legit that is, but if so it certainly helps understand why the team lacks depth at the moment and the injuries have been so devastating this year (even in a normal year this amount of injuries to key guys would be tough to get past). Hopefully we can finish up 8-4 to end the season going into a bowl game. A disappointing year but understandable.

The bright spot is that Gus already has the best recruiting class UCF has ever had. We're going to need some good recruiting classes as we move over to the Big XII.

At this point i'm just hopeful DG doesn't decide to transfer elsewhere next season.

I saw this as well, really put things into perspective. The fact that Gus has recruited UCF's best class ever in his first season is very encouraging.

Has there been talk about DG transferring? That last sentence worries me lol

Mostly wild speculation, but haven’t seen anything disputing it outright either, lol. Could just be people being nervous about it.

And on queue Armstrong is ruled out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL.

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nymets1 · Post #1644 » by **nymets1** » Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:07 am

UCFJayBird wrote: The bright spot is that Gus already has the best recruiting class UCF has ever had. We're going to need some good recruiting classes as we move over to the Big XII.

At this point i'm just hopeful DG doesn't decide to transfer elsewhere next season.

This year best recruiting class UCF has ever had? There's no way. We went undefeated in 2017 and basically undefeated the next year until we lost to LSU in the bowl game.

Post #1645 » by **UCFJayBird** » Tue Nov 16, 2021 2:15 pm

nymets1 wrote:
UCFJayBird wrote: The bright spot is that Gus already has the best recruiting class UCF has ever had. We're going to need some good recruiting classes as we move over to the Big XII.

At this point i'm just hopeful DG doesn't decide to transfer elsewhere next season.

This year best recruiting class UCF has ever had? There's no way. We went undefeated in 2017 and basically undefeated the next year until we lost to LSU in the bowl game.

based on recruit rankings this will likely be the best class we've had (recruiting isn't over, other teams may leap us if they do better down the stretch). Obviously from an output perspective we won't know for 4-5 years how the class actually turns out, but in terms of recruit rankings it's the best we've had.

Here's the rankings of the last ten years. We haven't even cracked the Top 50 in the last decade.

2022 (current, not finalized): 35th
2021: 54th (Heupel)
2020: 58th (Heupel)
2019: 52nd (Heupel)
2018: 67th (Heupel)
2017: 53rd (Frost)
2016: 57th (Frost)
2015: 63rd (O'Leary)
2014: 73rd (O'Leary)
2013: 73rd (O'Leary)

Note: I'm going based on who was coach for the majority of that recruiting class. technically Frost was the coach when 2015 wrapped up, but he was hired in early December, as was Heupel in 2017, and Malzahn in 2021 (hired in January, basically enough time to get a handful of spots filled and transfers).

https://n.rivals.com/team_rankings/2022/all-teams/football

OrlMagic05 · Post #1646 » by **OrlMagic05** » Tue Nov 16, 2021 2:28 pm

UCFJayBird wrote:
nymets1 wrote:
UCFJayBird wrote: The bright spot is that Gus already has the best recruiting class UCF has ever had. We're going to need some good recruiting classes as we move over to the Big XII.

At this point i'm just hopeful DG doesn't decide to transfer elsewhere next season.

This year best recruiting class UCF has ever had? There's no way. We went undefeated in 2017 and basically undefeated the next year until we lost to LSU in the bowl game.

based on recruit rankings this will likely be the best class we've had (recruiting isn't over, other teams may leap us if they do better down the stretch). Obviously from an output perspective we won't know for 4-5 years how the class actually turns out, but in terms of recruit rankings it's the best we've had.

Here's the rankings of the last ten years. We haven't even cracked the Top 50 in the last decade.

2022 (current, not finalized): 35th
2021: 54th (Heupel)
2020: 58th (Heupel)
2019: 52nd (Heupel)
2018: 67th (Heupel)
2017: 53rd (Frost)
2016: 57th (Frost)
2015: 63rd (O'Leary)
2014: 73rd (O'Leary)
2013: 73rd (O'Leary)

Note: I'm going based on who was coach for the majority of that recruiting class. technically Frost was the coach when 2015 wrapped up, but he was hired in early December, as was Heupel in 2017, and Malzahn in 2021 (hired in January, basically enough time to get a handful of spots filled and transfers).

https://n.rivals.com/team_rankings/2022/all-teams/football

Just goes to show how much impact a coach can have in recruiting and also how bad Heupel is as a recruiter. Just looked at Tennessee's recruiting class over the last 10 years and this is their worst year. Granted I know its still early, but the fact that they are 32nd and in the SEC to our 35 in AAC/Big12 goes to show how bad Heupel is as a recruiter and how we took a few steps back under his watch.

Post #1647 » by **UCF** » Wed Nov 17, 2021 4:07 pm

This is a big time improvement if we stay in the 30s. Most were already committed before the big12 news as well.

Post #1648 » by **Knightro** » Wed Nov 17, 2021 5:40 pm

UCF wrote:This is a big time improvement if we stay in the 30s. Most were already committed before the big12 news as well.

If we're being honest with ourselves, Gus has always been a much better recruiter than coach. My hope is that he'll recruit so well that he'll be able simply out talent his own coaching, something he has rarely done in his career.

