The UCF Knights college football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), representing the University of Central Florida in the Big 12 Conference. Since the program's first season in 1979 under Don Jonas, the Knights have played more than 517 games, with over 290 victories. UCF has won six division titles ( 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2017, 2018), six conference championships ( 2007, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018), and has made ten postseason appearances since joining FBS, including three BCS/ NY6 bowl games. [1] The Knights also claim a National Championship for the 2017 season, as recognized by the Colley Matrix. The Knights' current head coach is Gus Malzahn. The Knights have played their home games at FBC Mortgage Stadium, located on the main campus of UCF in Orlando, Florida, since 2007.
UCF began as a Division III program, moving in succession to Division II, Division I-AA (FCS), and subsequently completed their ascension to Division I-A (FBS) in 1996. Initially a Division I-A Independent the Knights first moved into a " Group of Five" conference in 2002, and then into a " Power Five" conference in 2023. [2] In doing so, the Knights became the first NCAA football program to play at all four sanctioned levels. As a Division I–AA program, the Knights made the 1990 and 1993 playoffs. [3]
After George O'Leary took over the program, the Knights gained national prominence as members of C-USA and later the AAC. O'Leary guided UCF to their first division title (2005), first conference championship (2007), first bowl game (2005), first bowl victory (2010), first appearance/victory in a New Year's Six game (2014), first national rankings, [4] [5] and numerous other milestones and superlatives.
The Knights' main rivals are the South Florida Bulls; other historic rivals include East Carolina and Marshall. UCF has played one Consensus All-American, Kevin Smith in 2007, and produced three Heisman Trophy candidates, Daunte Culpepper in 1998, Kevin Smith in 2007, and McKenzie Milton in 2017 and 2018. The program has also produced a long-line of NFL players. [6] Playing in fourteen Super Bowls and including four pro-bowlers, the list most notably includes Blake Bortles, Brandon Marshall, Bruce Miller, Daunte Culpepper, Matt Prater, Asante Samuel, and Josh Sitton.
Seasons
| Year | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Jonas ( Division III Independent) (1979–1981) | |||||||||
| 1979 | Don Jonas | 6–2 | |||||||
| 1980 | Don Jonas | 4–4–1 | |||||||
| 1981 | Don Jonas | 4–6 | |||||||
| Sam Weir ( Division II Independent) (1982) | |||||||||
| 1982 | Sam Weir | 0–10 | |||||||
| Lou Saban ( Division II Independent) (1983–1984) | |||||||||
| 1983 | Lou Saban | 5–6 | |||||||
| 1984 | Lou Saban [7] | 1-6 | Fired | ||||||
| Jerry Anderson (Interim) ( Division II Independent) (1984) | |||||||||
| 1984 | Jerry Anderson | 1-3 | |||||||
| Gene McDowell ( Division II Independent) (1985–1989) | |||||||||
| 1985 | Gene McDowell | 4–7 | |||||||
| 1986 | Gene McDowell | 6–5 | |||||||
| 1987 | Gene McDowell | 9–4 | L NCAA Division II Semifinal | ||||||
| 1988 | Gene McDowell | 6–5 | |||||||
| 1989 | Gene McDowell | 7–3 | |||||||
| Gene McDowell ( FCS Independent) (1990–1995) | |||||||||
| 1990 | Gene McDowell | 10–4 | L NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal | ||||||
| 1991 | Gene McDowell | 6–5 | |||||||
| 1992 | Gene McDowell | 6–4 | |||||||
| 1993 | Gene McDowell | 9–3 | L NCAA Division I-AA First Round | ||||||
| 1994 | Gene McDowell | 7–4 | |||||||
| 1995 | Gene McDowell | 6–5 | |||||||
| Gene McDowell ( FBS Independent) (1996–1997) | |||||||||
| 1996 | Gene McDowell | 5–6 | |||||||
| 1997 | Gene McDowell | 5–6 | |||||||
| Mike Kruczek ( FBS Independent) (1998–2001) | |||||||||
| 1998 | Mike Kruczek | 9–2 | |||||||
| 1999 | Mike Kruczek | 4–7 | |||||||
| 2000 | Mike Kruczek | 7–4 | |||||||
| 2001 | Mike Kruczek | 6–5 | |||||||
