Meet The 2026 UCF Knights: Countdown To Kickoff

Welcome to UCF Knights on SI's countdown to kickoff!

In this series, we are going to introduce you to every single player on the 2026 UCF football roster so that you can know what to expect from them or even pinpoint the ones you want to follow throughout the coming season. We are going to go through the Knights' roster in reverse jersey-number order, with the day each player's entry is published corresponding to the number of days remaining until UCF's season-opener on Sep. 3 at 7 p.m. against Bethune-Cookman.

So, with 32 days to go, let's meet UCF linebacker Matthew Occhipinti:

Who is Matthew Occhipinti?
What did he do last season?
What role is he going to have in 2026?

1. Who is Matthew Occhipinti?

Welcome to UCF, @MattOcchipinti1 ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/vJTzoZpXg3
— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) December 3, 2025

Position: Linebacker

Class: Freshman

Height/Weight: 6-foot-3 / 235 pounds

Hometown: Saddle Brook, New Jersey

High School: Don Bosco Prep

With the context of a May 2025 Instagram post, Occhipinti committed to UCF over the likes of Cincinnati, Wake Forest, Coastal Carolina, UConn, West Virginia and Louisville, who also made his top seven schools.

2. What did he do last season?

Occhipinti finished his high school career at Don Bosco Prep with 64 tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception and a blocked punt, according to his UCF Athletics profile page. This helped him earn All-State First Team honors in New Jersey and lead the Ironmen to the NJSIAA Non-Public A championship game.

He also served as one of the team's six captains, according to an Instagram post that Occhipinti collaborated on.

3. What role is he going to have in 2026?

As one of three true freshmen in the linebacker room, Occhipinti is going to have to compete with several experienced players like Lewis Carter, Jayden Jennings, Jahleel Culbreath, Tackett Curtis, Rashad Henry and Arthur Kingdom for playing time. However, he has already caught the attention of Carter, who is not only a leader among the linebackers, but also on the team as a whole. Following a March 31 practice session, Carter said he liked Occhipinti and that, unlike most freshmen who do not talk much during meetings, he was not scared to "really step forward and show what he knew."

So, while Occhipinti may have an edge over his fellow freshman linebackers, the fact that he has six more experienced players in his position group and is among the last incoming freshman class that can utilize a redshirt does not bode well for him to get very many snaps on defense in 2026. However, if there was any true freshman in the linebacker room that could see some snaps this season, it may very well be him.

Catch up on the rest of the list below:

No. 33 Phil Picciotti

No. 34 Jahleel Culbreath


No. 35 Agyeman Addae	No. 36 Dylan Bennett	No. 37 Rocklyn Kelley	No. 38 Jayden Jennings	No. 39 Andrea Parisi
No. 41 Bruno Dall	No. 42 Artavius Jones and Chance Nixon	No. 43 Kyle Hicks	No. 45 Quentin Hatch	No. 47 Arthur Kingdom and Sam Powell
No. 49 Atticus Bertrams and Donnell Johnson III	No. 53 LaParka Langston	No. 54 Cooper Terpstra and Trenton Turner	No. 55 Jacob Maiava and Noah Mercer	No. 56 Patrick Ryan
No. 57 Camp Lott	No. 58 Connor Meadows	No. 61 Owen Spell	No. 66 Brady Wayburn	No. 67 Noah Senka
No. 68 Ethan Higgins	No. 70 RaiShaun McHaney	No. 71 Amahn Williams	No. 72 Dominick Campbell	No. 73 Henry Tabansi
No. 74 Matthew Prigmore	No. 75 Tyler Gibson	No. 76 Justin Royes	No. 77 Kasiyah Charlton	No. 78 Preston Cushman
No. 79 Daniel Marcellinus	No. 80 Elijah Hardy	No. 81 Zack Palmer	No. 82 Jordyn Bridgewater	No. 83 Dylan Burk
No. 84 Thomas Wadsworth	No. 85 Carson Hinshaw	No. 86 Chase Hinshaw	No. 87 Brooks Hall	No. 88 Grayson Brousseau
No. 89 Caleb Rollerson	No. 90 Mujahid Jefferson	No. 92 Jeffson Lafontant	No. 93 Brad Gurley	No. 94 L A Jesse Harrold
No. 95 RJ Jackson Jr.	No. 96 Anthony Coaxum	No. 97 Josh Schell and Mason Denaberg	No. 98 Alhassan Iddrissu	No. 99 Thomas Collins

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