5 positions that UCF football must address in offseason

With the 2025 season finished, UCF coach Scott Frost and his coaching staff already are focusing on the program’s future. Much of that begins this week with the start of the Early Signing Period on Wednesday and runs through the opening of the 15-day window for the transfer portal starting on Jan. 2.

For Frost, the process is much different than than last season.

“I made a gamer metaphor that the younger people might understand,” Frost said following his team’s loss at BYU on Saturday. “When I was an assistant coach, I played [the video game] Call of Duty because all the players were playing it and I was single. When you get into the game late, all you have is the starter gun and everybody else has advanced weaponry. You don’t even want to play because you don’t feel like you’re armed enough. I’m excited to level up and go back at it next year.”

Last season, UCF added nearly 70 newcomers to the roster, mainly through the portal. This time around, the Knights aren’t expecting as much turnover in the offseason. However, retention is still a concern.

“The game’s in a bad place, and agents have been shopping kids that are playing for teams with other teams for the last six weeks,” said Frost. “I hope we’ve created a good enough environment in our building that kids like being in that we have a lot of kids that want to stay.”

With that said, here are five areas of concern for the Knights heading into this offseason:

QUARTERBACK

UCF finds itself at a crossroads when it comes to the future of the quarterback position.

While Tayven Jackson took the majority of the snaps this season, the redshirt junior struggled, particularly on the road late in the season. Cam Fancher and Jacurri Brown missed significant amounts of time this season with injuries, opening the door for redshirt freshman Davi Belfort to get some playing time.

Where the Knights go from here remains a mystery.

Jackson could return next season with the intention of returning as the team’s starting quarterback. Fancher and Brown are most likely gone, although both could apply for medical waivers that would give them an additional year of eligibility; the likelihood of either returning seems unlikely. Belfort should also be back after picking up some experience.

With four-star commitment Rocco Marriott, expected to sign this week, along with three-star commitment Dante Carr, the Knights have some solid, young talent on the roster.

The question concerns whether the Knights return to the transfer market to search for a significant upgrade at the starting position or stick with what they already have on the roster.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Ever since UCF made the move to the Big 12 in 2023, the Knights have witnessed firsthand the quality of the offensive line play in the league.

Programs such as Kansas, Texas Tech and Baylor have demonstrated the benefits of having bigger and stronger offensive linemen.

UCF is expected to lose a handful of starters led by Paul Rubelt, Gaard Memmelaar, Jabari Brooks, Cam Kinnie, Keegan Smith and Pat Barnett. Replacing those players with top-tier talent is a priority for the program this offseason.

The Knights finished in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 in rushing offense (11th) and gave up 20 sacks on the season. But the unit also struggled, allowing nearly 6 tackles for loss per game.

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Losing offensive coordinator Shawn Clark, who passed away early in the season, was a massive blow to the program and also to the unit. Finding his replacement will be the first step in rebuilding this group for next season.

RUNNING BACK

Another unit that was depleted by injuries this season was the running backs group.

UCF lost freshmen Taevion Swint and Stacy Gage to season-ending injuries early on, leaving the bulk of the work to fall on seniors Myles Montgomery and Jaden Nixon.

Swint and Gage are expected back along with walk-on freshman Agyeman Addae, whose emergence late in the season was a pleasant surprise for the Knights.

Still, the team needs depth, making running back a position of need in the offseason whether it’s finding a starting running back or an experienced back for a rotation.

LINEBACKER

Improvement at linebacker is one of the reasons UCF finished with a top-40 defense this season.

Keli Lawson, Cole Kozlowski and Lewis Carter were solid in the middle, providing the unit with plenty of versatile leadership. Carter finished as the top tackler on the team with 92, followed by Kozlowski’s 82, and Lawson had 34.

Carter should return as the anchor next season, but the group will once again need to dip into the transfer portal to find more depth. Incoming freshmen Preston Hall and Matthew Occhipinti could help with adding that depth.

RECEIVER

Not much was known about or expected from the receivers this season, particularly with the group returning almost nothing in terms of yards and catches from the previous season, but there were plenty of pleasant surprises.

Duane Thomas Jr. emerged as a jack-of-all-trades for the Knights, leading the team in receiving yards (528) and receptions (53). He was also utilized in the backfield on end-arounds and in the running game.

Freshman Waden Charles saw his role expand later in the season, finishing with 290 yards on 26 catches.

Tight end Dylan Wade emerged as the go-to option for Jackson late in the season, finishing with 523 yards and 5 touchdowns.

If all three of those players return, it sets up a nice core of players, especially with the help of Carl Jenkins Jr. and Day Day Farmer, who missed all of this past season with a leg injury. That said, the group could still benefit from more depth and speed.

Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: [email protected]. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.