UCF’s countdown to kickoff keeps rolling, and with 37 days left before the Knights open the 2026 season against Bethune-Cookman on Sep. 3 at 7 p.m., the spotlight turns to long snapper Rocklyn Kelly.
Kelly comes to UCF from Denton, Texas, where he grew up in the shadow of the North Texas Mean Green. According to 247Sports, UTSA was the first school to offer him a scholarship in October 2024. At Guyer High School, he handled long snapping duties and also competed in the discus throw for the track and field team, according to his UCF Athletics profile.
This offseason, Kelly also represented UCF alongside softball player Taylor Kittleman in the Big 12 Beyond Borders program. The two-year initiative, launched in 2024, “immerses student-athletes, coaches and administrators in a variety of historical and cultural experiences in the U.S. and internationally,” according to a conference press release.
Kelly’s first stop in the program came earlier this month in Washington D.C., where student-athletes met with Congressmen, visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and spent time with local middle school students, according to the release.
On the field, Kelly spent last season behind starter Dalton Riggs and did not appear in a game, preserving his redshirt. After UCF’s spring practice on April 7, special teams coordinator Pete Alamar said Kelly had “come along” and “shown a lot of improvement.”
For now, Kelly is behind Kyle Hicks on the depth chart. Hicks, who is coming off a season in which he was named an FCS Freshman All-American Third Teamer by Phil Steele, has the edge thanks to his collegiate experience.
Still, Alamar said Kelly is going to push Hicks, and vice versa, and the nature of the long snapper position leaves room for movement if Kelly separates himself in fall camp. On paper, he enters 2026 as the backup, but the competition is there.
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