Braeden Marshall has become something of a rarity in college football’s transfer-portal era: a player who stayed put. As he gets ready for his fourth season in Orlando, the UCF defensive back is still right where he started, turning a local path into a veteran role for the Knights.
Marshall spoke about that decision at a recent meet-and-greet at Keg Social in Waterford Lakes, telling Knights247’s Andrew Cherico what it means to keep playing close to home.
"It means a lot," Marshall said. "I'm home. Being able to play in a Power Four conference right here at the crib with my family coming out to support means everything."
A Lake Mary High School standout, Marshall committed to UCF and made an immediate impact as a freshman. Last season, he settled in at nickel and put together the best numbers of his career, finishing with 22 tackles and two interceptions.
One of his biggest moments came on Senior Night against Oklahoma State, when UCF’s secondary put together a shutdown second half and held the Cowboys to just 22 yards after halftime. Marshall helped close the door with an interception of quarterback Zane Flores, his first pick since UCF’s dominant win over North Carolina in week three.
The Knights’ secondary also has another important piece back in the mix in Jayden Bellamy. The former Syracuse defensive back was rated the fifth-best returning cornerback in the FBS by PFSN College, with an 88.9 grade.
That continuity matters for a defense that expects to lean on its experienced pieces. As Grinch said in early April, "You're always going to have, you know, a new percentage of your roster, you know, more so now than ever.
We understand that," Grinch said in early April." That's going to be new and doing things for the first time and all those things.
But, if you can lean on some guys that have been with us, and most specifically have played with us, not just in the locker room, not just, in the program, but guys that actually executed on Saturdays."
With Marshall and Bellamy back together, UCF’s defensive backfield looks like one of the strongest units on the roster heading into the season.
In Other News...
Why Kyle Hicks Could Be A Sneaky Key For UCF Special Teams
Kyle Hicks has quietly become one of the more interesting special teams additions on UCFs roster. The long snapper transferred in from Tennessee State, where he redshirted in 2024 and then got on the field in 2025, and he arrives in Orlando with a rsum that includes academic honors and a spot on Phil Steeles FCS Freshman All-American Third Team.
For a unit that often only gets noticed when something goes wrong, that kind of background matters. Special teams coordinator Pete Alamar has already singled out Hicks for his accuracy and consistency after a practice session, and with UCF still sorting out the position group, the Knights have reason to believe the snap game could be in steadier hands than it has been in years. [Read more 🡒]
UCF Just Got A Big 12 Reality Check Fans Wont Like
UCFs last season gave the program plenty to build on, from a March Madness return to the kind of ranked wins that can change how a team is viewed around the league. Johnny Dawkins group also stacked back-to-back 20-win seasons, a sign the Knights have settled into something sturdier than a one-year spike, even as the roster has been forced to evolve.
Now comes the part Big 12 teams have to survive every winter: proving that momentum still matters when the league pecking order gets reset. UCF has lost a major chunk of its scoring and brought in new pieces such as Lewis Walker and Dior Johnson to keep the defensive identity intact, but the preseason outlook has already landed the Knights lower than they probably expected, a reminder that the conference is not going to hand out any credit for what happened a year ago. [Read more 🡒]
These UCF Linebackers Helped Build The Program Fans Still Celebrate
The linebackers have long been part of the backbone of UCF football, and a new look back at the programs all-time greats makes that plain. The Daytona News-Journal put together a 105-man roster of Knights legends from the schools FBS era, and nine of the linebackers on it earned All-FBS recognition after UCF moved up 30 years ago. The group spans different eras and different paths to Orlando, but the common thread is simple enough: these were the kind of defenders who helped shape the programs identity and gave fans plenty to remember.
Shaquem Griffin stands out in any discussion of that lineage, with honors that include AAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2016 and Defensive MVP of the 2018 Peach Bowl. He is part of a list that also features names tied to conference awards, record-setting tackle totals and postseason hardware, while others arrived at UCF or later moved on after leaving their mark. The full roster serves as a reminder that the Knights rise was built not just on offense and highlights, but on linebackers who made the middle of the field their own. [Read more 🡒]