Meet The 2026 UCF Knights: Countdown To Kickoff - No. 8 Demari Henderson and Rocco Marriott
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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.
For this entry, we have two players with the same jersey number. So, with eight days to go, let's meet UCF defensive back Demari Henderson and quarterback Rocco Marriott:
- Who is Demari Henderson?
- What did Henderson do last season?
- What role is Henderson going to have in 2026?
- Who is Rocco Marriott?
- What did Marriott do last season?
- What role is Marriott going to have in 2026?
1. Who is Demari Henderson?
Position: Defensive Back
Class: Redshirt Senior
Height/Weight: 6-foot-0 / 185 pounds
Hometown: Sanford, Florida
High School: Seminole High School
Demari Henderson is back in Orlando for a fifth season. However, this time, he is not going to be joined by his twin brother, Ja'Cari, who transferred to Appalachian State during the offseason.
Considering they have been together their whole lives, the separation was hard at first, Henderson said during the Knights' local media day. However, the end goal of Ja'Cari moving on while Demari stayed behind was better for both of them.
Henderson has been a contributor on defense ever since his freshman season, even starting in that season's bowl game against Duke. While an injury during fall camp took him out of the 2024 season before it began, he bounced back in 2025.
2. What did Henderson do last season?
Henderson started all 12 games for the Knights last season, recording the third-most tackles for the Knights last season with 61, 42 of which were solo. He also made three tackles for loss, got a sack, broke up a pass and snagged an interception.
3. What role is Henderson going to have in 2026?
After Henderson started all of 2025 at safety, and the departure of Phillip Dunnam paving the way for a returning Jayden Williams to potentially start at the other safety spot, the Sanford native seems likely to retain his starting role in 2026.
4. Who is Rocco Marriott?
Position: Quarterback
Class: Freshman
Height/Weight: 6-foot-4 / 220 pounds
Hometown: Kansas City, Missouri
High School: Platte County High School
Rocco Marriott was one of the Knights' highest-touted recruits of the 2026 recruiting cycle, coming in as the 23rd-highest-rated quarterback and fourth-highest-ranked player overall out of the state of Missouri. Initially committed to James Madison on May 8, 2025, UCF flipped him from the Dukes following his official visit to Orlando on Nov. 22, the day it beat Oklahoma State, per a 247Sports timeline.
Coach Scott Frost and quarterbacks coach McKenzie Milton were the reason for his decision to flip, one he made by the time he boarded the plane to Orlando for that Oklahoma State game, Marriott said following the Knights' open spring practice.
“You know, you can't really get better quarterback coaches in the country, like, especially with this system," Marriott said. "You know, coach Milton played in this system, and then coach Frost, obviously being, you know, the ultimate quarterback that he was, so I say that's just the main thing."
Marriott is also the next generation in his family to venture into the world of college football. His father, Jeff, was a defensive tackle at Missouri who earned an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honor in 1999 before getting drafted in the fifth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.
5. What did Marriott do last season?
Rocco Marriott, roll the tape🎥🏈 https://t.co/C5aTDJJs9u pic.twitter.com/GAfskbbWd8
— UCF Football Recruiting (@UCF_Recruiting) December 3, 2025
Marriott, along with fellow UCF freshman Brooks Hall, led Platte County High School to a Class 5 state title last season in a championship game thriller against Carthage High School to cap off an undefeated season.
6. What role is Marriott going to have in 2026?
Alonza Barnett III already has a firm grasp on the starting quarterback job going into this season. However, coach Frost said on Aug. 10 that Marriott took "a giant leap forward," while offensive coordinator Steve Cooper did not rule the freshman out when it came to the Knights' backup quarterback competition on Aug. 12.
"The freshmen typically, especially at that position, they typically develop as the season goes," Cooper said. "For a lot of guys, it's like you get more reps once the season happens because you get to run the scout team, and the scout team is-it's not like we're playing a different sport out there, even if it's a different offense. You still get the opportunity to advance your craft and get better."
So, even if Marriott is not the Knights' backup quarterback coming out of fall camp, and they go with someone like Keyone Jenkins, who is more experienced, or Kaleb Annett, who has impressed at fall camp so far, the scout team can provide Marriott the opportunity to develop into a potentially more preferable backup as the 2026 season goes on.
However, another thing the 2026 season can do for Marriott is prepare him for a potential starting quarterback battle in 2027 with Annett and fellow freshman Dante Carr; a competition that, in some ways, is already underway.
Catch up on the rest of the list below:
No. 10 Kaleb Annett and Sincere Edwards
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Bryson Turner is a sports journalist who covers UCF Athletics. Turner has contributed to the Black and Gold Banneret, the home for UCF Athletics on SB Nation. He has called the Orlando area home since the age of 8 and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from UCF.
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