The UCF Knights football team represents the University of Central Florida in the sport of American football. The Knights compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and are a member of the Big 12 Conference.[5] Their head coach is Gus Malzahn. The Knights play their home games at the 48,000-seat FBC Mortgage Stadium, which is located on UCF's main campus in Orlando, Florida, United States.[6]
UCF first fielded a varsity football team in the fall of 1979 as an NCAA Division III program and subsequently completed their ascension to Division I–A, now known as the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), in 1996, becoming the first program in NCAA history to have played in all four divisions of football (and the only one until James Madison joined FBS in 2022).[7] As a Division I–AA program, the Knights made the 1990 and 1993 playoffs, and were picked as the preseason No. 1 team to start the 1994 season.[8]
Through the completion of the 2023 season, UCF has compiled 293 victories, six division titles, and six conference championships.
The Knights have made 15 postseason appearances since joining the FBS, including winning two New Year's Six bowls: the 2014 Fiesta Bowl and the 2018 Peach Bowl. The program has produced one Consensus All-American, Kevin Smith in 2007, and three Heisman Trophy candidates, Daunte Culpepper (QB) in 1998, Kevin Smith (RB) in 2007, and McKenzie Milton (QB)[9] in 2017 and 2018.
The UCF football program can be traced back to a speech given by the university's second president, Dr. Trevor Colbourn, in January 1979.[10] Colbourn believed that a successful athletics program would bring the university greater renown, and tasked Dr. Jack O'Leary with the job of creating a new football program at the school.[11] In addition, Colbourn changed the name of the school to the University of Central Florida (prior to this, the college was known as Florida Technological University), to express the university's expanded academic scope.[12]
Beginning at the Division III level, O'Leary, then the university's athletic director, held a meeting of prospective players, who paid $14 per night to stay in the dorms and brought their own uniforms to the tryouts, in March 1979.[13] This would be the first football tryouts for prospective players, and would serve as the first that many students would hear about the new athletic program.[11] O'Leary had previously served as an assistant coach at Alabama under Paul "Bear" Bryant.[14] He would spearhead the effort to raise more than $40,000 to start the program, and would complete a deal for the team to play in the Tangerine Bowl.[11] Without a budget to hire a staff, O'Leary reached out to six UCF graduate students as volunteer assistants.[11] From there, O'Leary was able to lure Don Jonas, a former NFL quarterback and Orlando dignitary, to become UCF's first head football coach on a voluntary basis.[11]
One day during a practice, O'Leary pulled the team aside and unveiled the template for uniforms of "The Fighting Knights".[15] He would reveal a template that would follow the team into the 21st century: black jerseys, gold pants and gold helmets.[11] Less than one year after Colbourn had envisioned a football program for the university, UCF played its first game on September 22, 1979, against St. Leo University.[16] The Knights would prove victorious with a 21–0 shutout,[17] and less than a week later, the Knights would win their first home game by defeating Ft. Benning, 7–6.[18] Jonas led the Knights to a 6–2 inaugural season, behind an average attendance of 11,240, including a Division III record crowd of 14,138.[18] Following the season, in March 1980, Jonas was offered the Knights head coaching job as a full-time position.[19] After leading the team to a 4–4–1 and 4–6 record in 1980 and 1981 respectively,[20][21] Jonas would leave the Knights following the 1981 season.[18] During the 1980 season, the Knights earned the only tie in program history, an 11–all game against Miles,[22] and Tim Kiggins became the first Knight to sign a professional contract.[18] After his departure, Jonas remained involved in the program, including doing radio broadcasts of UCF football games and a radio sports talk show.[23] Jonas led the Knights to a 14–12–1 (.518) record in three seasons.[24]
