Jake Hescock isn't ready to hang up his cleats.
The redshirt senior tight end says he'll take advantage of his extra year of eligibility - available to all players this season due to COVD-19 - in order to further grow until the tutelage of co-offensive coordinator Alex Golesh as well continue to be a mentor and leader to what will still be a young tight end room in 2021.
In the meantime, Hescock is looking forward to ending the regular season with a win at South Florida. And thanks to a couple of his teammates, Alec Holler and Max Holler, he's become very familiar with the history of the War on I-4.
You've been around a few years now, so you've seen a few of these War on I-4s. What does the rivalry mean to you when you're getting ready to play South Florida?
"Just the whole history of the thing. I had the luxury of being on the 2017 team when we won and last year. We've been on a little bit of a streak. There's so much history to this rivalry, even going back to the 2000s when they were kicking our butts. We want to even up the series. This one is for all the old players too that might have lost to these guys. They want to see us win."
Is there a favorite memory for you in this series that stands out?
"That would be everybody's, the 2017 kickoff return. That's got to be on the top of everybody's list. That was a crazy moment. I remember being on the sideline going crazy, running up and down the sideline. It was almost surreal. I was thinking it would be really cool if he takes this back and he did. It was awesome."
With you being a senior, how much did you take pride in being a leader?
"I think everybody took a lot of pride in it. It was a really tough year to lead. It was a new year. A year that nobody has had to lead in before. I think I said in my last interview here that I reached out to Michael Colubiale for some help. I've never been in this situation before. Nobody else really have been. I had to hold guys accountable when they were 1,000 miles away from me during the offseason. It's not just being accountable when we're in the building. We've got to be accountable outside the building too and making sure we stay safe and keep everybody healthy. We had to lead in a lot of different ways. I really enjoyed it, the process and the struggles of it. It made me a better leader in the long run."
What sort of challenge does USF present?
"I think their tempo on defense, the way they fly around. They're fast. They're physical. They're always going to do that. I think that's a staple of their defense, even more than normal this year. They play fast and play hard. That's going to be a challenge for us."
There's one game left on the schedule. Maybe there's a bowl game too. As you wind down in your college career, when someone says tell me about your UCF football career, what are the moments that come to mind?
"I think the 2018 championship game. I scored my first collegiate touchdown against Memphis. That was awesome to have that. I enjoyed the Fiesta Bowl and that trip. I enjoyed the Stanford game. Hopefully I create some more memories next year."
I was going to ask that because Senior Day was last Saturday and did not walk. Everyone can have another year to come back and they want it. Are you coming back?
"Yeah, I think I'm definitely going to take it. Getting another year in the system with Golesh I think is going to be really beneficial for me. I'm also in a really young room so it gives me an opportunity to leave a legacy with those guys so they can figure out how to get things done and the process of being a college football player. If I can pass that along to those guys and get another year under Coach Golesh and grow, that sounds good to me."
What went into that decision? Who did you talk with? How much of an impact did Coach Golesh have in that decision?
"I got to talk to Golesh, my parents, Coach Hepuel a little bit. I think everybody's conversation kind of went into my decision. Golesh got a chance to sit down with me and tell me his plans for next year and this offseason. What kind of work we're going to put in for my game and the things I need to work on. It was really exciting to hear that. I don't think I'm ready to quite hang it up yet or move on. If I can keep playing, I'll try to exhaust every outlet I can. That's my plan for now."
There's been a lot of talk about McKenzie possibly coming back on Friday in Tampa. What would it mean to see him back on the field again?
"It would be awesome just because of how hard he's worked these past two years. We see it day in and day out. He's always the first one in the building and the last one to leave. He's always in the training room trying to get better. I think it would be good for him, the fans, everybody really. It would be a good moment because that's where it happened two years ago. I think it would be really cool if we got to see him out there. If the time is right, if the situation is right, who knows. The only reason we're even having this conversation is the way that he's worked the past two years to put himself in this position."
In one of your initial comments about USF, you seemed to indicate some knowledge about the history of the series. You talked about evening up the series, USF dominated it early on. There was a game in 2007 they won 64-12. A lot of UCF fans consider the low point of the program in some respects. Is that something as a team that you've talked about, evening up the series?
"In our room especially, we have two UCF historians in the Holler brothers. They grew up in the local area, big fans of the program. I'm pretty sure most of y'all saw Max (Holler) on the Twitter, ESPN back in the 0-12 year. We got a little bit of history from them. We have a little joke in the tight end room, that we're doing it for Max because his hated runs deep. They've give us a little history lesson. It's been nice."
