Gene Frenette: UCF joining Big 12 means state college football landscape is now the Big Four
When UCF officially joined the Big 12 Conference last week, it should put to rest any notion that the Knights are little brother to the more established football programs in the state of Florida.
Now that UCF is in a Power 5 league, it ought to be on equal footing — and this mindset may take some adjustment for the snob portion of the Florida, Florida State and Miami fan bases — with the Big Three. Period.
The days of the upstart Orlando school being thought of as a level below that trifecta of in-state football counterparts, even with a combined 11 national championships in their trophy case, no longer applies.
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Does that mean UCF should be an immediate contender in the transitioning Big 12, which also welcomes newcomers BYU, Cincinnati and Houston this year and bids goodbye to Texas and Oklahoma in 2024?
No, the Knights under third-year coach Gus Malzahn are probably looking at middle-of-the-pack status in the Big 12 as their first-year ceiling. This is more about how UCF — in comparison to the Gators, Seminoles and Hurricanes — should be properly viewed over the long haul.
College football in the Sunshine State is in a different place. The Big Three should now be the Big Four, with UCF having advanced enough to be saddled with the similar expectations and burdens as the state’s other Power 5 programs because it can recruit from the same base of strength as a P5 school. Previously, it was a different ballgame as a Group of 5 school.
From a perception standpoint, the Knights — who took a hit last year when quarterback Dillon Gabriel transferred to Oklahoma prior to the season but got a nice year out of John Rhys Plumlee — are still a notch ahead, and certainly no worse than even, with Florida and Miami heading into the 2023 season.
Right now, FSU is the state frontrunner as a consensus top-10 team because it has quarterback and potential Heisman Trophy contender Jordan Travis, plus one of the nation’s best pass-rushers in defensive end Jared Verse.
But as history bears out the past 40 years, starting before UCF became a D-I program, the upward and downward trajectories of Florida, FSU and Miami are cyclical. All three have spent considerable time on or close to the national mountaintop, as well as in the valley of despair.
In 5 to 10 years, it’s fair to expect UCF with its Power 5 status will have as good a chance of being in the 12-team playoff as any of their more established state rivals.
UCF is no longer the annoying little brother program that ruffled feathers back in 2017, compiling a 13-0 record and proclaiming itself as national champions.
The Gators, Seminoles and Hurricanes better get used to the Knights being in college football’s big leagues.
Membership in the Big 12 elevates UCF’s football reputation and provides recruiting cachet like never before. Like it or not, the days of the Big Three dismissing the Knights as an afterthought are over.
Mining late-round draft gems
While some NFL draftniks might look at seventh-round draft picks as leftovers, Jaguars GM Trent Baalke views them more as potential gems, partly because they’re often cheaper than the most coveted undrafted free agents.
“Believe it or not, it’s cheaper to draft seventh-round picks than get the top undrafted free agents,” Baalke said. “So if I get a chance to trade a sixth-rounder for two sevens, I’m going to go 2-for-1 so as not to have to fight as hard in free agency. A lot of these [Power 5] UDFAs are getting $200,000 guarantees.”
As things worked out in the 2023 draft, the Jaguars acquired three seventh-round picks (OL Cooper Hodges, DT Raymond Vohasek, FB Derek Parish), tied for the third-most in franchise history.
In 2000, the Jaguars had a record five seventh-round selections and all of them — safety Erik Olson, defensive end Rob Meier, running back Shyrone Stith, linebacker Danny Clark and offensive tackle Mark Baniewicz — made the 53-man roster as rookies.
DeCamillis NFL job streak ends
Joe DeCamillis, who served two stints as the Jaguars’ special teams coordinator and spent the past two seasons in the same capacity with the Los Angeles Rams, ended his consecutive streak of 34 years as an NFL coach by accepting a position as special assistant to Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian.
It was the third-longest streak among active NFL coaches, surpassed only by New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick (38 years) and Indianapolis Colts linebackers coach Richard Smith (35 years).
DeCamillis has never worked in college and will be responsible for helping Sarkisian with game-planning situations. The 58-year-old Colorado native had an offer for a similar role with Florida’s Billy Napier, but chose Texas over the Gators.
How Spiller changed Clemson
A cool piece in The Athletic this week recounted the recruitment of Union County High running back C.J. Spiller to Clemson, through the eyes of recruiters from Clemson (Dabo Swinney, then wide receivers coach, Tommy Bowden, former head coach), Florida (Urban Meyer, former head coach, Stan Drayton, former running backs coach), Spiller’s mother, Patricia Watkins, and Spiller, now in his third season as Clemson’s running backs coach.
Using only quotes from these parties, and by Union County High teacher Charlotte Emerson, you get a feel for all the apprehension everyone felt until the 5-star recruit made a decision that helped launch the Tigers’ program into national prominence.
Here’s the money quote from Spiller when reflecting on publicly announcing his choice before a bunch of supporters, nearly all of them Florida or Florida State fans, at his high school gym: “I tell people all the time, excuse my French, [but] you probably could have heard a mouse piss on cotton when I announced. That’s how quiet it got.”
ESPN layoffs avoidable
Budget cutbacks and layoffs have become an all-too-familiar theme across corporate America, but ESPN keeps sending a lot of quality labor to the unemployment line because of its unnecessary largesse. This past week, nearly two dozen on-air talents got the ax, among them superb NBA analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Jalen Rose, along with ultra-reliable NFL sideline reporter/sportscaster Suzy Kolber and College GameDay reporter Gene Wojciechowski.
Maybe if ESPN resisted the temptation to back up a couple Brink's trucks to pay the salaries of Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee, it could have avoided pink-slipping employees who have made significant contributions to its product.
Definition of sour grapes
Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham recently went on a local podcast to say the Kansas City Chiefs were “blessed” to have a slippery turf during their Super Bowl win over Philly.
The Eagles’ vaunted pass rush, which accumulated 70 sacks, never took Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to the ground one time in KC’s 38-35 victory.
“I’m telling you that [Chiefs] O-line, they got blessed, I’ll say that,” Graham said.
Come on, man. While the slippery surface at State Farm Field in Glendale, Arizona, was criticized by both teams after the game, the Chiefs’ defense had to endure the same limitations with their pass rushers trying to chase after Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts. Graham lamenting the conditions four months later, after Mahomes drove his team to a game-winning field goal, was classic sour grapes.
Quick-hitting nuggets
Rory McIlroy, considered a favorite for the Open Championship, has now played 33 majors without winning since his victory at the 2014 PGA Championship. The only golfers to go that long in-between winning majors are Ben Crenshaw (39, 1984 Masters to ‘95 Masters), Ernie Els (37, 2002 Open to 2012 Open) and Lee Trevino (34, 1974 PGA to 1984 PGA). …
Hall of Fame cornerback Deion “Prime Time” Sanders probably wouldn’t care for this quote from Jaguars’ defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell because there’s an element of truth to it: “When you have corners that are divas, they usually don’t like to tackle.” …
Tom Gullikson, captain of the United States winning team in the 1995 Davis Cup, moved to Ponte Vedra Beach last week from Chicago with his wife, Shaun. The 71-year-old Gullikson, who reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 34 and as high as No. 4 in doubles, won 10 of his 15 doubles titles with twin brother, Tim, who passed away from a brain tumor in 1996.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540; Follow him on Twitter @genefrenette
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: UCF football elevation to Power 5 now raises expectations for Knights
