Meet The 2026 UCF Knights: Countdown To Kickoff - No. 73 Henry Tabansi

With 73 days to go until the 2026 UCF football season kicks off, learn more about the player wearing the Knights' No. 73 jersey: offensive lineman Henry Tabansi.

Oct 18, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Central Florida Knights head coach Scott Frost prior to a game against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Acrisure Bounce House. Mandatory Credit: Russell Lansford-Imagn Images | Russell Lansford-Imagn Images

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 73 days to go, let's meet one of UCF's new offensive lineman: Henry Tabansi.

1. Who is Henry Tabansi?
2. What did he do last season?
3. What role is he going to have in 2026?

Position: Offensive Lineman

Class: Redshirt Junior

Height/Weight: 6-foot-5 / 306 pounds

Hometown: Staten Island, New York

High School: Moore Catholic High School

Originally from Nigeria, Tabansi discovered football after immigrating to Staten Island in the sixth grade.

"During recess, we played seven-on-seven a lot," Tabansi said following an April 9 practice session. "So, I knew going into high school I wanted to be some sort of athlete, so I played basketball and football, but football was really my calling, because I was more natural at that and I felt more comfortable playing on O-line, so I took that and ran with it."

While UCF offensive line coach AJ Blazek described Tabansi as a "funny guy," he also "keeps a lot in," and that he becomes "a different guy" when he puts on shoulder pads.

"Honestly, once I get on the field, I don't like to talk too much," Tabansi said. "I just... I'm going straight to business because I feel like talking gets me out of my headspace. So, once you put pads on, it was just sprint, sprint to hit, sprint to hit, sprint to hit."

2. What did he do last season?

Tabansi served as Buffalo's starting left tackle for all 12 of the Bulls' games last season. According to his UCF Athletics profile page, he had the third-highest PFSN grade in the MAC at 75.3. The Bulls went on to finish in the top five in the league in total offense and scoring offense.

Blazek said he has seen Tabansi's "physicality come out" since he's put pads on. However, he is not the only player vying to be the Knights' starting left tackle. The other candidate for the role is returning senior Owen Spell, who played in all 12 games for the Knights in 2025 and started two of them at left tackle.

While Tabansi does have the advantage of more playing time at a Division I school, being Buffalo's starting left tackle for two years, Spell, who transferred in from Limestone, a Division II program, before the 2025 season, has more experience in a UCF uniform.

Blazek called the starting left tackle battle "pretty good," since Spell has been "having a good spring." However, he also said he put Spell as an offensive guard the previous couple of days.

Based on this information, Tabansi seems to have the upper hand on the starting role as of spring practice. However, there are still months to go before the Knights' first kickoff, in which this could change. So, while Tabansi is looking likely to have a regular role on UCF's offensive line in 2026, it remains to be determined whether it is going to be as a starter or backup.

Catch up on the rest of the list below:

No. 16 Dante Carr and TJ Branch	No. 17 Jailen Duffie	No. 18 Caleb Flagg and Caden Piening	No. 19 Rashad Henry	No. 20 Lewis Carter and Kaj Baker
No. 21 Ty Bartrum	No. 22 Amarion Queen	No. 23 Jordan Nunuha and Jayden Burnett	No. 24 Tackett Curtis and Arthur Lewis IV	No. 25 Rukeem Stroud
No. 26 Duke Watson and Elijah Keys	No. 27 Nicholas Antoine	No. 28 Matt Irwin	No. 29 Tyce Porcher	No. 30 Otis Hardy
No. 31 Noah McGough	No. 32 Matthew Occhipinti	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 Cole Kozlowski	No. 44 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. 90 Mujahid Jefferson	No. 91 Donteye Drew	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

Catch up on more UCF news below:

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 UCF Women’s Soccer Team

Why UCF Losing Jamichael Stillwell Is Not As Bad As You Think

UCF Knights Class of 2026 Early Signing Day Tracker