UCF KNIGHTS THE WORD FROM THE HEAD COACH George O’Leary on the offense: “We only lose one player who was in the two deep and everyone else is returning. Obviously I expect to see a lot of progress with all of those players returning and especially the young players who were handling the ball last year. We had true freshmen at quarterback and running back. I saw great improvement in the spring in terms of compe��veness and maturity. I hope to see the same growth this preseason and con�nuing on into the season. “I do expect us to be a lot more scoring poten�al on the field with the addi�on of a new offensive coordinator in Charlie Taaffe. He’s a coach who has a lot of experience in a lot of different areas. He’s coached the power game, the op�on game, the drop back passing game – he has experiences in all areas. I expect to see a lot more mul�ple situa�ons from an offensive scheme standpoint. I do expect our offense to progress from what they did in the spring and become an offense that can move the ball and put points on the board.” George O’Leary on new offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe: “Charlie is a very experienced coach who understands the game and also understands personali�es. Some kids learn by watching it. Some kids learn when you draw it on the board. Some kids you just talk to and they can picture it. I think he has a clear understanding of how the quarterbacks react and what the best teaching way to reach each is. I think he has a great progression about him in terms of his method of teaching things. I think that’s the way to do everything, teach it step-by-step and see them progress from there.” George O’Leary on the offensive skill posi�ons: “The most improved player in the spring was (quarterback) Rob Calabrese. The light came on. Playing as a true freshman is very difficult. I saw a lot of reten�on carrying over from the fall. He has a lot more maturity and poise now. I do expect Rob to be greatly improved athle�cally, in the passing game, and with his overall fieldmanship. The receivers are all back and I expect them all to be involved. Rocky Ross, Brian Wa�ers and Kamar Aiken have the most experience coming back but any name I can men�on caught the ball last year and they’re all returning for their third or fourth season. That is a group that has done well in the offseason. They had a much be�er spring efficiency wise, catching the ball and ge�ng some yards a�er the catch. I would expect that group to improve with a lot more depth. Last year we played with four freshman running backs. Brynn Harvey was one that came on very well at the end of the season and that con�nued on through spring ball. With Ronnie Weaver, James Poe, Brandon Davis, Brendan Kelly, there’s a number of them that I expect to see playing. I don’t think that we’re going to be a one-back team. We’ll be a two-back team where different guys will carry the load based on what the situa�on is. I’ve been very pleased with the progress that the skilled athletes have made on offense.” George O’Leary on the depth at quarterback: “It is Rob Calabrese’s job. He is the starter right now. We have four scholarship quarterbacks in camp in Rob, Joe Weatherford, Bre� Hodges and Nico Flores. Right now it’s Rob’s job leaving the spring but I think the final decision on that posi�on will come from Charlie Taaffe in consulta�on with others. The other guys will have every opportunity to win that job and whoever gets it will be a guy who we feel can win consistently for us and move the team offensively.” George O’Leary on the offensive line: “One of the areas that I was most disappointed in last year was our lack of movement at the line of scrimmage. With the excep�on of Pat Brown, who graduated, everybody’s back and we brought some more help in with Abré Leggins and Cliff McCray. They add some depth at that posi�on. I thought that the line was greatly
ROB CALABRESE
54
FOOTBALL
improved in the spring. They were pre�y compe��ve with a pre�y good defensive line. There’s some all-conference players over there and they prac�ce that way too. That’s only made us be�er on offense. The offensive line is a big ingredient in any improvement we make and I have been very pleased with the spring and summer improvement. Is it where it needs to be? No, but I think it is a lot be�er than it had been. I think that increased girth, size and strength shows with the offensive line. I think two-deep that we have a line that can help us win a game or sustain a win. I have been very pleased with them.” George O’Leary on the defense: “Defensively, we return everybody up front. We have the whole two-deep back up front except for one player and we are also fortunate to get back Darius Nall for that spot, a freshman all-conference player who is returning a�er a year out. In the secondary we graduated four seniors but we have a lot of athle�cism at those posi�ons and a lot of those players have played in games here so I’m pleased with that.” George O’Leary on All-Conference USA defensive linemen Torrell Troup and Bruce Miller: “In Torrell and Bruce you have two dominant defensive linemen and that does a lot for you in terms of establishing the run defense and establishing the passing defense. I expect them to have good seasons and con�nue the growth that we’ve seen the past two seasons playing together. They are both all-conference material. They’ve been produc�ve on the field and I expect them to get things done. We are also surrounding them with a lot of players who have played a lot of football for us. I’m very comfortable with the front seven two-deep, not just the front seven starters. I expect them to control the line of scrimmage and keep some pressure on the quarterbacks because we have so many good quarterbacks in this conference.” George O’Leary on who will get a shot at replacing All-America punt returner Joe Burne�: “There are three or four that will be looked at. The most important ability of any returner is being able to catch the ball. Right now, if everything works out the way I think it should work out, it will come down to either Rocky Ross, Josh Robinson and Brian Wa�ers. There’s athletes there but the preseason will tell us more about who will be out there based on what we see.” George O’Leary on the benefits of having seven home games at Bright House Networks Stadium: “It’s a great home field advantage. Our fan base has done an outstanding job. Our student body has done an outstanding job of suppor�ng the program. I think it’s a great Saturday a�ernoon as far as the tailga�ng and crowd noise. People just enjoy themselves. I think if you talk to the rest of the conference teams that have been to Bright House they will tell you that it is a very difficult place to play from a crowd noise stand point. We look forward to taking advantage of that. There’s no ques�on Bright House is a tough place to play. It has been in the past and hopefully will con�nue to be this year.” George O’Leary on UCF’s a�tude heading into the season: “I like that this team has a chip on its shoulder. I saw that in the spring and summer. They understand what took place last year. They know what could have been that didn’t happen. The biggest thing last year was that we were coaching two different teams because of all of the youth on offense while the defense was more experienced and successful. The coaches have handled the offseason well. The a�tude has been great from the team and I am really looking forward to ge�ng the season started. “There are three kinds of people. Angry people live in the past. Fearful people live in the future. The ones I’m looking at are excited. They live for today. That’s how I look at this football team. I’m excited about what’s happening and what’s going on here. You have to take care of today and that’s what I preach to my team all of the �me.”
DARIUS NALL
55