On Tuesday, Two Important Offensive Line Recruits Visited UCF Football
For UCF to ascend even further into the elite programs of college football, recruiting will be the top priority. More top talent, and more volume of top talent will be needed. It appears that the UCF football program is doing its best to land some of the local prospects that live near the Bounce House.
Orlando is a loaded city for recruits, so of course UCF Head Football Coach Gus Malzahn and his staff want to sign as many of the local football recruits as they can. Two top offensive line targets visited UCF Tuesday, and both prospects should be considered at or near the top of the board for their respective classes.
First up, 2022 offensive tackle Leyton Nelson, 6’6”, 285-pounds, Orlando (Fla.) Boone. When asked for his initial thoughts about his visit to UCF, Nelson simply responded, “It was great. I had a good time with the staff and finally just seeing all the facilities.” Earlier today, Inside The Knights provided a detailed overview of Nelson’s junior film that detailed why he’s such a coveted recruiting target, which can be found within the following tweet.
Of course Nelson spent time with UCF offensive line coach Herb Hand, a veteran offensive line coach that’s spent time with Coach Malzahn at multiple institutions including coaching stops at Tulsa (2007-2009) and Auburn (2016-2017), as well as being the co-offensive coordinator and coaching offensive linemen for Texas (2018-2020) most recently. When asked about his time with Coach Hand, Nelson was once again quite direct.
“He was great!”
Nelson confirmed that his unofficial visit to UCF was his true opportunity to visit the Knights. Ironic, when one considers that Boone High School is located in the same city as UCF. Then again, the COVID-19 pandemic truly eliminated traditional recruiting opportunities, like unofficial visits, away from prospects and coaches alike. More regarding Nelson’s visit and his recruitment in the coming days.
The other top-tier prospect Inside The Knights caught up with from yesterday’s unofficial visitors would be T.J. Shanahan, offensive tackle, 6’5”, 310-pounds, Orlando (Fla.) Timber Creek. Unlike Nelson, Shanahan still has two years of high school remaining.
The 2023 recruit is truly one of the best prospects in the entire country, and has offers from a plethora of institutions such as UCF, Alabama, Florida, LSU, Ohio State and Notre Dame just to mention a few. The Knights, Gators, and Tigers offered Shanahan before the end of his freshman year of high school. That’s incredible for a freshman offensive lineman.
As for his visit, Shanahan told Inside The Knights, “It was Awesome!”
Shanahan continued his unofficial visit tour and trekked to Gainesville today to visit the Gators. He’s likely to visit several other programs around the country over the next year. Name a program, and that program probably wants to sign Shanahan.
T.J. Shanahan, offensive tackle, Orlando (Fla.) Timber Creek
It’s a long way until national signing day for Nelson, let alone Shanahan. What’s more important to note is the effort the UCF coaching staff and recruiting administrative staff are placing on top local prospects. UCF absolutely must find a way to land some of the local ‘407’ talent that’s available year-in and year-out.
To be honest, too many top-notch prospects have left Orlando without even taking a UCF offer seriously until very recently. Now that the UCF football brand is moving upwards, there’s no time like the present for UCF to make a move into college football’s elite recruiting group -- LSU, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, et al -- with local talent being the mainstay in each recruiting class. Landing one or both of Nelson and Shanahan would do wonders for UCF football.
Other Recruitng Articles to Read:
UCF Football Recruiting: A Look Back at the 2020 Recruiting Class
UCF Football Recruiting: A Look Back at the 2019 Recruiting Class
You will find me on Twitter @fbscout_florida and @UCF_FanNation