| Mike Kruczek ( Mid-American Conference) (2002–2003) | |||||||||
| 2002 | Mike Kruczek | 7–5 | 6–2 | 2nd (East) | |||||
| 2003 | Mike Kruczek [8] | 3–7 | 2–4 | Fired | |||||
| Alan Gooch (Interim) ( Mid-American Conference) (2003) | |||||||||
| 2003 | Alan Gooch | 0–2 | 0–2 | 5th (East) | |||||
| George O'Leary ( Mid-American Conference) (2004) | |||||||||
| 2004 | George O'Leary | 0–11 | 0–8 | 7th (East) | |||||
| George O'Leary ( Conference USA) (2005–2012) | |||||||||
| 2005 | George O'Leary | 8–5 | 7–1 | 1st (East) | L Hawai'i | ||||
| 2006 | George O'Leary | 4–8 | 3–5 | 4th (East) | |||||
| 2007 | George O'Leary | 10–4 | 7–1 | 1st (East) | L Liberty | ||||
| 2008 | George O'Leary | 4–8 | 3–5 | T-4th (East) | |||||
| 2009 | George O'Leary | 8–5 | 6–2 | 2nd (East) | L St. Petersburg | ||||
| 2010 | George O'Leary | 11–3 | 7–1 | 1st (East) | W Liberty | 20 | 21 | ||
| 2011 | George O'Leary | 5–7 | 3–5 | 5th (East) | |||||
| 2012 | George O'Leary | 10–4 | 7–1 | 1st (East) | W Beef 'O' Brady's | ||||
| George O'Leary ( American Athletic Conference) (2013–2015) | |||||||||
| 2013 | George O'Leary | 12–1 | 8–0 | 1st | W Fiesta† | 12 | 10 | ||
| 2014 | George O'Leary | 9–4 | 7–1 | T–1st | L St. Petersburg | ||||
| 2015 | George O'Leary [9] | 0–8 | 0–4 | Resigned | |||||
| Danny Barrett (Interim) ( American Athletic Conference) (2015) | |||||||||
| 2015 | Danny Barrett | 0–4 | 0–4 | 6th (East) | |||||
| Scott Frost ( American Athletic Conference) (2016–2017) | |||||||||
| 2016 | Scott Frost | 6–7 | 4–4 | 3rd (East) | L Cure | ||||
| 2017 | Scott Frost | 13–0 | 8–0 | 1st (East) | W Peach† | 7 | 6 | ||
| Josh Heupel ( American Athletic Conference) (2018–2020) | |||||||||
| 2018 | Josh Heupel | 12–1 | 8–0 | 1st (East) | L Fiesta† | 12 | 11 | ||
| 2019 | Josh Heupel | 10–3 | 6–2 | 2nd (East) | W Gasparilla | 24 | 24 | ||
| 2020 | Josh Heupel | 6–4 | 5–3 | T–3rd | L Boca Raton | ||||
| Gus Malzahn ( American Athletic Conference) (2021–2022) | |||||||||
| 2021 | Gus Malzahn | 9–4 | 5–3 | 3rd | W Gasparilla | ||||
| 2022 | Gus Malzahn | 9–5 | 6–2 | T–2nd | L Military | ||||
| Gus Malzahn ( Big 12 Conference) (2023–present) | |||||||||
| 2023 | Gus Malzahn | 6–7 | 3–6 | T–9th | L Gasparilla | ||||
| Total: | 293-234-1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Notes
References
General:
- Holic, Nathan, and the UCF Alumni Association. University of Central Florida: The Campus History Series (2009), ISBN 978-0-7385-6768-6
- MacCambridge, Michael. ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete history of the Game (2005), ISBN 1-4013-3703-1
In-text:
- ^ "UCF Football History". University of Central Florida Athletics. 2009. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
- ^ Vannini, Chris (July 12, 2023). "Inside UCF's rise from D-III to Big 12 and what's next: 'This could be the premier place'". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
- ^ "Division I–AA Football Comes to Orlando". University of Central Florida Athletic Association. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2011.
- ^ "UCF ranked No. 23 in coaches poll and No. 25 in AP, vaulting into Top 25 for first time in school history". Orlando Sentinel. November 7, 2010. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
- ^ "UCF ranked No. 25 in latest USA Today coaches poll". Orlando Sentinel. November 28, 2010. Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
- ^ "UCF Knights Football Record by Year".
- ^ After a 1–6 start to the season, Saban stepped away from the program and was replaced by assistant coach Jerry Anderson.
- ^ Head Coach Mike Kruczek was fired following a 3–7 start. Kruczek was replaced by assistant coach and former player Alan Gooch who finished out the season.
- ^ Following UCF's 59–10 defeat to Houston on homecoming, this dropped the Knights to an 0–8 record. As a result, O'Leary resigned as head coach. Quarterbacks coach Danny Barrett served as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
External links
