University of Central Florida Football

Alex Ward serves as Offensive Quality Control for UCF football. His role supports the offensive staff with opponent study, film breakdown, scouting reports, and practice preparation. He previously worked on UCF’s staff as a Defensive Graduate Assistant in 2024. Ward moved into his current offensive quality control position ahead of the 2025 season.

Austin Herink joins the UCF football program after serving as an quality control analyst at Washington. Prior to his time in Seattle, He was an analyst at Arizona for two seasons in 2023-24. From 2021-22, Herink was the associate director of football operations at Nebraska. Prior to Nebraska, Herink was the Director of Player Personnel/Data Analytics at his alma mater, East Tennessee State. With the Buccaneers, he assisted Head Coach Randy Sanders and the offensive coaching staff with game planning, while also instructing quarterbacks on proper mechanics, game planning and scheme knowledge. Herink also helped coordinate unofficial and official recruiting visits. Herink was previously the quarterback and passing game coordinator for the Vienna Vikings, a pro football club in Vienna, Austria. He led the team to a second-place finish in the European Football League and for his play he finished runner up for European Player of the Year. Herink played quarterback at East Tennessee State, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 2017 and a master's degree in 2019. He led the 2018 team to the third-best record in school history (8-4) and the program's first playoff game in over 20 years, as well as a share of the Southern Conference Championship. Herink was a four-time team captain from 2015 to 2018.

Cooper Bassett joined the UCF coaching staff as Tight Ends Coach in January 2026 ahead of the 2026 season. Bassett is a versatile coach with plenty of experience on both sides of the ball. A senior captain at Oklahoma State in his playing days, the Tuttle, Okla. native played tight end and defensive line for the Cowboys from 2009-12. With 13 years of coaching experience, Bassett has been part of two divisional championship teams and has coached in four bowl games. Most recently, Bassett was with Oklahoma State in 2025 as the offensive line coach. Prior to that, he served as the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for a Utah State offense that finished the regular season ranked No. 7 in the nation in total offense with an average of 467.7 yards per game. The USU offense also ranked No. 22 nationally in both passing offense (269.1) and rushing offense (198.6). In his first year at Utah State in 2023, Bassett helped the Aggies to six wins and an appearance in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. The Aggies led the Mountain West and ranked 25th in the nation in total offense (438.6 ypg). USU was also 26th nationally in scoring offense (33.2 ppg), 30th in rushing offense (184.4 ypg) and 43rd in the nation in passing offense (254.2 ypg). Bassett came to Utah State after spending the 2022 season as the offensive line coach at Sam Houston State, where the Bearkats rushed for an average of 162.3 yards per game (4.4 yards per attempt) and allowed just 18 sacks. They finished fir

Pete Alamar, who has more than 40 years of experience as an assistant coach and 20 years working with special teams units, was named UCF’s special teams coordinator and senior analyst by head coach Scott Frost in January 2025. “I’m incredibly grateful to Coach Scott Frost for this opportunity to join his coaching staff as special teams coordinator,” said Alamar. “My goal is to develop and lead the best special teams units in the Big 12 and nationally and I cannot wait to get to work with our players and coaches.” Alamar made a big impact in year one with the Black and Gold. Multiple areas of his special teams unit performed at a high level throughout the campaign. Kicker Noe Ruelas was named All-Big 12 Third Team and made history in his lone season in Orlando becoming the first Knight in UCF’s FBS history to make three field goals from beyond 50 yards, hitting from 54 to tie his career long as well as from 53 and 51. He finished the regular season with the best field goal percentage in the Big 12 and the 15th best in the nation at 88.2%, making 15-of-17 field goals. Ruelas earned a nod as a Lou Groza semifinalist. The return game was also a bright spot in 2025 for Alamar's unit, as Jaden Nixon housed the opening kickoff return against North Carolina A&T on Sept. 6, the first UCF kickoff return for a touchdown since 2017. Antione Jackson finished 17th in yards per punt return, averaging a clip of 11.8, the best mark for a Knight since 2019. Alamar was most recently the associa

Steve Cooper, who spent four seasons with new UCF head coach Scott Frost at Nebraska, enters his second season as the Knights’ offensive coordinator in 2026. Cooper joined the Black and Gold following one season as an offensive analyst at Boise State, helping the Broncos earn a spot in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff and win the Mountain West Conference Championship. “First off, I want to express my deepest appreciation to Coach Frost for believing in me and offering this incredible opportunity to join Knight Nation as offensive coordinator,” said Cooper. “I’m beyond excited to contribute to this program’s rich tradition of offensive innovation and success. The energy, the passion, and the culture here are unmatched, and I can’t wait to get to work with these talented student-athletes and the amazing Knight community.” Cooper was the offensive coordinator as well as tight ends coach in his first year with UCF in 2025. Tight end Dylan Wade was a bright spot, leading the Knights in receiving touchdowns with five and finishing second in receiving yards with 523. Those numbers, along with his 43 receptions, stand as the most for a UCF tight end in a single season in the program’s history. Cooper helped the Knights compile 578 yards of offense in UCF’s 45-13 Homecoming victory over West Virginia, the sixth highest offensive output in a Frost-led UCF squad over his three years in Black and Gold. With Cooper’s assistance, Boise State compiled a 12-1 record and earned

A former Knight and NFL second-round pick, Travis Fisher returned to his alma mater as Senior Defensive Analyst. A UCF standout at cornerback before a nine-year NFL career, he now supports the Knights defensive staff. Before rejoining UCF in 2025, Fisher coached defensive backs at several stops. He served as Syracuse’s cornerbacks coach in 2023 after five seasons with Nebraska (2018–22) coaching the secondary. Earlier, he was a defensive quality assistant at UCF in 2013, coached cornerbacks at Southeast Missouri State in 2014, and returned to UCF to coach the secondary from 2015–17. A Tallahassee native and UCF graduate, Fisher was drafted No. 64 overall by the St. Louis Rams in 2002 after starring at cornerback for the Knights. He also played for the Lions, Seahawks, and the Ravens during his NFL tenure.