It's a spring of opportunity for UCF's offensive line.
The Knights have several open positions among their starting five, notably at center, tackle and guard after losing Matt Lee, Ryan Swoboda and Sam Jackson from the 2022 squad.
Over the weekend, we caught up with co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Herb Hand for a deep dive about his position group.
Here's a recap of the 25-minute interview:
Hand began by noting the strong leadership on the offensive line, led by Lokahi Pauole, Ed Collins, Paul Rubelt and Chidoziri Maghiro. "It's their unit."
For the new guys, it's their opportunity to earn a position.
"It's been a really good spring so far working with those guys."
At center, UCF brought in Fresno State center Bula Schmidt and also has redshirt freshman Caden Kitler. Lokahi did receive snaps at center at the beginning of spring. He also played center for one series at FAU last year.
"Bula is new to our system, new to our team, but he's a veteran player. He's been a multi-year starter at a great program in Fresno State and played for a great offensive line coach, Saga Tuitele, who is now at Arizona State. I talked to Saga before we brought Bula in and he's everything Saga told me he was going to be. He's a leader. He works his tail off. He's got a very physical mentality. He's been a great addition so far.
"We brought in Caden Kitler last year. He redshirted and played the last several series of the Temple game. That was great experience for him. He ran with our twos the whole season last year. Been really happy with his development. The biggest thing with him is we wanted to see him put on some good weight. Last year when he got here he was 270, 275. Right now he's about 294. Coach Dawson and the strength staff, the nutrition staff, everybody has done a good job with him to put on some really good weight. We're excited about his development."
Hand also spoke about Stanford transfer Drake Metcalf, who will enroll this summer.
"He'll be right in the mix for that position (center) as well. We're excited about the opportunity for those guys."
Speaking of his entire offensive line this spring, Hand likes their physicality and finishing blocks.
"I've been happy with that... You'll never be completely satisfied, but I feel we're playing with more of a physical mentality. That comes from Lokahi and his leadership in the room. The standard he sets in the room. Bula has brought that mentality with him. I'm excited about that. Paul (Rubelt) is another. He's massive and a real physical dude. Guys don't like coming off a block because he's such a big, strong human."
Hand described Ed Collins as their "glue guy." He "holds everything together." Collins was a tackle starter under Heupel, but has been a backup since Gus/Hand arrived. We spoke with Collins on Thursday and he said his goal was to play this year. He's been working at both tackle and guard.
Hand: "I can't talk highly enough how I feel about Ed Collins as a person. Here's a guy who was a starter. Everybody wants to play. Ed went from being a starter to being a backup dude. Every day he comes to work. He practices and strains every day. He's the assistant coach in the room. Not just from scheme and technique standpoint, but a culture standpoint."
Hand added that he trusts Collins "immeasurably" and "wants the best for him."
Hand reiterated his stance that he's "ride or die" with the top five offensive line starters. He's not a coach that routinely subs in and out.
"I love Ed Collins. I wish we had more guys like him in college football that don't just go to where they, it is what it is with the transfer portal. He loves being a Knight. That's how I feel about him."
Hand was asked being named co-offensive coordinator. He says every offensive line coach in America should be co-OC because statistically they coach nearly half the offense with their five guys on every single snap.
He feels a close connection with Darin Hinshaw. The pair hit it off during Darin's first year on this staff in 2021.
Hand expanded on Gus relinquishing OC duties to focus on NIL and the transfer portal.
"The first guys you have to recruit all the time is your current roster. Gus is using this opportunity to build better relationships with the players on the team."
He wanted to emphasize Gus stills runs the show, whether he's calling plays or not.
"This is what I want everybody to know about Gus Malzahn. He's been one of the most influential coaches in the history of college football. We want his input from an offensive perspective. Our defensive coaches respect his input because the guy is one of the best to ever do it."
On the two transfers, Marcellus Marshall (Kent State) and Amari Kight (Alabama):
"We're excited about those guys. They've been great additions to our unit."
Marcellus was All-MAC at Kent State and now he has to earn his role. He started at left tackle, but is now repping left guard more. They often move guys around in the spring. Eventually, you settle them into a role.
Amari was a highly-recruited high school player. He recruited him when he coached with Gus at Auburn. Amari has been coached by some great coaches. Now he has to earn his position. He's been working at right tackle.
Hand went in-depth about his two players working to make it at the next level, Sam Jackson and Ryan Swoboda. Sam is versatile, said he reminds him of a couple players he coached at Vanderbilt that played in the NFL.
I asked if any offensive lineman has perhaps made a move or significant strides, and he mentioned Paul Rubelt.
"I've been really happy with Paul."
Tylan Grable had a shoulder issue during the Duke game, so Rubelt played most of the bowl game vs. Duke. It was a good lesson of "staying ready" instead of "getting ready." Paul was essentially their sixth lineman last year, their third tackle. Even though he wasn't starting, he was always prepared.
"Paul learned in the Duke game there's nothing like game reps."
There's no do-overs in the game. It takes a different mentality when you're in game reps.
Trace asked a question about offensive and defensive lines in the Big 12 which yielded a great response. Hand coached at Texas a few years ago.
"We've got to score points. There's a lot of good offenses in that league."
He said a team like Iowa State is comfortable winning a game 17-13. They play great on defense.
"The defenses in the Big 12 are better than they give them credit for because every game is 45-40 or whatever, but there's a good offenses in the Big 12."
He said they have to be ready to score points in the Big 12. They can't be 109th in the country in red zone offense, which is what they were last year. They can't take sacks and get negative yardage, forcing punts and putting the defense on the field over and over again. They have to drive down the field and score points.
Situational football is really important. Very rarely in the Big 12 you blow a team out and get your reserves reps. Every game in the Big 12 was a "dogfight."
