As Knightro struts his stuff on the field Thursday night to kick off football season, you likely had no idea that the beloved mascot has a head coach — and he’s a data expert at UCF’s College of Medicine.
Michael Callahan, director of knowledge management, is responsible for every piece of medical education data at UCF. He’s also head mascot coach for UCF Athletics. He knows the role he coaches well. Callahan was Knightro from 2002-04, when he was an undergraduate student.
“IT and Knightro are similar roles if you think about it,” he says. “We’re both the support team. We do our part to help others do their best.”
Less than 100 students have been Knightro since UCF unveiled the yet unnamed golden knight mascot in 1994. UCF selects multiple Knightros for each school year to keep up with all the events across campus and the community where the mascot appears. Callahan manages the team for events, which include graduation, news and marketing events, donor meet-and-greets, student festivals, and even weddings and birthday parties.
Tryouts are held in the spring and because Knightro’s schedule is so packed in the fall. Callahan says he picks students from a variety of majors so they aren’t all in the same orientation, classes or lab schedules.
Training is both physical and for character development and even includes how to pen Knightro’s official signature. Callahan estimates that, similar to the athletes they cheer for, Knightros have 20 hours of physical training for every hour they perform.
“IT and Knightro are similar roles if you think about it. We’re both the support team. We do our part to help others do their best.” — Michael Callahan
Among the most challenging physical feats for Knightro, Callahan says is learning to stand atop cheerleaders’ shoulders in the classic UCF pyramid. (The key is to stand perfectly straight — like a broom stick. If you wobble like a pool noodle, he says, you fall, he says.)
“It’s like a trust fall,” he says, “The first time I did it, it was terrifying.”
In addition to handwriting, Knightro has a signature walk, run and poses.
“Knightro is Knightro,” Callahan says. “He’s the hero, the big man on campus. He’s the most recognized person at UCF. Knightro needs to stand the test of time, so consistency is key. If you had a picture taken with Knightro when you were a UCF student and then get another picture taken five years later at an event, it should look like the same Knightro.”
Callahan’s 20-year history with Knightro has forged many special memories. He remembers when Knightro’s costume was gold-glittered resin and weighed 50 pounds. Today it’s foam and much lighter at about 20 pounds.
As Knightro, Callahan performed at the Mascot Games in 2004, contributing to the more than $200,000 the event raised by then for New Hope for Kids, a child-based grief support group in Central Florida. To this day, he can recall the cheers as he danced onto the stage at a packed Amway Arena for the event.
When ESPN’s College Game Day came to UCF in 2018, Callahan had to dress broadcaster Lee Corso in the full Knightro costume in just 90 seconds during a commercial break. Dressing the mascot usually takes 10 to 15 minutes.
“We always say, ‘Practice makes perfect,’ ” Callahan says. “The week before the game, we must have had 1,000 practices for putting on that costume fast.”
Callahan earned a bachelor’s degree in management information systems and was a Burnett Honors Scholar. He also earned his MBA and doctoral degree in educational leadership at UCF. He began his career handling IT at the Burnett Honors College and moved to the College of Medicine in 2020.
He and his wife Lauren Callahan, a UCF elementary education alum, wrote a children’s book called Hello, Knightro, where readers follow the mascot around campus as he travels to the stadium for game day.
“You see the impact of Knightro in the way people react to him,” Callahan says, “the joy and excitement in kids’ faces. You see Knightro on buses and billboards and I think, ‘I am a piece of that.’ ”
The Callahans have three children. And one of their twins, 10-year-old Luke, says Dad must remain head mascot coach until the youngster gets to UCF because “I’m going to be Knightro too.”