Spring football is underway

On November 29th, 2024, a UCF Knights football team left the field after playing a game of football. The results that day were disappointing (common for 2024), and many fans of the program found themselves at a low point in their Knights fandom. Fast forward 102 days and you have another UCF Knights football team entering the field to begin preparations to play football again. Only this time, things feel completely different as we usher in a new regime leading the Knights. Now, to be fair, the field of battle in this construct is the UCF Practice Field, but still, it’s always great to have some football to consume our thoughts. But before we all go getting too excited, let’s review what we have learned so far:

NOT MUCH.

And, that’s OK. Spring practice as a general concept isn’t meant to reveal groundbreaking information to fans, and even less so now that we have a transfer window that opens shortly after its conclusion. The 2025 iteration of spring practice is also vastly different in that UCF has 50+ new players and an entirely new coaching staff. The goals here are probably different than they have been in years past as this team looks to gel together and establish its identity. That message was delivered loud and clear in week 1 from players and coaches, which, in case you missed it, you can find here:

We also debuted something new, as Andrew Cherico, Dwayne Jones, and Nick Williams collaborated on a week-in-review report:

As always, stay locked in to The Sons of UCF to get complete coverage of the rest of the spring schedule, which resumes Monday, March 24th. Also, do yourself a favor and make sure you are following all of our reporters on social media to get video clips and updates:

Andrew Cherico, Dwayne Jones, Nick Williams, Andrew Greig, and Matt Turman

If legal advice is what you need, then you need the law firm of Werner, Hoffman, Greig, and Garcia. They have over 90 years of combined experience and a track record of great client service. When you contact them, ask for UCF Alum Michael Hoffman, and tell him you heard about them from the Sons of UCF:

Crown ‘Em

With apologies to the late NFL coach Dennis Green, the use of the word Crown took on a whole new meaning this past week. A quick primer if you are not up to speed:

Fox Sports created a new post-season basketball tournament, which they are calling The College Basketball Crown. It is essentially a made-for-TV product featuring college basketball teams that did not make the NCAA Tournament. Since it is a Fox property, team selection priority was given to conferences that have agreements with the cable giant, including the Big 12 and the Big 10. Since UCF’s late season disaster ruled out any hope of the Big Dance, when the Crown came calling, the Knights answered:

Reaction from the fanbase was certainly mixed, with some people lukewarm to the idea:

While others, not so much:

Let’s be honest here, nobody was clamoring for another post-season college basketball tournament (ask the NIT and the CBI). All of our lives could have gone forward just fine without ever hearing about the Crown.

For me though, here are a couple of truths: I am a sports fan, and I will always root for the Knights. Couple those facts with a sport that I really enjoy, such as basketball, and you’ve got a recipe that will likely get me to watch.

I am also OK with this for two other reasons: Fox will be paying all expenses for the teams to travel to Vegas, and the winning team will earn a pot of NIL money. Basically, this is a free trip to Vegas to play some ball, and it will be on TV. If UCF were paying out of pocket to participate, I’d be first in line with my pitchfork.

Essentially, this boils down comparably to any one of the corporate sponsor named college football bowl games. It technically doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but it’s an opportunity to root for your team. I know that many people are turned off by bowl mania, and if you feel the same about the Crown, I don’t blame you one bit.

My only request is that if, by some miracle, UCF wins this thing, please don’t hang a banner. That’s a bridge too far.

For more conversation regarding UCF and the Crown, check out both the Pegasus Podcast and Around The Kingdom:

If you need UCF merchandise, the ONLY place you should look is Alumni Hall. They have the best selection of UCF stuff, including apparel, accessories, decorations, and gifts. You can shop online, or at their physical store, located at 4100 N Alafaya Trail:

Today I Learned

The Jake Hescock Win the Day Foundation announced the date of their 2nd annual golf tournament:

For those who don’t remember Jake, he transferred to UCF in 2017, and finished his Knights career after the 2021 season. Tragically, Jake passed away on December 11th, 2022, after suffering a medical episode while jogging. He was 25 years old.

His family, including parents Carey and Jeff, started the Win The Day foundation in Jake’s honor, all while trying to turn their pain into purpose.

The Sons are proud to share that they will be sponsoring a tee at the upcoming event, and if you are so inclined, please consider getting involved in any way that you are comfortable.

Let’s win the day.

Florida Football Prep is your one-stop shop for the best equipment and gear for your team. From jersey’s, apparel, and even custom broken-in footballs, FFP has everything you might need. You can also enjoy their podcast, The Quarterback’s Room, available on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform:

Cow of the week

We all know that the college basketball post-season can be a bit absurd with invitations, seedings, and snubs. However, the good folks at the NIT said, “Hold my beer” this week and took things to a whole different level. It all started when UC-Riverside received an invitation to the NIT tournament, after they had already accepted an invitation to the CBI tournament. The NIT folks quickly pivoted, and extended an invitation to South Alabama to join the tournament field. However, UC-Riverside called back to inform the NIT that they had removed themselves from the CBI, and would be accepting the original bid. That left the 32 team NIT field with 33 schools.

The odd school out became South Alabama, who were informed that their bid to the tournament had been rescinded. This left the school without a post-season invite, thus ending their season.

Maybe the Crown isn’t so bad after all.

If you want some inspired designs for all the schools in the Big 12, including UCF, check out Charlie Hustle. You can use promo code TEN12NETWORK for 15% off non-sale items:

Let’s have a week

It may be Spring Break for UCF, but we keep on churning over here at the Sons of UCF. We’ll have our usual programming of shows, plus videos from the upcoming baseball weekend.

Thanks for following along. Take care of yourselves and each other.

Charge On!