UCF remains the sleeping giant

Before UCF began its run of success, the UCF was the sleeping giant program waiting to rise. Even in the midst of major change, the program still promises.

In 2013, UCF was nothing more than a promise, it seemed. The Knights were a solid program just joining the American, the remnants of the Big East and that dream of being in a power conference.

Rick Pitino came to the stage at the American Conference’s basketball media days in Memphis and made a declaration that seemed to solidify the promise that might be UCF.

“UCF is a sleeping giant,” Pitino said that day two years ago. “A sleeping giant because of its proximity of where they’re located, their potential to have a great football program, their potential to have a great basketball program and sports program.”

The words almost became prophetic. The Knights would that fall make the Fiesta Bowl, see their quarterback get taken with the third overall pick in the NFL Draft and the dream of a powerful UCF seemed realized.

The Knights had arrived. And with Louisville’s departure to the ACC, UCF seemed to ascend to top dog in the American. Back-to-back conference championships and all the access to the Florida region and a major metropolis in its backyard.

The sleeping giant had apparently awoken.

Then “Jack” came. The 2015 season has been an unmitigated disaster for the Knights. The coach that pulled the program up to unprecedented heights is gone, resigning amidst an 0-9 start that he seemingly wanted very little part of if not for school administrators begging him to stay.

The program has gone to complete turmoil with controversy over succession clauses in George O’Leary’s contract and injuries that have ripped away anything resembling the UCF the past two years.

The question for UCF moving forward is whether this is a momentary setback for the program or something longer lasting. Will the Knights be a brief glimmer in the history of mid majors or can they return to their status from the past two years?

The advantages are all there. Pitino’s assessment then that UCF was a sleeping giant is no less true today.

Sitting in talent-rich Florida and in a major city like Orlando, UCF should remain an attractive place for a recruit to play. So long as the Knights can remain relatively competitive, they should remain a target for conference expansion trying to sneak into the Florida market.

There are definitely certain benefits that make UCF’s job attractive — once they get their athletic director set, at the very least.

What has been most disappointing about this season was how the positive momentum of this program was suddenly halted. Now there are questions all over the roster.

The coach will have both the responsibility of sorting through what remains from this roster — both healthy and not healthy — and expanding what O’Leary built, including becoming more of a marketing face, perhaps.

There is going to be new energy put into the program. Or it will go dormant again. It will remain a doormat. A program that once had promise and opportunity ahead of it, cut down by injuries, lack of depth and maybe a coach who had run his course on his way to retirement.

UCF is not a program anyone should give up on. The potential remains there. The opportunity for success remains with the Knights — not in 2015 but beyond.

The giant slumbers again in Orlando.