ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 I\u2019ve been writing this same column for 20 years now, and every so often, something happens that makes me pull it out, dust it off, and scream it louder:<\/p>\n
The University of Central Florida should change its name to the University of Orlando \u2026 or Orlando University.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s right \u2014 drop the \u201cCentral,\u201d embrace the city, and stop pretending that the rest of the country knows what or where \u201cCentral Florida\u201d is.<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, the case for change was once again dropped right in my lap, er, laptop.<\/p>\n
When North Carolina coach Bill Belichick was preparing his Tar Heels to face UCF, he referred to the Knights as \u201cCentral.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not UCF. Not Central Florida. Just Central.<\/p>\n
It was a casual slip, but an absolutely telling one.<\/p>\n
When one of the greatest coaches in football history thinks your university\u2019s name sounds like a high school, that\u2019s not just a branding problem; that\u2019s an identity crisis.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s one I\u2019ve been warning about for two decades.<\/p>\n
You know who else recently brought up the same topic?<\/p>\n
Mike Repole \u2014 the billionaire entrepreneur behind Bodyarmor, Vitaminwater and now one of the new owners of the Orlando Storm, the city\u2019s new United Football League team.<\/p>\n
When I contacted Repole to talk about his latest investment in Orlando sports, he was the one who brought up UCF\u2019s name \u2014 unsolicited.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s easy decisions in life and then there are the most obvious decisions of all time,\u201d Repole said. \u201cThis university should be known as the University of Orlando. Nobody outside of this state knows where Central Florida is, just as nobody knows where Central Jersey is or Central Iowa or Central New Hampshire. But everybody knows where Orlando is.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 The name Orlando would be great for recruiting because the recruiting process begins when kids are 7 or 8 years old and they go to Disney World and create great memories. And then when they grow up, they\u2019re like \u2018Oh my God, Orlando, I want to go back there.\u2019 Changing the name would be a great branding and marketing tool for the university.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not me talking. That\u2019s a billionaire brand-builder who understands how names create value.<\/p>\n
Repole isn\u2019t a UCF alum, but he\u2019s a UCF donor. He lives in this city and is invested in this city. And, like Belichick\u2019s slip-up, his comment underscores what I\u2019ve been saying for 20 years: \u201cCentral Florida\u201d is geographically accurate but emotionally vacant. \u201cOrlando\u201d is a brand.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s be honest, \u201cCentral Florida\u201d sounds like a vague geographical description, not a destination. It\u2019s the kind of name universities gave themselves in the 1970s when they were regional commuter schools serving a few counties.<\/p>\n
But UCF isn\u2019t that anymore. It hasn\u2019t been for years.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one of the largest universities in the nation, a proud member of the Big 12, and a football program that\u2019s won three New Year\u2019s Six bowl games and gone toe-to-toe with the sport\u2019s bluebloods.<\/p>\n
And yet, the \u201cdirectional\u201d label still sticks like gum on the bottom of a cleat.<\/p>\n
Every time a coach, a commentator, or a casual fan calls UCF \u201cCentral Florida,\u201d it\u2019s a reminder that \u2014 despite all the growth, all the victories, and all the investment \u2014 the school\u2019s brand still carries the baggage of its old, regional identity.<\/p>\n
I first wrote this column two decades ago, back when George O\u2019Leary, one of the fathers of modern UCF football, was building the program brick by brick.<\/p>\n
I remember asking O\u2019Leary what he thought of my suggestion to drop the \u201cCentral\u201d and become Orlando University.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t just agree; he endorsed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like that,\u201d O\u2019Leary told me. \u201cIt makes a lot of sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back then, I wrote:<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the university wants to create a new reputation and transform its diminutive distinction of being just another insignificant directional school, it should change its name completely. Do away with the directional designation. Dump the University of Central Florida name and become Orlando University.\u201d<\/p>\n
