UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton announced he is entering the transfer portal and said the torch has been passed to sophomore quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
Milton said the past five years at UCF have been nothing but a blessing, and that he is grateful for every second of it.
“With that being said, I will be entering the transfer portal and playing my last year of college football somewhere else,” Milton said. “I may be suiting up in different colors, but I will always bleed black and gold.”
“It’s DG’s team now,” Milton said in a video posted to UCF Football’s Twitter on Thursday. ” I feel like he’s going to take it to a whole nother level.”
Milton said Gabriel shouldn’t have to be put in a position to compete.
“There’s no reason, whether it’s a 5-star recruit coming in or me coming off an injury, he should have to even be put in a position to compete — he’s earned that right to be our QB” Milton said. “I wouldn’t want to slow down his momentum. He could very well be a top draft pick next year …”
Milton said he will bring the tools he’s learned from Gabriel to his next stop to play his last year of college football.
UCF head coach Josh Heupel said in the video that the mark of a good leader, in his eyes, is leaving something better off than when you found it.
“KZ has left UCF in a better place,” Heupel said.
Heupel said Milton has been the most influential player to come to the program.
“He’ll go down as one of the best players in the history of this program,” Heupel said. “It’s as simple as it can be said.”
Heupel said UCF will be ohana forever with the Miltons.
Milton thanked Knight Nation for all of the support and love along the way.
“I came into a lot of these people as strangers, became teammates, became friends, turned into family — I’ll never take that for granted,” Milton said in the video.
Milton said he wouldn’t have the opportunity to play football again without everyone’s thoughts and prayers.
“When I stepped between those lines, I gave UCF everything I had,” Milton said. “If I could go back, I would do it all the same — I wouldn’t change a thing. Pre-injury, post-injury, all of it.”
Former UCF wide receiver and Bills rookie Gabriel Davis posted on social media to show his support for Milton’s decision.
