ORLANDO, Fla. — We should have known that McKenzie Milton’s final act at Central Florida would be the ultimate display of loyalty, friendship and unselfishness.
Isn’t it ironic that the amazing young man we all know as KZ is being the best teammate possible by actually leaving the team?
In an emotional video Thursday, during which he announced he is transferring from the program he loves, Milton is actually helping the program he loves — and the best friend he cherishes.
“It’s hard; one of the hardest things for me to do, but it just makes the most sense,” Milton said as he entered college football’s transfer portal Thursday. “I’m trying to think of it more logically than emotionally. I bleed black and gold and it’s where my heart is, but this is D.G.’s team now. I feel like the torch has been passed.”
D.G., of course, is Dillon Gabriel, Central Florida’s current record-breaking quarterback who leads the nation in passing and has cemented himself as UCF’s starting QB for next season. Gabriel is Milton’s high school teammate from Hawaii and surrogate little brother who, coincidentally, got his first start at Mililani High School on Oahu after Milton was injured during his senior season.
The only reason Gabriel is at UCF is because of Milton, who convinced UCF coach Josh Heupel to recruit his high school friend and convinced Gabriel that Heupel would develop him into an NFL prospect. Gabriel turned down bigger schools like USC and Georgia to follow in Milton’s monumental footsteps at UCF.
Then again, who knew when Gabriel signed with UCF that Milton would somehow, someway come back from the horrific knee injury suffered at South Florida just a couple of months earlier. Milton was in a wheelchair when Gabriel signed with UCF and the common belief was that not only was Milton’s football career over, but he would be lucky if he walked normally again.
When Milton’s knee was destroyed during the 2018 regular-season finale against South Florida, he was rushed to the hospital at Tampa General, where he underwent emergency surgery to repair damaged nerves and a severed artery to restore blood flow in his lower right leg. If it had been even an hour longer before doctors started the surgery, Milton was told his leg would have likely been amputated.
Milton has endured multiple surgeries and years of excruciating rehab to get himself in the position to play football once again, but he is making the absolute right decision by going somewhere else to make his comeback.
Yes, he’s doing it for himself because he can almost certainly transfer to a big-time school (see Scott Frost-coached Nebraska or Florida State or Miami if D’Eriq King goes to the NFL) where he won’t have to compete with an entrenched starting QB as talented as Gabriel. Milton knows he has one more year of college eligibility and he needs to make it count. As he told Heupel after he made his decision to transfer, “Coach, I have one shot to go chase a lifelong dream to play in the NFL.”
But make no mistake about it, Milton is leaving for the good of the UCF program as well. If he had his druthers, Milton would be the unquestioned starter at UCF next season, but he knows that’s not possible. If he stayed at UCF next season, it would create a circus of distractions and debates.
Despite Gabriel’s otherworldly passing numbers, many, many Knights fans would want Milton to be their starting quarterback next season. Milton was a cult hero among UCF fans even before he wrecked his knee, and he became even more beloved after the injury.
“There’s no reason, whether it’s a five-star recruit coming in or me coming off an injury, (Gabriel) should have to be put in the position to compete (for the starting quarterback job),” Milton says. “He’s earned the right to be our QB. I wouldn’t want to slow down his momentum. The way he’s been playing, he could very well be a top draft pick next year.”
Milton, in a conversation with ESPN.com reporter Andrea Adelson, went on to say: “I wouldn’t want any controversy in the locker room.”
And, OMG, would there have been controversy! There would have been controversy in the locker room, on the message boards, on Twitter, on TikTok, at the coffee shops and around the water cooler. It would have been awkward for Gabriel, for Heupel and for Milton himself.
Milton’s popularity is undeniable and understandable. He is, after all, the quarterback who led the Scott Frost-coached UCF team to an undefeated season and a self-proclaimed national championship in 2017. And you know what? He would have done it again in 2018 in Heupel’s first year as coach. If not for the gruesome injury, there’s no question in my mind UCF would have destroyed LSU in the Fiesta Bowl to complete a second-consecutive unbeaten season.
In 2017, I was called a “homer” by some of my fellow Heisman voters for putting Milton No. 1 on my ballot, but I’ve never before felt better and more secure about a Heisman vote. Before the injury, Milton was a magician with the football in his hands. He baffled opposing defenders with his arm and bumfuzzled them with his legs. He made UCF football fast, frolicking fun in the sun and is the player mainly responsible for transforming the Knights into a nationally relevant program.
“In my opinion, he’s the most influential player to ever come through UCF,” Heupel says. “When you look at the brand before he got here and the brand as he’s leaving, it’s a tribute to him; a lot of others, but a tribute to him.”
Says Milton: “A lot of people say I led UCF to new heights or I did this for UCF or I did that for UCF, but UCF has done way more for me and my family than I could ever do for them.”
In the farewell video, you can see Heupel, a coach who doesn’t often show his sentimental side in public, getting more and more emotional as he talks about Milton’s departure.
When Milton told Heupel he was transferring, the coach teared up and said to his quarterback, “I love you. I love you fiercely. This will always be your home.”
You know what they say about home?
The best part about leaving is that you always carry it with you wherever you go.
Godspeed, KZ.
Go win the national championship.
Again.
Bianchi writes for the Orlando Sentinel