That column sparked outrage among some fans and faculty, but O\u2019Leary\u2019s comment stuck.<\/p>\n
He understood what so many in academia didn\u2019t: branding matters. Perception matters. And the word \u201cCentral\u201d does UCF no favors.<\/p>\n
Fast forward to today.<\/p>\n
UCF\u2019s national profile is bigger than ever. The Knights are in a Power Four conference and recruiting from coast-to-coast.<\/p>\n
But even as the school\u2019s brand has grown, the confusion persists.<\/p>\n
\u201cCentral\u201d could be anywhere. Orlando is somewhere.<\/p>\n
Orlando isn\u2019t just a city. It\u2019s a global destination. It\u2019s the Capital of Fun, the City Beautiful, and the Vacation Capital of the World. Say \u201cOrlando\u201d in Tokyo, London or New York, and everyone knows exactly what you mean.<\/p>\n
Say \u201cCentral Florida,\u201d and you might as well be giving someone directions to a rest stop in Wildwood.<\/p>\n
You know who else doesn\u2019t hate my idea?<\/p>\n
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer himself.<\/p>\n
When I floated the name change past him recently, he didn\u2019t dismiss it. He didn\u2019t scoff or call it ridiculous.<\/p>\n
He simply said, \u201cI think it would have been a great idea when they changed the name from FTU (Florida Technological University) to UCF (in 1978),\u201d Dyer said.<\/p>\n
The mayor then paused before adding, \u201cI still don\u2019t think it would be a bad idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a politician who\u2019s careful with his words, that\u2019s as close to an endorsement as you\u2019re going to get.<\/p>\n
Because deep down, Dyer knows the same thing I do: the city of Orlando and the university that fuels its future are already intertwined.<\/p>\n
The downtown campus, the \u201cHometown Team\u201d marketing, the growing tech corridor; it\u2019s all part of the same civic fabric.<\/p>\n
UCF is Orlando.<\/p>\n
So why not say it out loud?<\/p>\n
The pushback, of course, is predictable.<\/p>\n
Some fans will say the \u201cUCF\u201d brand is too established to change now. They\u2019ll point to years of marketing, the undefeated seasons, and the \u201cCharge On\u201d culture built around those three letters.<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s be real \u2014 in today\u2019s hyper-speed media world, brand recognition isn\u2019t a 50-year project anymore. It\u2019s a 50-day one. Just ask any TikTok or Instagram influencer who can build a social media empire between breakfast and lunch.<\/p>\n
Change the name, keep winning football games, and watch how quickly people adapt.<\/p>\n
If UCF rebranded tomorrow as the University of Orlando, the same alumni, fans, and donors would rally around it within weeks. ESPN would have a field day with it. Nike would sell out of \u201cOrlando Knights\u201d gear in an hour.<\/p>\n
The university wouldn\u2019t lose its identity; it would enhance it.<\/p>\n
Because \u201cOrlando\u201d is a name that carries instant recognition, international appeal, and emotional energy. It\u2019s a name that would open doors \u2014 for students, alumni and, yes, football and basketball recruits.<\/p>\n
Orlando is aspirational, not directional.<\/p>\n
I realize that changing a university\u2019s name is no small thing. It takes vision, guts, and yes, probably a few years of bureaucratic wrangling.<\/p>\n
But the payoff would be enormous.<\/p>\n
Imagine \u201cOrlando University\u201d flashing across ESPN on a Saturday night. Imagine recruits taking visits and telling their friends, \u201cYeah, I\u2019m going to Orlando University.\u201d Imagine the admissions bump when high school seniors abroad see \u201cUniversity of Orlando\u201d on a study-abroad brochure.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just cosmetic; it\u2019s strategic.<\/p>\n
So go ahead and call this column my 20-year crusade. Call it repetitive. Call it obsessive.<\/p>\n
But the next time a national figure like Bill Belichick shrugs and calls UCF \u201cCentral,\u201d just remember \u2014 I told you so.<\/p>\n
And when the Board of Trustees finally gets the courage to make the leap, when that gleaming \u201cUniversity of Orlando\u201d signage finally goes up across campus, I\u2019ll be the guy standing out front with a sign that reads:<\/p>\n
WELCOME TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ORLANDO \u2014 IT\u2019S ABOUT TIME!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 I\u2019ve been writing this same column for 20 years now, and every so often, something…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2107,147,2106,2105,2104,139,141,140,2103],"class_list":["post-1474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-bill-belichick","tag-central-florida","tag-central-new-hampshire","tag-george-oleary","tag-mike-repole","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-university-of-central-florida"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}