After a widely publicized and ultimately disastrous tenure at Nebraska, Scott Frost is making a notable return to college football, back at the University of Central Florida (UCF), where he previously found immense success. However, in his first public comments since his re-appointment, Frost has quickly moved to reframe his past struggles, attributing his failures in Lincoln to the «wrong job» rather than his own performance.
Frost, who was fired from Nebraska just three games into the 2022 season after compiling a dismal 16–31 record over four-plus years, was once hailed as a rising star following his undefeated 2017 season with UCF.
His subsequent stint with the Huskers, however, became a stark lesson in humility. Now, back on familiar ground at UCF, Frost appears to be relieving himself of the blame.
When questioned at Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday about lessons learned from his humbling time with the Huskers, Frost offered a pointed deflection. «Don’t take the wrong job,» Frost stated, as reported by The Athletic’s Chris Vannini. This remark suggests a clear shift of responsibility, with Frost implying the problem lay with the coaching position itself, not his execution of it.
This narrative conveniently sidesteps the severe collapse of the Nebraska program under his leadership, a period that marked the worst stretch for the Huskers in six decades. Under Frost, Nebraska astonishingly went 5–22 in one-score games, a statistic that critics frequently point to as a direct indictment of game management and preparation—areas squarely under a head coach’s purview.
Frost, however, framed his move to Nebraska as an unfortunate detour. «I said I wouldn’t leave [UCF] unless it was someplace you could win a national championship,» Frost told Vannini. «I got tugged in a direction to try to help my alma mater and didn’t really want to do it. It wasn’t a good move. I’m lucky to get back to a place where I was a lot happier.» This self-pitying explanation glosses over the substantial financial, administrative, and emotional backing he received from one of college football’s most passionate fan bases, with little to show for it in return.
Frost’s return to UCF comes after he told Sports Illustrated in June that he had no interest in college football, expecting to remain in the NFL after serving as a senior analyst with the Los Angeles Rams last season. However, following Gus Malzahn’s departure from UCF for a coordinator role at Florida State, Frost quickly embraced the reunion in Orlando.
Now, Frost faces the formidable challenge of rebuilding UCF’s program within the highly competitive Big 12 Conference, where past triumphs may hold little weight. Whether he can shed the baggage of his Nebraska tenure and prove he is more than a coach with unfulfilled promise remains a significant question for his second act.