Caden Kitler has 'awesome' UCF visit, decision looming
Caden Kitler made his long-awaited official visit to UCF over the weekend.
The Plano (Tex.) John Paul II offensive lineman received one of the first offers from the Gus Malzahn staff in early March, though his relationship with offensive line coach Herb Hand actually goes back further than that. His recruitment actually began more than a year ago when Hand was coaching at the University of Texas.
"I've been talking to Coach Hand for around two years now, so it was awesome seeing him in person," Kitler said. "During this COVID time we were talking on Zoom and on the phone getting to know each other, so I felt I already knew him pretty well and he knew me. This weekend, he just really wanted to show himself and his passion."
They've already had plenty of football-centric conversations. Though he plays tackle in high school, UCF sees him as a future center that could also play guard.
What did he like most about the visit?
"Campus overall was extremely beautiful," Kitler said. "Palm trees everywhere, something I'm not used to being from Dallas. Freaking lunch on Saturday was fantastic. We went to this seafood place, High Tide Harry's. I was eating the heck out of soft shell crab. I tried fried gator and frog legs for the first time. It was really good."
Lokahi Pauole served as Kitler's player host.
"He was definitely a cool dude," Kitler said. "He took me out to meet the players. I met most of the o-line group. We connected really well. They went out of their way to talk to me and I appreciated that."
He also enjoyed meeting head coach Gus Malzahn.
"He's a really cool dude," Kitler said. "He spent most of the time getting to know the parents. He's definitely a cool dude that I would love playing for."
Speaking of his parents, Kitler said UCF checked all their boxes.
"My mom also went to Memphis, so this was her second visit," Kitler said. "She didn't go to UTSA or Boise State with me. On this visit, my dad and Coach Hand, I've never seen my dad be so excited around a coach, to be honest. They had this spark. They're both from the Northeast, so they automatically had this connection. It was fun to watch them get excited around each other. After the visit, they both said UCF was their No. 1 school."
Kitler's final two is UCF and Boise State. A commitment announcement is in the works, possibly Wednesday.
"I'm going to sit down with my parents and talk about the pros and cons and make the decision," Kitler said.
He summed up some of the primary reasons why he likes UCF so much.
"UCF, they do this thing called the Manhood Program," Kitler said. "Both my parents started crying during the presentation because it was so awesome. You meet once a week talking about life and how to become a better man. I really took interest in that. It's really important to me, how to become a better individual, use teamwork, all that stuff. That stood out to me and my parents. Not only the Manhood Program, but how they run their academics. They took a pro from every single school I went to and combined it into one. That's awesome. I couldn't picture a more perfect academic program than UCF."
Boise State also stands out.
"I just felt good on campus. Beautiful scenery. Campus was beautiful, same as UCF. I love their facilities. Their coaches are very good to me. I just got bombarded with texts by them. They're on me really good. My friend Roger Carreon just committed there."
As for how he'll make his commitment, Kitler said he will probably post a commitment graphic on Twitter.