Auburn Recruiting Rankings
2013: 10th
2014: 6th
2015: 8th
2016: 9th
2017: 9th
2018: 12th
2019: 11th
2020: 7th

Auburn's Final Ranking
2013: 2nd
2014: 22nd
2015: NR
2016: 22nd
2017: 10th
2018: NR
2019: 14th
2020: NR

Now in Malzahn's defense, it's absolutely worth noting that Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M and Georgia - four teams that Auburn plays every single season - pretty much always had better recruiting classes than he did.

So while he was bringing in a top 12 class nationally every year, he was a still routinely bringing in the 5th or 6th best class in his own league.

nymets1 · Post #1649 » by **nymets1** » Sun Nov 21, 2021 1:43 am

There we go UCF now has 7 wins and has now 100% secured a bowl game. I don't know if beating USF to get to 8 wins would get a better bowl opponent? I want to see Parker Navarro make some passes, I'm starting to wonder now if Navarro is better than Keene? I got the feeling when UCF got a comfortable lead with 3 touchdowns, they were trying out some new plays?

Post #1650 » by **Knightro** » Sun Nov 21, 2021 3:44 am

nymets1 wrote:There we go UCF now has 7 wins and has now 100% secured a bowl game. I don't know if beating USF to get to 8 wins would get a better bowl opponent? I want to see Parker Navarro make some passes, I'm starting to wonder now if Navarro is better than Keene? I got the feeling when UCF got a comfortable lead with 3 touchdowns, they were trying out some new plays?

They were 100% going to make a bowl at 6-6 my man.

There's going to be more bowl spots than teams with winning records. The odds are very high that 1-2 teams at 5-7 are going to make a bowl.

nymets1 · Post #1651 » by **nymets1** » Sun Nov 21, 2021 5:20 am

Knightro wrote:
nymets1 wrote:There we go UCF now has 7 wins and has now 100% secured a bowl game. I don't know if beating USF to get to 8 wins would get a better bowl opponent? I want to see Parker Navarro make some passes, I'm starting to wonder now if Navarro is better than Keene? I got the feeling when UCF got a comfortable lead with 3 touchdowns, they were trying out some new plays?

They were 100% going to make a bowl at 6-6 my man.

There's going to be more bowl spots than teams with winning records. The odds are very high that 1-2 teams at 5-7 are going to make a bowl.

I thought a team with 5 wins is not allowed to get a bowl game? They might have to drop bowl games if enough teams don't reach 6 wins?

Post #1652 » by **Knightro** » Sun Nov 21, 2021 5:32 am

nymets1 wrote:I thought a team with 5 wins is not allowed to get a bowl game? They might have to drop bowl games if enough teams don't reach 6 wins?

They don't drop bowl games.

And bowl teams with losing records doesn't happen often, just 15 times since 2001. Less than 1 team per year.

Statlanta · Post #1653 » by **Statlanta** » Mon Nov 22, 2021 1:59 am

Are we better than UF lol

Post #1654 » by **UCF** » Wed Nov 24, 2021 1:00 am

Statlanta wrote:Are we better than UF lol

An argument could be made, yes. Still shocked they fired their coach.

Optimus_Steel · Post #1655 » by **Optimus_Steel** » Sat Nov 27, 2021 2:46 am

UCF won in a close again against a trash team. Not a fun game to watch. I know the record is 8-4 but this team feels like a 5-7 team.

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Kent · Post #1656 » by **Kent** » Sat Nov 27, 2021 5:21 am

Optimus_Steel wrote:UCF won in a close again against a trash team. Not a fun game to watch. I know the record is 8-4 but this team feels like a 5-7 team.

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No one will argue that the wins weren't as convincing as we'd like, but if you feel like we should be 5-7 now, imagine how you would feel if we actually were 5-7.

I'll take the 8-4 the way we got it.

Post #1657 » by **Knightro** » Sat Nov 27, 2021 6:08 am

The worst 8-4 team of all time is still 8-4.

I have not been impressed whatsoever with Malzahn’s offensive scheme or playcalling, but hopefully he’ll be able to simply out talent his own shortcomings in recruiting and in the transfer portal.

Optimus_Steel · Post #1658 » by **Optimus_Steel** » Sun Nov 28, 2021 1:39 am

Dillon Gabriel left the team, wtf happened there?

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Post #1659 » by **Knightro** » Sun Nov 28, 2021 5:01 am

Optimus_Steel wrote:Dillon Gabriel left the team, wtf happened there?

Combination of a few things.

Gabriel didn't feel like he was a great fit for Malzahn's desired offense and felt like he could improve his NFL prospects (which IMO are quite low) in an offense that's more friendly to his skill set.

Gabriel also felt like he could maximize his potential NIL income at a bigger, more high profile school.

His decision to transfer wasn't a surprise though. Gabriel was cleared to play over two weeks ago and he chose not to. The program knew for a while that he was not going to come back.

Post #1660 » by **UCF** » Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:26 am

Knightro wrote:
Optimus_Steel wrote:Dillon Gabriel left the team, wtf happened there?

Combination of a few things.

Gabriel didn't feel like he was a great fit for Malzahn's desired offense and felt like he could improve his NFL prospects (which IMO are quite low) in an offense that's more friendly to his skill set.

Gabriel also felt like he could maximize his potential NIL income at a bigger, more high profile school.

His decision to transfer wasn't a surprise though. Gabriel was cleared to play over two weeks ago and he chose not to. The program knew for a while that he was not going to come back.

It’s a new college football landscape with NIL. He didn’t sign up for playing for Gus either. If I recall right, he really wanted Lebby to be coach.