On the eve of the spring semester, UCF head coach Gus Malzahn held a press conference mostly to talk about the returning "Super Seniors" which include running back Isaiah Bowser, offensive lineman Sam Jackson, defensive lineman Anthony Montalvo and long snapper Alex Ward. He addressed a few other topics as well, including the recent hire of offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, plus transfer portal and recruiting momentum following the bowl win against Florida.
Opening statement:
"Our players just got back today. Obviously had a good break. Big bowl win against an in-state opponent. So that made an even better break. You look at this past year, we talked about laying a foundation and I truly believe that we did that this past year. Have a bowl win, have some momentum. We've got four young men coming back that could have went to the NFL. It's always very important in the big picture of things. I'll talk briefly about each one of them.
"Isaiah Bowser, the original plan was to come here for one year and go to the NFL. He obviously had some injuries. We talked at length over the break. He strongly considered it, but chose to come back. I've been real blessed to coach two Doak Walker Award winners. He's in that same category. We'll see what happens. Obviously that's a huge impact for us coming back.
"Sam Jackson, our offensive tackle. He played a lot of football. He's one of our team leaders. Any time that you have a team leader coming back. He could have played in the NFL and chose to come back. Just a lot of stability up front. Like I said, leadership is huge.
"Anthony Montalvo, defensive tackle or defensive end. Another one of our team leaders. Played a lot of football. As far as the leadership goes and everything that goes with it. I'll say this. We had a lot of ups and downs throughout the year, how we hung in there and finished strong was because of our leadership. These guys had a big part of that.
"Alex Ward, our deep snapper. He was up for the national deep snapper of the year award. He's one of the best in the country. He actually had a Reese's Senior Bowl invite and chose to come back. He is also a leadership of the specialists, but also a team leader. All four of these guys are. They will be the leaders of the team this coming year. We'll be in great hands in that aspect.
The four players then spoke about their decisions to return - more from them later - and Malzahn finished the rest of the press conference by taking questions.
"I think for me, listening to those guys, you've got guys who have won multiple championships here. From a head coach's standpoint, having leaders like that. They're talking about part of their decision was to come back and do something special next year. We're off to a good start. Glad to have these guys back."
With Isaiah Bowser coming back, we saw what this offense looked like when he was healthy. Knowing you have him, returning most players offensively and supplementing that talent with recruiting and transfers, how excited are you for the offense in 2022?
"It was really big. I think it was easy to see when he was healthy we were a very strong offense. He's a game changer. There's no doubt about that."
Alex Ward mentioned about his long snapping, if he does his job nobody knows who he is. How impressed are you with his play?
"That's a spot, a lot of times people don't think about unless you don't have one. The unique thing about Alex is he's one of our team leaders too, which is really rare from a deep snapper. He's got a great personality. He's a team-first guy. I don't know how many people that have turned down an invitation to play in the Reese's Senior Bowl, but I'm gonna bet you can probably count them on one hand. But he loves this place. He wants to come back for one more year. He'll be one of our team leaders."
Sam Jackson coming back, he's a versatile player. He's played across the line. Do you have any plans for him specifically?
"He has the flexibility which will really be great the next level. He can play all positions. As a matter of fact, Coach Hand had him playing center in bowl practices. He can play all positions. He is one of those guys that brings stability. He's one of our team leaders. When he talks, everyone listens. He's won championships here. He knows what it takes. He's got a great football I.Q. You can move him anywhere and he knows exactly what to do. That was huge in the big picture, having him back."
Since we last talked, you hired Chip Lindsey as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. What does he bring to the staff?
"Chip is a guy that I know well. He knows me well. He is a great quarterback developer. He's really strong in that area. He's a guy that I met recruiting Philip Lutzenkirchen who played tight end for me at Auburn. He was a great player when we won the National Championship. That's how we got to know each other. He just had something special to him. When I got the head job at Auburn I hired him off the field to be really my right-hand man. Head coach's analyst. That's the year we almost won the National Championship. He moves on Southern Miss and went straight to offensive coordinator after that. Had a really good two years there. Then he went to be the OC at Arizona State. Did very well. Then obviously come back to me. In 2017 we were really good on offense and really close to winning, we won the SEC West. We won together. He was the head coach at Troy the last three years. It'll be really good for me. I'm still going to call plays, but he's going to assist me. We're real blessed to have him."
We're all learning about the new recruiting calendar. You've got high school recruiting and now it's transfer recruiting when we got to late December, early January. I know you've made some early additions and aren't done yet. How pleased are you with some of these additions?
"The game has changed with the portal. It's changed everything. You lose a few players and roster management is so important. You've got to replace them. I've said this before. I just think this is such an attractive place for transfers. Now that it's the new norm, if we handle it right it could be a huge advantage for us."
How good was it to get the early enrollees on campus?
"Really good to go through spring. We just had our first team meeting about 45 minutes ago. It was great to see those new faces. Introducing them to the team. It feels really good."
Can you talk about specific names yet transfer wise?
"Not yet. But we're real close. We'll have a presser here in the near future with all that. It's changing. I think you see that throughout college football."
How crazy is this process like with transfer recruiting? You've got school starting tomorrow and players still haven't made decisions. Is there a deadline you're dealing with?
"I think most places around the country it's usually a few days after school starts. We had official visits this weekend which is new for this time of year during the coaches convention. With the changes, that's just part of it. Pretty interesting time."
On the challenges of the transfer portal:
"Managing your roster, if you lose players, you've got to replace players. I think a challenge for a lot of programs is going to be going through spring. Do you have enough at each position to go through spring to have a full spring? I think that's going to be a challenge for a lot of programs as far as that goes. Is it good? I think it's just something, whoever manages their roster the best is going to have an advantage. Hopefully we'll be one of those."
Recruiting is a multi-year process. I know you've got a big event later in the month, recruits have been tweeting about the Hometown Hero event. The fact you beat Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl, what kind of buzz have you gotten from that win as you look to recruit these 23s and beyond?
"That was really big in the big picture. Obviously a big win. Since I've been here, some of the other logos in this state it's been tough to compete against. It's a new day in college football. The landscape in college football is changing on a weekly basis. I said this when I first got here. This is the program of the future. We're changing the narrative in this state. We're going to continue to do nothing but move up. To answer your question, it is easier to recruit. Specifically these young guys. They know what's going to happen here. It's been real exciting from that standpoint."
