By all accounts, UCF’s recruiting class signed and announced yesterday was a revelation.
Scott Frost and his staff had very little time to put together a class that fit their new offensive and defensive mentality. The whole paradigm shift with the program after the 0-12 season has built some good momentum for the program within the community.
It has also carried over into recruiting too. The Knights quickly picked up some major area recruits, making good early on the promise to recruit players with speed to fit the Oregon-style offense on its way into Bright House Networks Stadium and making good early on the promise to recruit players from the Central Florida area.
Still, coming off an 0-12 season, it would be easy to see recruiting take a dip.
In the 247Sports Composite Team Recruiting Rankings, UCF shot up the charts pretty quickly. The Knights finished 66th in the nation and fifth in the American Conference.
Flipping Ft. Lauderdale wide receiver Dredrick Snelson from Minnesota was a big get for the Knights and the commitments from offensive linemen Aaron Dowdell and Jordan Johnson also helped solidify a part of the team that needed shoring up ahead of the upcoming season.
Not to mention picking up local recruits Adrian Killins from Mainland and Jaquarius Bargnare from Dr. Phillips to get some speed at skill positions.
This was a recruiting class that was looking to be very bad with all the uncertainty surrounding George O’Leary’s future and the 0-12 season. Frost helped inject a lot of energy and direction into it.
Getting to fifth in the American is a big step for the program.
Last year, UCF finished third in the conference in recruiting with a 159.02 rating from 247Sports’ composite ranking and second in 2014 with a 165.79 rating.
This year, the Knights had a 158.99 rating from 247Sports.
So there was still a step down because of the late start and the poor season. By all accounts though, the Knights should be able to bounce back some based on talent.
Another winless season feels completely out of the question. Then again, that team could not control for all the injuries and lack of depth at key positions throughout the early part of the year. Confidence dwindled and things just got worse.
While some of the recruiting victories were big for UCF this year, there is still a lot of work for Frost to do. He is going to have to coach players up and restore that confidence and swagger that had UCF sitting atop the American for two years.
Signing Day was a good first step, but not the final one for this team.
