Welcome to Inside The Knights
With the incredible tradition that comes with the Sports Illustrated brand, It’s a blessing to be able to cover the University of Central Florida football program and the athletics department as a whole. Being able to do it while living in Central Florida makes it all the better. Welcome to Inside The Knights, and the journey begins with the UCF football program.
For UCF football enthusiasts, this site will be especially pleasurable for you. Some of the prime areas of coverage will be football team news, Gus Malzahn press conference coverage, roster updates, player profiles, coaching profiles, Knights in the professional ranks, and especially recruiting information. While Inside The Knights will cover a variety of UCF athletics, football is the engine that drives the UCF train, and with that comes recruiting.
Tied into UCF football is of course the incredible local prep talent that the Knights will be recruiting. High school football is and will continue to be a personal passion, so there will be an overflow of Florida high school football coverage as well.
Recruiting Coverage Will Include First-Hand Information
Traveling to high school games, camps, combines and personal workouts will be a priority. While covering recruiting for other Sports Illustrated sites such as SI All-American and LSU Country, travelling to see players was and is the norm. That shall continue with Inside The Knights. Here’s an example.
During the month of May, high school football road trips included stops to Florida cities and towns such as Jacksonville, Venice, Cocoa, and Tarpon Springs. Not to mention, three separate trips to watch prospects within Orlando. Those long hours were utilized to gain video, quotes, meet new coaches and recruits, find up-and-coming prospects, and complete evaluations from high school football prospects. In total, the month of May included 1,737 total miles driven to cover Florida high school football’s top programs and prospects.
Those miles represent what is needed and what will continue to happen to access as much high school recruiting information as possible. Whether it will be an Under Armour camp, an Elite 11 showcase, or a high school football practice or game, the wheels will be turning to bring direct knowledge of Knights’ football recruiting and what’s happening throughout the state of Florida prep football scene.
It’s a personal passion and that shall not change. Gathering all of the prep football information will help UCF fans to be better prepared to know how the Knights will perform in the future, as well as better understand how the competition will stack up against UCF.
The emphasis towards recruiting will allow Inside The Knights to better cover UCF football because nobody will understand the inner workings of the roster and depth chart better. As for UCF team coverage, there will be a fan-oriented style to the site.
Team Coverage Will Be Fan Friendly
Along with the coverage regarding game recaps, team previews, depth chart maneuvers, and podcasts, there will be interviews with actual UCF fans to gain their insights into what’s happening with the UCF football program. Additionally, there will be interviews with other media members and high school coaches regarding their thoughts about the UCF football program.
Overall, UCF team coverage will provide a unique view of the inner goings of the football team and what’s next. The aim will be to bring UCF fans into the discussion of UCF football; provide opportunities for fans to interact and be heard.
Interacting with fans during podcasts and even interviewing fans before and after games will be a part of Inside The Knights. Of course, there will be detailed analysis of depth charts, position battles, game previews and reviews, opponent overviews, bowl game projections, analysis of college football news beyond UCF, and news regarding UCF Head Coach Gus Malzahn. Overall, this site is about more than just reiterating the obvious news about UCF. It will be a plethora of information, and that’s for the enthusiastic fans that follow the Knights and college football.
Fans are what makes college athletics incredible. The cheering, the yelling, the passionate desire of college fans to see their teams win. Inside The Knights will continuously provide fans with opportunities to explain their experiences, as well as detail why they are so dedicated to the Knights. This site will be about you, the fan, and not just another website providing content about UCF football and athletics. There’s one last area to discuss.
Growing The Site
As Inside The Knights continues to expand, the coverage and variety of UCF sports will expand. Baseball, basketball, and any other pertinent information regarding UCF athletics shall be written about and discussed on podcasts just like football.
Whether it’s a breaking story regarding the Knights landing a star basketball recruit, or the women’s volleyball team winning a tournament match, that can and will be something that’s covered. It will come. Football and especially football recruiting will be featured from now through the summer months. That time will provide the foundation of the site. Then, the other sports shall gain consistent coverage as well.
Final Thoughts
Living in Central Florida and being able to cover the Knights will be a great deal of fun. All the resources that come with being a part of the Sports Illustrated family will provide a detailed look at UCF football, as well as the entire athletics department. Come and be a part of the community. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
You will find me on Twitter @fbscout_florida and @UCF_FanNation