TheUCF Knightscollege football team competes as part of theNCAA Division IFootball Bowl Subdivision (FBS), representing theUniversity of Central Florida in theBig 12 Conference. Since the program's first season in 1979 underDon Jonas, theKnights have played more than 517 games, with over 290 victories. UCF has won six division titles (2005,2007,2010,2012,2017,2018), six conference championships (2007,2010,2013,2014,2017,2018), and has made ten postseason appearances since joining FBS, including threeBCS/NY6 bowl games.[1] The Knights also claim aNational Championship for the 2017 season, as recognized by theColley Matrix. The Knights' currenthead coach isScott Frost. The Knights have played their home games atAcrisure Bounce House, located on the main campus of UCF inOrlando, Florida, since 2007.
UCF began as aDivision III program, moving in succession toDivision II,Division I-AA (FCS), and subsequently completed their ascension toDivision I-A (FBS) in1996. Initially aDivision I-AIndependent the Knights first moved into a "Group of Five" conference in 2002, and then into a "Power Five" conference in 2023.[2] In doing so, the Knights became the firstNCAA football program to play at all four sanctioned levels. As a Division I–AA program, the Knights made the 1990 and 1993playoffs.[3]
AfterGeorge O'Leary took over the program, the Knights gained national prominence as members ofC-USA and later theAAC. O'Leary guided UCF to their first division title (2005), first conference championship (2007), first bowl game (2005), first bowl victory (2010), first appearance/victory in aNew Year's Six game (2014), first national rankings,[4][5] and numerous other milestones and superlatives.
The Knights' main rivals are theSouth Florida Bulls; other historic rivals includeEast Carolina andMarshall. UCF has played one ConsensusAll-American,Kevin Smith in 2007, and produced threeHeisman Trophy candidates,Daunte Culpepper in 1998, Kevin Smith in 2007, andMcKenzie Milton in 2017 and 2018. The program has also produced a long-line ofNFL players.[6] Playing in fourteenSuper Bowls and including fourpro-bowlers, the list most notably includesBlake Bortles,Brandon Marshall,Bruce Miller,Daunte Culpepper,Matt Prater,Asante Samuel, andJosh Sitton.
| National Champions † | Conference Champions * | Division Champions ‡ | Bowl game berth | College Football Playoff game§ | Shared standing T | Not applicable |
| Season | Team | Head coach | Division | Season results | Championship and postseason results | Final ranking | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference | Overall | AP | Coaches' | |||||||||||||
| Finish [note 1] | Win(s) | Loss(es) | Tie(s)[note 2] | Win(s) | Loss(es) | Tie(s)[note 2] | ||||||||||
| UCF Knights | ||||||||||||||||
| NCAA Division III Independent (1978–1981) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1979 | 1979 | Don Jonas | 6[n 1] | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 1980 | 1980 | 4[n 2] | 4 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1981 | 1981 | 4 | 6 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| NCAA Division II Independent (1982–1989) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1982 | 1982 | Sammy Weir | 0 | 10 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 1983 | 1983 | Lou Saban | 4 | 6 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 1984 | 1984 | Lou Saban[15] Jerry Anderson | 2 | 9 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 1985 | 1985 | Gene McDowell | 4 | 7 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 1986 | 1986 | 6 | 5 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1987 | 1987 | 9 | 4 | 0 | LNCAA Division II semifinal | |||||||||||
