How About Now?

Today, I start this writing with a simple question: are we still mad at Dillon Gabriel?

In actuality, maybe that question isn’t so simple for UCF fans, given all of the things that transpired in his three season in Orlando.

At the start, he was a golden boy for UCF. Thrust into action during the second game of his freshman season in 2019, he had a composure about him that seemed uncanny for somebody of his age - and oh by the way, he was pretty dang good too. After the devastating loss of McKenzie Milton to injury, Knights fans felt like they found the next Hawaiian hero.

The middle part of Gabriel’s UCF arc is where things get complicated. The entire 2020 COVID season was full of ups and downs, and looking back on it now, it’s pretty hard to hold any one person accountable for the results of that season. However, one irrefutable result from that year, and the previous season, was that Knights head coach Josh Heupel’s offense knew how to put up stats and points, a desired commodity in college football, especially when your old boss just happens to have a job opening.

Initially, Gabriel took a pretty active and visible role in keeping the team together after Heupel’s departure, even helping to land four-star receiver recruit Titus Mokiao-Atimalala. That active role was taken up a notch with Gabriel’s very public support for then Ole Miss, and former UCF, offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby to get the head coaching job. To be fair to Gabriel, he wasn’t alone in that support as many current and former players were also lobbying for Lebby.

As we know, Lebby was not the choice as UCF instead opted to hire Gus Malzahn, which started a series of events in 2021 that would become the pre-cursor to Gabriel’s exit and UCF fans ire.

First, upon Malzahn’s hire Gabriel did the social media era protest move by deleting anything UCF related from his accounts - sending a clear message that he was not happy with the decision. This proved to be a minor setback though, as Gabriel quickly began singing the praises of his new head coach.

On April 28, 2021, a new rule emerged in college athletics that, while raising some eyebrows, seemed in line with the new era being ushered into college football. Athletes would now be allowed a one time transfer to any school without penalty of having to sit out games. Essentially, free agency in college sports was born that day, whether we knew it or not.

Next came July 1, 2021, the date that signaled the official start of the State of Florida’s new NIL law, allowing athletes to earn money from their name, image, and likeness. Gabriel and his team were ready, launching DG the Brand, a merchandise line featuring jerseys, hats, and shirts.

More deals would follow soon after, including the introduction of DG socks courtesy of Rock ‘Em Socks, and a sponsorship with a local Oakley store. Because Gabriel was UCF’s most high-profile player, fans supported his brands and opened their wallets to grab DG-centric merchandise. And as an enterprising young man, Gabriel and his team did a fair job of marketing and selling the product through social media and influencers.

September 17, 2021, is another important date in the chronology of Dillon Gabriel and UCF. A pass intended for Amari Johnson glanced off of a shoulder pad, landing square in the hands of Jaylin Alderman, who promptly bolted 66 yards to the end zone to secure the lead for the Louisville Cardinals. In the closing seconds, the Knights tried to run some form of a pitchy pitchy woo woo play, but the only thing that accomplished was Gabriel suffering a broken clavicle.

Things get super murky at this point, particularly when it came to Gabriel’s availability to play. In what would become a tenant of the Gus Malzahn era, information was relatively scarce as to when Gabriel would play again. There were certainly rumors as the weeks went on, and many in the fan base were hoping Gabriel would come back to help the Knights momentum heading into bowl season. There was also this report, from then Knights beat writer Jason Beede:

The weeks continued on, and still there was no sign of Gabriel. There became some confusion, and rumors started to run through social media about what was happening behind the scenes. Those rumors gained more traction, particularly due to the ESPN Our Time series, which featured the Knights in 2021. Viewers saw Gabriel working out and throwing the football, only raising speculation on what was happening. However, in since deleted social media posts, Gabriel was still visible, sharing details about his merchandise and marketing deals, so all must have been well, right?

On November 27, 2021, while many Knights fans were still celebrating a thrilling War on I-4 win over the cows from the previous day, the rumors and concerns about Gabriel manifested, officially:

The response was not pretty, with many fans taking exception to the way Gabriel continued to sell his products to UCF fans while presumably planning his exit out of Orlando. The phrase “sock boi” gained traction on social media and message boards as an alternate way to refer to Gabriel. Rumors began swirling about his relationship with McKenzie Milton, and his role in KZ deciding to leave UCF. Needless to say, if something could be loosely blamed on Gabriel, well, then it was.

Over the next three seasons, Gabriel went on to play at two different schools, become a Heisman finalist, play in the college football playoff, set touchdown records, and earn millions of dollars in NIL. There are some who might say Gabriel is the poster child for this era of college football, having created maximum value for himself in a system that doesn’t have any guardrails in place.

All of this brings me back to my question: are we still mad at Dillon Gabriel? What we know and understand now is different than it was in 2021. Athletes are now allowed multiple free transfers, setting up a wild west of free agency every year. Sponsorship deals are still around, but most of the money given to players now comes from direct donations funneled through collectives. And, turns out maybe Gus wasn’t the offensive genius and quarterback whisper we all thought he was.

