Scott Frost proved to be a great hire for UCF once, and the Knights are hoping he can lead them to national prominence again. The 49-year-old has emerged as the main target for the UCF head coaching vacancy, a source briefed on the search told The Athletic Saturday.
Frost, who took over a UCF program that went 0-12 in 2015 and went 13-0 two years later, would walk into a situation much different from the one he left to take the Nebraska job. The Knights are now a Big 12 team, not an American Athletic Conference member. When Frost left Orlando to go home and take over his alma mater, he was the hottest name in college coaching. What was hailed as a home-run hire for the Huskers fizzled in Lincoln, as Frost never led Nebraska to a bowl in his five seasons, going 16-31 overall and 10-26 in Big Ten play. Frost has spent this fall on the staff of the Los Angeles Rams.
Frost worked as an assistant at Oregon before taking over the Knights, walking into an interesting challenge replacing a hard-edged veteran coach in George O’Leary. The players at UCF were talented but had been worn down by O’Leary’s ways. Frost, much more of a player’s coach, was able to pump life back into the locker room, and his faster-paced style meshed quickly with a lot of the speed he inherited on the roster.
UCF went 6-7 in his first year before its undefeated run to the Peach Bowl in 2017, capped by a win against Auburn that led to the Knights claiming a national championship.
UCF has a 5-13 conference record (10-15 overall) in its first two seasons after jumping to the Big 12 from the American Athletic Conference. The Knights needed a head coach after Gus Malzahn stepped down last week to become the offensive coordinator at Florida State; he and Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell worked together as offensive staffers at Tulsa. Malzahn went 28-24 in four seasons with the Knights.
The Orlando Sentinel first reported that Frost had become the target of UCF’s search.
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