UCF recruiting continues to ascend: 'We’re coming for you' (2024)

Qua Birdsong was on his official visit to Cincinnati but his mind was elsewhere.

The four-star linebacker from Alabama was the top commitment in the Bearcats’ 2024 recruiting class, but he couldn’t stop thinking about another school — even while on the Cincinnati campus last June.

“I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to UCF,’” Birdsong said. “It was the only thing I kept thinking about the whole time I was there. (Cincinnati coaches) could probably tell in my face. I was just thinking to myself, ‘I’m ready to get back to Florida.’”

Birdsong first realized that he might have committed to the wrong school while he was on his official visit to UCF the previous week.

“We had a scavenger hunt around the campus and stuff. That was fun. Bonding with the players,” Birdsong said. “After the scavenger hunt, everybody was all on the field, like, ‘This is gonna be us. Us on this field.’ We were just looking up at the sky. The sky was so pretty. … Orlando skies, it just looked so good. It was just crazy colors in the sky.

“That’s when I hugged (linebackers) Coach (Ernie) Sims and I committed (to UCF) in my head.”

Birdsong decommitted from Cincinnati on June 15 and announced his pledge to UCF on July 2. He signed with the Knights in December as part of an 18-member class that ranked No. 35 nationally in the 247Sports Composite — by far the best in program history.

LETS GO @CoachGusMalzahn @ErnieSims34 @CoachAlexMathis! pic.twitter.com/wfUImsX5xl

— B.I.R.D.M.A.N “Qua Birdsong” (@Qua_chosen1) July 2, 2023

Since then, the momentum has only continued for the Knights, who joined the Big 12 last season and are becoming a factor — both in-state and nationally — in recruitingunder coach Gus Malzahn.

Just this month, the Knights flipped 2025 four-star athlete Kendarius “Dee” Reddick from Auburn. There’s still a long way to go, but Reddick, a Georgia native who ranks No. 64 nationally, would be the highest-rated signee in program history. The Knights have four commitments in the 2025 class, including two blue-chippers and a third prospect who ranks in the top 400.

“We’re doing big things right now,” said EJ Colson, a three-star Class of 2024 quarterback who signed in December.

“The No. 1 thing that we tell the people that we’re trying to get is, ‘You can go to Georgia, you can go to the Alabamas and you can be another name. But when you come to UCF, you’re gonna be a legend.’”

Colson, originally a 2025 prospect, committed to UCF four days after Birdsong in July.

Like Birdsong, he pointed to a specific moment from a visit as the turning point — proof that even in the era of NIL, personal relationships still carry weight with recruits.

“I think my favorite memory would be, I would say in camp, (Malzahn) put me through a workout and then we had one-on-ones, and in one-on-ones, we had a competition,” Colson said. “So he gives you certain down and distances, and as a quarterback, you’ve just got to complete the ball.

“It was on my last throw, (Malzahn) said it was for the game. ‘Fourth down, make a play.’ And I threw a back shoulder pass and got a touchdown, and coach Malzahn went crazy. He was jumping up and down with me. I actually committed right after that camp.”

For three-star offensive tackle Jaquez Joiner, a 2025 prospect who committed to UCF in September, it was a simple conversation he had with Malzahn on the field a few minutes before a game.

“I didn’t really expect that,” Joiner said. “Lots of head coaches are supposed to be locked in for their game and this and that, but he was actually (talking) to me. So I thought that was nice.”

UCF’s move to the Big 12 has helped the program’s pitch to top prospects, who ultimately want to play at the highest level. Texas and Oklahoma might be moving to the SEC, but the Big 12 is still a very competitive league that placed three teams (current and future) in the top 25 of the final College Football Playoff rankings — Arizona, Oklahoma State and Kansas State.

And with the Playoff expanding to 12 teams in 2024, there is now a reasonable path to the postseason for the program.

“I believe we have a way bigger chance now,” Birdsong said. “It can go so many ways and I just feel like we’re one of the top teams. We’re gonna be one of the top teams for the next few years with this class that we’ve built.”

And Malzahn, who was the head coach at Auburn from 2013 through 2020, is still a big name in the Southeast.

“I’ve always been a fan of coach Malzahn,” said Justin Rogers, who coaches Reddick at Thomas County Central High School in Georgia. “All ball coaches respect him. He’s a true ball coach. So it doesn’t surprise me the success that he’s having.”

What might be next?

Joiner is working on flipping Ohio State wide receiver commit Jayvan Boggs, his teammate at Cocoa (Fla.) High School, and also has his eye on four-star offensive lineman Max Buchanan of Seminole (Fla.) High School. Joiner and Buchanan are taking official visits to UCF on the same day in May.

Birdsong is hoping his Troup County (Ga.) High School teammate, offensive lineman Jatorian Blackmon, will join UCF’s class. Blackmon, who is 6-foot-4 and 330 pounds, has offers from Ole Miss, Tennessee, Missouri and others.

“We can go after any player … no matter if they’re already committed or what,” Birdsong said. “We’re coming for you. If we want you, we’re gonna come get you.”

(Photo: Mike Watters / USA Today)

Grace Raynor is a staff writer for The Athletic covering recruiting and southeastern college football. A native of western North Carolina, she graduated from the University of North Carolina. Follow Grace on Twitter @gmraynor