ORLANDO, Fla. — 2014 All-Conference running back William Stanback has been officially dismissed from the UCF football team according to a statement released by UCF athletics on Tuesday morning.
“William Stanback has been dismissed from the football team for continuous failure to comply with athletic policy and team rules,” the release stated.
George O’Leary addressed the media after practice on Tuesday but refused to add any more context or detail than what had been provided by the official release.
“Basically William Stanback’s been suspended for, basically, failure to do what he’s supposed to regarding athletic rules and team rules. Period. That’s all I can say and all I’m going to say,” O’Leary emphasized with strict finality.
He did confirm that the running back had been removed from scholarship and that he had yet to inform the team.
Stanback was informed of the move early Tuesday morning.
O’Leary let the media know there was an impending statement to be made in his weekly Monday press conference when asked if Stanback would be in the team’s plans more following the Knights’ rash of injuries, losses and lack of offensive production.
Stanback had clearly fallen out of favor with his coaches, only carrying the ball 12 times for 11 yards in 2015. This fall in production comes on the heels of a 697 yard, 10 touchdown season last year.
Listed as the No. 1 running back on the Knights’ official depth chart to begin the season it was a surprise to see running back Dontravious Wilson emerge as the game-day starter in week one, but O’Leary had previously cited a lack of impact in practice in reference to his plunge down the depth chart; a criminal offense in the current UCF program.
Even with Wilson catching the injury bug spreading through the ranks, newcomer C.J. Jones and Taj McGowan took over the starting roles with a huge boost from Nick Patti in the Wild Knight formation against Furman.
Expect to see more of the three-headed running attack moving forward as the Knights work to solidify an offense in transition.
