Whoever wins the starting quarterback job at Central Florida will be following the most successful quarterback in program history.
Blake Bortles declared for the NFL draft in January after leading the Knights to a Fiesta Bowl victory over Baylor and an American Athletic Conference championship. He's expected to be a candidate for the No. 1 overall pick in May's draft.
No pressure, right?
At the moment, there's no frontrunner to replace him. Justin Holman, a sophomore, is expected to compete with redshirt freshman Pete DiNovo and freshman Tyler Harris for the starting quarterback job. And Bortles says he's staying in touch with all three players to help them as much as he can.
"Actually all three, Pete, Justin and Tyler Harris all reached out to me," Bortles said in a phone interview with the Sentinel on Monday night. "I told all of them, 'I don’t have a horse in this race, I don’t care who starts, I just want to help you. You're never a burden on me or annoying me.' I wish I had somebody to text when I was there. I had Rob Calabrese, so I could call Rob and ask Rob. But [I told them], 'Anytime something pops up and you have a question or need help, don’t hesitate to call or text.' All three have, so it’s been good."
Bortles won the starting quarterback job as a redshirt freshman in 2011. UCF coach George O'Leary says he'll name a starter after spring practice.
Harris is a three-star recruit according to Rivals from Blackshear, Ga. DiNovo was a three-star recruit last year, as was Holman.
- - - - - - -
Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
Follow @NickBromberg