Scott Frost is back in college football for a second stint as head coach at UCF, agreeing to a five-year contract through the 2029 season. The former Nebraska head coach spent time the past two years both away from football and as a coaching consultant with the Los Angeles Rams before deciding to return to the Knights in Orlando. After an unsuccessful tenure at his alma mater Nebraska, where he posted a 16-31 record from 2018 to 2022 before being fired, Frost is eager to prove he can succeed again at a program he once helped elevate to national prominence.
«Being out of coaching for a while was tough on me, because I love it,» Frost said Sunday during his introductory press conference. «I think when you are a competitor you want to be in the arena fighting. It would have taken a special arena to get me to say yes and to come to start to fight again.
I know what I’m capable of and I know what we can get done here. UCF can become great if we do things the right way. Yeah, there’s a little bit of me that wants to prove the type of coach that I think I am. I’m gonna get a chance to do that in a special place.»
The landscape around UCF is significantly different from when Frost thrived with the Knights during a two-year run in 2016 and 2017. Now a Big 12 member, UCF competes in a power conference, and Frost still has something to prove while navigating the modern recruiting world. UCF achieved an unbeaten 13-0 record in the 2017 season, which included an American Athletic Conference title and a Peach Bowl win against Auburn, before Frost took the job at Nebraska.
Frost lost his first six games as head coach of the Huskers, a sign of the struggles that would define his nearly five-year stint in a return to his home state. Frost admitted Sunday that it was hard for him to leave UCF after the 2017 season, but believes the potential of the program has only grown since then, making his comeback an opportunity to finish what he started.
«It was emotional,» Frost said about his decision to leave. «When you’re climbing the ladder of success in life, sometimes they forget to tell you to stop when you’re happy. That being said, there was a lot of pressure. The biggest thing for me is my dad wasn’t doing well. I got to spend time with him. My wife and I were lucky enough to have two daughters born at the next place I went. You know, you have good times and bad times everywhere. In this game, sometimes you get it done and sometimes you don’t.
«We did the right things here about pushing the right buttons and got it done. I think we can do that again, in fact, I know we can do that if we do the right things. UCF is unique to me in the country because it’s still in its infancy. It might be a toddler now, when I came before maybe it was in its infancy. Most schools in the country when you look at the landscape of college football are kinda pegged where they are. And generally speaking that’s where they’re going to be. I always thought from the first time I came until now that the potential for growth and status in college football is bigger here than it is other places. I’m excited to take the challenge to get it there.»