| 1988 | 1988 | 6 | 5 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1989 | 1989 | 7 | 3 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Year | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gene McDowell(FCS Independent)(1990–1995) | |||||||||
| 1990 | Gene McDowell | 10–4 | LNCAA Division I-AA Semifinal | ||||||
| 1991 | Gene McDowell | 6–5 | |||||||
| 1992 | Gene McDowell | 6–4[n 3] | |||||||
| 1993 | Gene McDowell | 9–3 | LNCAA Division I-AA First Round | ||||||
| 1994 | Gene McDowell | 7–4 | |||||||
| 1995 | Gene McDowell | 6–5 | |||||||
| Gene McDowell(FBS Independent)(1996–1997) | |||||||||
| 1996 | Gene McDowell | 5–6 | |||||||
| 1997 | Gene McDowell | 5–6 | |||||||
| Mike Kruczek(FBS Independent)(1998–2001) | |||||||||
| 1998 | Mike Kruczek | 9–2 | |||||||
| 1999 | Mike Kruczek | 4–7 | |||||||
| 2000 | Mike Kruczek | 7–4 | |||||||
| 2001 | Mike Kruczek | 6–5 | |||||||
| Mike Kruczek(Mid-American Conference)(2002–2003) | |||||||||
| 2002 | Mike Kruczek | 7–5 | 6–2 | 2nd(East) | |||||
| 2003 | Mike Kruczek[16] | 3–7 | 2–4 | Fired | |||||
| Alan Gooch (Interim)(Mid-American Conference)(2003) | |||||||||
| 2003 | Alan Gooch | 0–2 | 0–2 | 5th(East) | |||||
| George O'Leary(Mid-American Conference)(2004) | |||||||||
| 2004 | George O'Leary | 0–11 | 0–8 | 7th(East) | |||||
| George O'Leary(Conference USA)(2005–2012) | |||||||||
| 2005 | George O'Leary | 8–5 | 7–1 | 1st(East) | LHawai'i | ||||
| 2006 | George O'Leary | 4–8 | 3–5 | 4th(East) | |||||
| 2007 | George O'Leary | 10–4 | 7–1 | 1st(East) | LLiberty | ||||
| 2008 | George O'Leary | 4–8 | 3–5 | T-4th(East) | |||||
| 2009 | George O'Leary | 8–5 | 6–2 | 2nd(East) | LSt. Petersburg | ||||
| 2010 | George O'Leary | 11–3 | 7–1 | 1st(East) | WLiberty | 20 | 21 | ||
| 2011 | George O'Leary | 5–7 | 3–5 | 5th(East) | |||||
| 2012 | George O'Leary | 10–4 | 7–1 | 1st(East) | WBeef 'O' Brady's | ||||
| George O'Leary(American Athletic Conference)(2013–2015) | |||||||||
| 2013 | George O'Leary | 12–1 | 8–0 | 1st | WFiesta† | 12 | 10 | ||
| 2014 | George O'Leary | 9–4 | 7–1 | T–1st | LSt. Petersburg | ||||
| 2015 | George O'Leary[17] | 0–8 | 0–4 | Resigned | |||||
| Danny Barrett (Interim)(American Athletic Conference)(2015) | |||||||||
| 2015 | Danny Barrett | 0–4 | 0–4 | 6th(East) | |||||
| Scott Frost(American Athletic Conference)(2016–2017) | |||||||||
| 2016 | Scott Frost | 6–7 | 4–4 | 3rd(East) | LCure | ||||
| 2017 | Scott Frost | 13–0 | 8–0 | 1st(East) | WPeach† | 7 | 6 | ||
| Josh Heupel(American Athletic Conference)(2018–2020) | |||||||||
| 2018 | Josh Heupel | 12–1 | 8–0 | 1st(East) | LFiesta† | 12 | 11 | ||
| 2019 | Josh Heupel | 10–3 | 6–2 | 2nd(East) | WGasparilla | 24 | 24 | ||
| 2020 | Josh Heupel | 6–4 | 5–3 | T–3rd | LBoca Raton | ||||
| Gus Malzahn(American Athletic Conference)(2021–2022) | |||||||||
| 2021 | Gus Malzahn | 9–4 | 5–3 | 3rd | WGasparilla | ||||
| 2022 | Gus Malzahn | 9–5 | 6–2 | T–2nd | LMilitary | ||||
| Gus Malzahn(Big 12 Conference)(2023–2024) | |||||||||
| 2023 | Gus Malzahn | 6–7 | 3–6 | T–9th | LGasparilla | ||||
| 2024 | Gus Malzahn | 4–8 | 2–7 | T–14th | |||||
| Scott Frost(Big 12 Conference)(2025–present) | |||||||||
| 2025 | Scott Frost | ||||||||
| Total: | 299-241-1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
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