ORLANDO, Fla. – UCF Football Head Coach Scott Frost detailed the 2016 signing class and boasted the tireless effort from his staff when he met with the media on Wednesday afternoon.
“A really good group of high school football players,” Frost said. “A really good group of human beings and we are really excited to bring them to UCF and make them part of our family and part of our brotherhood.”
The inaugural signing class for the new staff emanates the ‘fast and fierce’ mantra that the football program has been pitching since Frost’s arrival in Orlando. Beginning as early as 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the letters of intent began trickling in for the Knights who had 15 hard commits entering National Signing Day. They capped off the day with the addition of highly touted four-star recruit Dredrick Snelson from Miami who was previously committed to Minnesota.
“Coach Beckton and especially Troy Walters did a great job with [Snelson],” Frost said. “I think he’s excited to be a part of our offense and I think he was excited to stay a little bit closer to home. We need some guys to come in here and be home-run hitters on our offense and guys that can take the ball in space and make people miss.”
Frost’s staff was also a major topic of discussion as they pulled together the majority of this recruiting class in just two months. UCF finished National Signing Day ranked #57 in the nation which was enough to give them the second best class in the American Athletic Conference.
“I can’t thank my staff enough,” Frost said. “These guys haven’t had much time down here on the ground in Florida to get this group of players to agree to come here and be excited about coming here. The job that my staff did is unbelievable to get this kind of signing class put together in such a short amount of time.”
The acquisition of Snelson shows the leaps and bounds that this program has made in such a short time under the Frost regime. Ranked #165 in the nation by ESPN, Snelson chose UCF over the likes of Minnesota, Miami, Penn State and Maryland. Snelson was just the cherry on top for the Knights’ offense though as they signed 9 other players on that side of the ball as well.
QB McKenzie Milton, the first student-athlete from Hawaii to play for UCF, signed for the Knights following an outstanding senior season at Mililani High School. While he will not be the tallest player on the field at 6-foot, the dual-threat quarterback scorched opposing teams for 99 total touchdowns throughout his college career.
“[Milton] has been at Oregon camp twice and I’ve had a relationship with him for quite a while,” Frost said. “My opinion: If McKenzie was 6-foot 4 he’d be one of the top two or three quarterbacks in the country.”
However, running back Adrian Killins may best represent the speed that UCF’s new offense will have in the 2016 season. The two-sport athlete was a track and field star at Mainland High School and ran for nearly 1,000 yards in his senior season.
“We’re excited about AK,” Frost said. “He was the first one in; drove down from Daytona to commit to us after a couple conversations on the phone. He’s really fast and we’re looking to get as many fast guys into the boat as we can.”
The Knights also added 10 players on defense and most intriguing of which is Finland-native defensive tackle Chris Malumba. Malumba was born in Finland after his parents escaped violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and he holds the title as Finland National and Nordic Judo champion.
UCF Football continues to take the necessary steps to improve upon the dreadful 0-12 season in 2015, but most people have already forgotten about that because of the strides that the team has taken under Scott Frost. This class will certainly give UCF fans a lot to talk about until the Spring game when more about how the team is beginning to come together will be revealed.