Following the departure of Don Jonas, Sammy Weir, who was the head coach at Lake Howell High School, became UCF's new head coach and led the Knights in their move up to Division II in 1982.[18] Another change to the university's athletic programs in 1982 was the departure of O'Leary as athletic director, and the hiring of Bill Peterson, who was the Florida State head coach from 1960 to 1970.[25] In their first season playing Division II ball, the Knights went 0–10, and Weir decided not to return for the 1983 season.[26] One bright spot of the season was that Mike Carter became the first Knight to sign with an NFL team, the Denver Broncos.[25]
Lou Saban replaced Weir as the Knights head coach in 1983.[27] Saban had previously coached at Miami, Army, Northwestern, and in the AFL and NFL with the Buffalo Bills and Boston Patriots, to name just a few.[25] In UCF's first Black and Gold Spring game held in 1983, the defense won 14–6.[21] The Knights finished the 1983 season 5–6, including the team's first win over a Division I–AA opponent.[25] Starting the 1984 season filled with optimism, the Knights were shaken by a 1–6 start.[28][self-published source?] Following the disappointing beginning to the season, Saban stepped away from the program, and was replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Jerry Anderson.[25] Saban had a 6–12 (.333) record during his tenure as the Knights head coach.[29] Anderson finished out the year with the team in an interim position, with a 1–3 (.250) record.[30] UCF finished the season with a 2–9 mark.[25] In the course of the three seasons following Jonas' departure, the Knights went through three head coaches, and amassed a 7–25 record.[25]
Reeling after a disappointing string of seasons, there were discussions within the community about the possibility of dismantling the program,[31] and Peterson announced his retirement as the university's athletic director.[32] In addition, due to financial troubles, the team had to postpone plans to move up to Division I-AA.[25] Without a head coach or athletic director, President Colbourn hired Florida State assistant coach Gene McDowell to fill both positions.[33] McDowell took the helm in 1985, and hired his eventual successor and former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mike Kruczek as his offensive coordinator.[25] The Knights would finish with a 4–7 mark in McDowell's first year, including a 21–42 loss to UCF's first-ever Division I–A opponent, Louisville.[25] Due to financial hardships, McDowell waived half of his annual salary, and FSU head coach Bobby Bowden donated uniforms and cleats to the program.[25]
McDowell would the lead the Knights to their first winning season since 1979, with a 6–5 record in 1986.[34] Also that year, Ted Wilson became the first UCF player to be selected in the 1987 NFL draft, being picked by the Washington Redskins in the 10th round.[35] Following an 8–3 regular season record in 1987,[36] the Knights earned their first trip to the Division II playoffs, where they earned a 1–1 record.[34] After starting the 1988 season with five straight wins, UCF would be ranked No. 2 in Division II.[34] During a game against the defending D-II national champions Troy at the Citrus Bowl, UCF fans were so loud at one point that the Trojans quarterback Bob Godsey couldn't call plays.[37] Godsey complained to the referee about the crowd noise, but instead of helping Troy, the referee called a delay of game penalty on the Trojans.[38] The "Noise Penalty" game is legendary at UCF, and the win over Troy thrust the Knights into the position as the No. 1 ranked team in D-II.[34] Between 1986 and 1990 under the leadership of McDowell, the Knights held a 24–6 record at the Citrus Bowl.[34]
During McDowell's tenure, the program moved up to Division I-AA in 1990.[39] In their first year in the division, the Knights earned a 10–4 record, a program best, and a trip to the I–AA playoffs.[40] UCF would make it to the semifinals, and became the first school in history to qualify for the I–AA playoffs in its first season of eligibility.[39] The Knights would finish the 1991 and 1992 with winning seasons as well.[41][42] In 1992, Dr. John Hitt, UCF's fourth president, announced that the program would make the move to Division I-A in 1996,[43] and he hired Steve Sloan as the university's new athletic director.[39] Earning their eighth winning season in 1993, the Knights would again make the playoffs.[39] During the season, the team won their first game over a Division I–A team, a 38–16 victory at Louisiana Tech.[44] After another impressive season, UCF was selected as the preseason No. 1 to start the 1994 season.[45] The 1994 season would prove disappointing however, as the Knights would finish the season ranked No. 20 with a 7–4 record.[39] During the team's final season in Division I-AA, the Knights were reinvigorated by freshman sensation Daunte Culpepper. The quarterback would lead the Knights to a 6–5 record, and their tenth straight winning season in 1995.[46]
