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 33 days to go, let's meet UCF linebacker Phil Picciotti:

Who is Phil Picciotti?
What did he do last season?
What role is he going to have in 2026?

1. Who is Phil Picciotti?

Position: Linebacker

Class: Redshirt Junior

Height/Weight: 6-foot-3 / 230 pounds

Hometown: Perkasie, Pennsylvania

High School: IMG Academy

Phil Picciotti arrived in Orlando alongside fellow former Oklahoma Sooner Lewis Carter last season, marking his first time back in the state of Florida since he spent his senior season of high school at IMG Academy, where he registered 63 tackles, according to his UCF Athletics profile page.

However, unlike Carter, a leg injury sidelined him from making his college football debut during his two years in Norman.

2. What did he do last season?

Picciotti made his collegiate debut in 2025, playing mostly with the special teams unit during the Knights' final six games of the season.

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

UCF linebacker coach Mark D'Onofrio said that "it's all about the process" for Picciotti after an April 28 practice session.

"He missed so much time, and he was behind those other guys for so long; he's just now, in my opinion, starting to have confidence that he's got the strength in his leg to change direction the way he previously did, and all that kind of stuff," D'Onofrio said.

Combine that with the presence of experienced linebackers like Lewis Carter, Jayden Jennings, Jahleel Culbreath, Tackett Curtis, Rashad Henry and Arthur Kingdom on the roster, and Picciotti's prior experience playing on the special teams unit, the redshirt sophomore has an opportunity to continue playing with that unit in 2026.

Of course, an injury to one of the aforementioned players could change things, but if Picciotti is going to get some snaps with the defense, he is going to need to compete alongside the likes of Matthew Occhipinti, Dylan Bennett and Preston Hall to be at the highest point of the depth chart possible to earn such opportunities.

Catch up on the rest of the list below:

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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