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Family. Love.<\/p>\n
If there are two words that describe the 2017 UCF football team, those two words come to the forefront all the time. Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander mentioned it in Saturday’s press conference leading up to the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl game at 12:30 p.m. Monday against Auburn, stating that credit for the team’s turnaround from 0-12 in 2015 to 12-0 in 2017 was largely about relationships.<\/p>\n
“(The team) needed a little love from the coaches to the players, from the players to the players, from the players to the coaches,” Chinander said. “And it didn’t take long.”<\/p>\n
Chinander needn’t look any further than the middle of his defense for the proof of that familial love. Senior inside linebacker Chequan Burkett has felt that family bond — that love — in a couple different ways over the last year.<\/p>\n
After graduating and with a young family back home, Burkett made what head coach Scott Frost called a “grown man decision.” Burkett was injured after the 2016 season. He had a young family at home. So, he decided to retire from football, begin a career and work to support and raise his family.<\/p>\n
But he missed his other family \u2013 his team. He missed his other love \u2013 football.<\/p>\n
“During my time away from football, me and my wife had a discussion that you have this skill, you have this talent,” Burkett said. “Just make the best of it. I had one more year, one more season of eligibility. We had a long talk. It was hard for her to see my go away for another six months. It’s hard for any long-distance relationship, plus having kids involved made it even tougher.<\/p>\n
“That drove me for this entire season to play my hardest each and every game,” Burkett added. “I definitely had a reason, a why I was playing football. My family was my why.”<\/p>\n