It’s easy to see now that Dillon Gabriel didn’t make the rules, but he was one of the first to truly leverage them to his advantage. The results are hard to argue: according to NFL Draft Buzz dot com, Gabriel ranks as a 4th round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, which equals a salary slot of between $4.8-$4.5 million dollars and a signing bonus between $800k-$550k. Keep in mind that NFL contracts are not guaranteed, so the actual take-home will vary. If the NIL numbers are to be believed, Gabriel already has more money than the life of his potential contract in the bank (save for what he spent on his new mini-van) even before he hears his name called by the NFL.

As it turns out, Gabriel’s transgressions, whether real or imagined, don’t seem as egregious as they once did. The reality is that he might not be the worst, but rather the first, player to leave UCF in the NIL era. One could say that Dillon Gabriel walked so Matt Lee and Lee Hunter could run.

Don’t forget that UCF was different in 2021 too, with no Big 12 invite in tow and the remnants of the chip on the shoulder vibes still lingering. Losses such as Gabriel stung longer and harder than they do now. That’s not to say that Gabriel isn’t without fault here, but maybe this a quintessential case of time and perspective healing wounds. He’s grown, and we’ve grown, and maybe things worked out exactly as they were supposed to for all involved.

Ultimately, Dillon Gabriel’s legacy at UCF will probably always be complicated. He didn’t win any super big games, and I’m not sure that he’ll ever return to Orlando to a hero’s welcome and a rousing applause, but you can’t argue his talent, or the fact that he was a trailblazer. Like it or not, neither one of us can tell our story without the other.

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Show me the staff

After weeks of individual announcements, UCF officially introduced the on-field assistant coaches that will make up the first staff for Scott Frost 2.0.

Looking at this roster the biggest outstanding question comes in the tight end room, where no dedicated assistant was identified. My assumption is that either TEs will fold into one of the other position groups or coaches (Steve Cooper seems likely) or that UCF will soon announce an analyst hire who will oversee the position group. Keep in mind that there are still hires yet to be announced, as I have spoken to two former players who have confirmed they have returned to UCF in a coaching role. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to hear from Coach Frost soon as we gear up for spring camp.

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It’s better when the ball goes in

The Knights took it on the chin in back to back games against two of the better teams in the Big 12 - Houston and Iowa State. The cure? Well, how about a hot shooting performance from Keyshawn Hall and Jordan Ivy-Curry in a dispatch of the TCU Horned Frogs, 85-58. The win brings the Knights back to .500 in conference play (4-4), and keeps them in the conversation for an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament. There is still a lot of ball left, but the recipe for the Knights is simple: hold serve at home, and try to steal a game or two on the road.

Check out the Sons basketball coverage from this week:

Meet the interns

Meet Nick Williams, a junior Journalism major on the Electronic Broadcast track. He’s grown up with a love for sports, especially college, and after founding his own sports podcast in 2022, he fell in love with interviewing athletes. Nick’s podcast "Against the Call" led to some great opportunities, including interviewing athletes at the JUCO, D1, semi-pro, and professional level. When he’s not watching sports, Nick likes to listen to music, hang out with friends or take a nice run. He’s excited to learn and grow behind the help of the Sons of UCF! 

This weekend Nick was out at John Euliano Park to cover UCF Baseball intra-squad scrimmages. He was joined by his colleagues Andrew Greig and Michael Theed, who helped to provide this report:

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The best of the rest

Episode Three of To Your Point features host Jeff Allen with panelists Chris Boyle, Eric Lopez, and UCF Mike. The guys discuss five UCF related topics in a roundtable format for about 45 minutes. Check it out:

You can also catch my one-on-one interview with former UCF DB Quadric Bullard. You’ll hear more about the changes Quad experienced in his time at UCF, the infamous locker room kiss, and what went wrong with KJ Jefferson:

Christian Simmons and Bailey Adams look at UCF’s football roster in the latest episode of the Pegasus Podcast:

Eric Lopez and Trace Trylko mixed it up on a new episode of Around The Kingdom:

On Sons LIVE, we welcomed former UCF TE Michael Colubiale and UCF basketball analyst Ben Hazel. Click here to enjoy the show

Caitlin Russo profiled new UCF offensive coordinator Steve Cooper for Sons of UCF dot com:

Taxes are important people! If you need sound tax advice, then you need Peterson Accounting. Headed up by UCF Alum Brian Peterson, Peterson Accounting is a full-service CPA firm dedicated to working hard for you. Check them out:

Today I learned

The Buffalo Bills loss to the Kansas City Chiefs certainly had people in the sports world talking, but the loss also impacted Knight Nation in a small way.

The last chance UCF had to get a player into the Super Bowl was Bills OL Tylan Grable, who played at UCF in 2022-23. The Bills loss means that no Knights will be making the trip to New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX.

Make sure you are subscribed to the Sons of UCF audio feed, available on all major podcast platforms Find your favorite here:

Cow of the week

When you are a perennial downtrodden franchise like the Jacksonville Jaguars, you look for opportunities to get excited. The hiring of a new head coach usually brings some juice, and in the case of the Jags, getting a popular coordinator like Liam Coen to move to Duval seemed like a big win.

But then… Coen took the podium and attempted to rally the fanbase by making the famous Duuuuval chant, only, it didn’t go quite as well as he had hoped:

In case you are unfamiliar, the emphasis is supposed to be on the U in Duval, not the L. For Jags fans, the hope is that Coen will not make a habit of getting L’s.

That’s all folks

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Take care of yourself, and each other.

Charge On!