On September 1, 1996, UCF officially made its foray into Division I-A.[47] At that time, the Knights became the first football program to play in four different NCAA divisions (III, II, I-AA and I-A).[46] In their first two seasons in Division I-A, the Knights posted identical 5–6 records behind Culpepper. In 1997, assistant coach Alan Gooch was named the national assistant coach of the year, due to his work with deaf running back Dwight Collins.[46] In the wake of a federal fraud scandal revolving around improper cellular phone benefits and use, McDowell resigned as head coach on January 20, 1998.[46][48] Over his 13-year tenure at UCF, McDowell earned an 86–61 (.585) record.[49]
After the abrupt departure of Gene McDowell, offensive coordinator Mike Kruczek was named UCF's new head coach on an interim basis.[50] He would receive the position permanently later in 1998.[46] Daunte Culpepper led UCF to its best season ever with a 9–2 record in 1998 (with losses only coming to Purdue[51] and Auburn).[52] Culpepper finished 6th in the Heisman Trophy voting and set the NCAA record for completion percentage that year (73.4%).[46] Following the season, Culpepper was drafted with the 11th pick in the first round of the 1999 NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings, marking the highest ever draft pick of a UCF player.[46]
The Knights proved to be a scary team on the road against heavily favored opponents, with close losses including a 10–6 loss at Auburn in 1998, a 24–23 loss at Georgia in 1999,[53] and a 21–17 loss at Georgia Tech in 2000.[54] Kruczek's biggest victory would come in 2000 against Alabama at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, when the Knights won 40–38 on a last-second field goal by Javier Beorlegui.[55][56] After finishing 9–2 in 1998,[57] UCF received a tentative verbal agreement to play in the inaugural Oahu Bowl.[58] That arrangement, however, was contingent on UCLA finishing the season undefeated; the Oahu Bowl was otherwise committed to taking a team from the Pac-10.[59] On the final day of the regular season, Miami upset UCLA, setting off a chain reaction that sent Washington to the Oahu Bowl and left the Knights out in the cold.[60]
Kruczek guided the team as a Division I-A independent until 2002.[61] After six difficult years as an independent, UCF played its much-anticipated first season as a football-only member of the Mid-American Conference in 2002.[56] They finished runner-up in the East division with a 6–2 conference record. They finished the season 7–5 overall, completing their 14th winning season in the past 17 years.[62][22] The excitement, however, would be short-lived.[56] After signing a three-year contract extension at the beginning of the 2003 season,[63] Kruczek was fired following a 3–7 start.[64] Kruczek was replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach and former player Alan Gooch who finished out the dismal 3–9 season[65] with losses to Mid-American Conference rivals Marshall and Miami (OH).[56] The Marshall game marked UCF's first nationally televised home football game as it was aired on ESPN2.[66] Kruczek ended his six-year stewardship of UCF with a 36–30 (.545) record.[67]
An increased travel burden, lack of competitiveness, and lack of natural rivals within the midwest-based MAC saw UCF begin to explore the possibility of a different conference affiliation after just a couple years in the conference. Furthermore, the UCF athletic department was interested in an all-sports conference membership rather than a football-only affiliation.[68][56] In 2003, UCF was invited as an all-sports member of Conference USA beginning with the 2005 season.[69][56]
Following the disappointing 2003 season, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator and former Georgia Tech head coach George O'Leary was named UCF's head coach in 2004.[70] This was a controversial and bold hire because O'Leary had previously left Georgia Tech after the 2001 season and been named head coach at Notre Dame, but resigned in disgrace five days into his tenure after inconsistencies were found on his resume.[71] The difficult coaching transition for 2004, the Knights' final year in the Mid-American Conference, saw the team hit rock bottom, going 0–11.[72]
In 2005, UCF sta