Veteran linebacker Jayden Jennings embraces his final season by mentoring new Knights, sharing crucial experience and preparing the next generation for success.
Jayden Jennings is entering his last season as a UCF Knight and while he's donning the black and gold, he's embracing a leadership role and passing the torch to his younger teammates.
"I try to put myself in a leadership role cause I know I can do it," Jennings said after spring practice on Tuesday. "And I know I'm very experienced. So, it'll be only fair to give back, especially to the guys coming in that's trying to come in, and I could pass the torch to them as they get older and mature in college."
The Knights brought in many new freshmen and transfers, who are acclimating themselves to the UCF system and the program's style of football.
Despite the newcomers, the team has many experienced returners on the roster who understand the coaches' expectations and the schemes.
Jennings said that for him, Lewis Carter and Isaiah Nixon, the returning players' chemistry and experience make it easier to mentor the new players. For the linebacker group, the newcomers are Tackett Curtis (Wisconsin), Jahleel Culbreath (Old Dominion), Matthew Occhipinti, Rashad Henry (UMass) and Preston Hall.
While Jennings is mentoring the newcomers, he complimented the maturity of the linebacker group because of the older guys who arrived in Orlando.
"The maturity is already there," Jennings said. "So it's not really too much going on as far as like learning and stuff like that, but everybody, like we all got the same end goal. So everybody's just taking it and trying to get better from it. And the freshmen we got, they're maturing, and they're trying to learn as well. So just everybody's working together to learn and get better at the defense."
Entering his fifth year, Jennings played nine games — starting two of them — for the Knights last season. The Salem, Virginia native recorded 15 tackles (nine solo), earned his first career interception against North Carolina A&T and recovered his first fumble against Houston in UCF's Space Game.
After earning his first interception and recovered fumble last season, Jennings is embracing a new leadership role to guide his young teammates and pass the torch to them after next season.
Join the Community. Don't miss out on our ROUNDTABLE community and the latest news!
It's completely free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members. Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!