Welcome to UCF Knights on SI's countdown to kickoff!
In this series, we are going to introduce you to every single player on the 2026 UCF football roster so that you can know what to expect from them or even pinpoint the ones you want to follow throughout the coming season. We are going to go through the Knights' roster in reverse jersey-number order, with the day each player's entry is published corresponding to the number of days remaining until UCF's season-opener on Sep. 3 at 7 p.m. against Bethune-Cookman.
So, with 21 days to go, let's meet UCF kicker defensive back Ty Bartrum:
Position:Defensive Back
Class:Redshirt Senior
Height/Weight:6-foot-1 / 205 pounds
Hometown:Pomeroy, Ohio
High School:Spring Valley High School (West Virginia)
After playing his first four years of college football at Harvard, Ty Bartrum is finishing up his collegiate career with the Knights in Orlando.
Bartrum is the latest member of his family to play college football. His brother, Cody, played linebacker for Charlotte, and his other brother, Zach, was a wide receiver for Old Dominion. They are all the sons of Mike Bartrum, a tight end and long snapper who helped Marshall win their 1992 FCS National Championship before playing 13 seasons in the NFL. However, the elder Bartrum is going to be fairly busy in 2026 since he was named the head coach of the NAIA's Rio Grande RedStorm.
Following UCF's Aug. 12 practice, Bartrum said his father taught him "a bunch of things" about the long snapper position and that he could be the Knights' long snapper if they needed him to.
Bartrum served as Harvard's team captain in 2025, and by season's end he was named an FCS All-American Honorable Mention by the Associated Press and a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, which goes to the FCS National Defensive Player of the Year. He recorded 83 tackles, 27 of them solo, 0.5 tackles for loss, forced two fumbles, broke up three passes and an interception for the Crimson.
Considering defensive coordinator Alex Grinch's preference to "play the most guys that we possibly can" in the secondary, Bartrum is going to factor into the Knights' plans in some form. However, given the type of season he is coming off of at Harvard, it seems likely he could end up being quite a large factor.
With starters Demari Henderson and Braeden Marshall returning from last season's team, Bartrum's biggest competition for a starting job at safety is going to be a recovered Jayden Williams.
However, defensive back is not going to be Bartrum's only role in 2026. He is also set to be the PP, or Personal Protector, on special teams.
"We put Ty there for a reason," special teams coordinator Pete Alamar said following an April 7 practice session. "Guy's played a lot of football, a guy that's been a communicator as a defensive back, so it's pretty natural for him to stand in there and communicate. So, like that part about him, and that's just him now, learning our system and, you know, and being that authoritative figure."
Whether it's on defense or special teams, Bartrum is setting himself up to be one of the Knights' highest-impact non-offensive transfer additions this season.
Catch up on the rest of the list below:
No. 14 Alonza Barnett III and Kahmel Johnson
No. 15 Will Stone and Preston Hall
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/ucf as Meet The 2026 UCF Knights: Countdown To Kickoff - No. 21 Ty Bartrum .
