A Letter to UCF Fans

It’s time to have an honest conversation. Pull up a chair. This is a safe circle. After all, I’m a UCF fan too.

That’s two losses this season. Now, we know the reality. A New Year’s Six game isn’t in the cards, and we’ll need Cincinnati to lose at least twice to even make the AAC Championship Game.

I know that hurts. It hurts me too.

Get over it, because everyone is looking at what we do next. I’m not talking on the field either. There have been some issues, but that happens. That’s life. Knute Rockne went 5-4, before two straight national championships. Bear Bryant had back to back 6-5 seasons, before three more national championships.

It’s ok to not be perfect.

That’s not what this letter is about, though. This isn’t a letter to say, “Remember when we stunk a few seasons ago? At least we’re not that bad again.” We all know times are better now, whether we make a New Year’s Six Bowl or not. This is a letter about being the best fans we possibly can be, because it’s not ok to abandon your team.

Now is the time to show what the UCF community is made of. It’s time to show our support for these players, even in imperfection and defeat.

That means a few things. The first, show up to the Bounce House. Continue to make it a dominant home environment this season, win or lose. Make Orlando a place where people want to come and play. If you don’t show up, the country will take notice, and throw it in our faces.

The rest of the country will already be throwing two losses in our faces. Don’t give them more ammo.

Speaking of what everyone else is going to be saying, there will be loud jokes made on Twitter. There’ll be columns about how ‘It’s time for UCF to go away.’ It’s going to stink.

Do your best to ignore it all. We’ve been a heel the past few years. We chose to be the bad guy. The guy who demands you look at us. The guy who says we’re here, and we’re better than you.

That comes with backlash. Handle it with some grace, and pride in what we have accomplished.

As for being upset with things like play calling, the QB situation, and whatever else you’re frustrated about, here’s some advice. Be patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was the UCF offense under McKenzie Milton.

Bad games happen to young quarterbacks. You need them. It’s how a player develops. You play them so they don’t lose confidence through those lumps.

Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

As for play calling, Heupel runs a system on offense. We all know the system. Go so fast a defense can’t react. If they load the box, throw outside. If they empty the box, attack it with runs up the middle.

While playing a true freshman, it’s more conservative than with a two-time AAC Offensive Player of the Year. That’s just life. You need to reset your expectations if you think that is going to change.

I know it can be frustrating, but loudly turning against a player or coach won’t do any good. It’ll only make us all look like spoiled, frustrated, brats.

I love UCF fans. I love how we get under people’s skin. I love how we pack our stadium. I love how we support our players and community. It’s something I’m proud of.

We are all proud of it.

Now, let’s go and keep making ourselves proud, by being the best fans possible. That means we need to keep showing up, and supporting our Knights.

Charge on!