ABOVE VIDEO:UCF head coach takes time with Space Coast Daily to discuss his coaching journey, influential people and lays down his pitch to athletes in Florida. (Zach Clark, Space Coast Daily)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA. (UCFKnights.com) – Two days after being announced as UCF football’s head coach, Scott Frost has named two assistant coaches to his staff with Colorado receivers coach Troy Walters and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College head coach Ryan Held joining the Knights on Friday.
Scott Frost
“My goal in hiring a staff is hiring people with great character,” Frost said.
“Both these guys have unbelievable character. They’re both very intelligent people. I’ve known both these guys for a long time. They’re smart, they’re football guys, they care about the student-athletes and they’re leaders. I believe both of them can be special additions to this program.”
Troy Walters
Troy Walters wrapped up his third season in 2015 as Colorado’s wide receivers coach, while he also served as the recruiting coordinator.
Troy Walters
In 2015, Walters mentored Nelson Spruce in ranking 12th in the nation in receptions per game after the regular season. Spruce completed his year with 84 catches for 942 yards, as the team had six different receivers collect at least 20 receptions.
Spruce earned All-Pac-12 Second Team honors in 2014 with a school-record 106 catches for 1,198 yards, and also notched the single-season touchdown reception record with 12.
In Walters’ first year, he helped guide Paul Richardson into becoming a 2013 All-Pac-12 First Team honoree due to setting a then-school record 83 catches, as well as ranking No. 1 with the Buffaloes with 1,343 yards. Richardson was the first wide receiver at Colorado to earn first-team all-conference accolades since 1997.
In just one year at NC State in 2012, Walters made a statement by leading receivers Tobais Palmer, Quintin Payton and Bryan Underwood to combine for 149 catches for 2,199 yards and 18 touchdowns. All three posted at least 44 catches and 620 yards.
Walters worked two campaigns as Texas A&M’s receivers coach. In 2010, Ryan Swope and Jeff Fuller both set the school record for single-season receptions with 72, and Fuller set the program mark for yards with 1,066. Swope then broke those records with 89 catches and 1,207 yards.
Walters got his start in the coaching field as the offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and receivers coach in 2009.
During his career, Walters has coached in the 2011 Cotton Bowl, 2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl and the 2012 Music City Bowl.
As a player, Walters attended Stanford where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1999 and a master’s degree in sociology (organizational behavior) in 2000. He received Academic All-America honors while being named to the All-Pac-10 Academic Team twice.
From 1996-99, Walters set Stanford records with 244 receptions, 3,986 yards and 19 100-yard games. He also ranked first in single-season marks with 86 catches in 1997 and 1,456 yards in 1999, while posting the single-game record with 278 yards against UCLA in 1999. His 26 career touchdowns stand as the second-most in school history.
Two days after being announced as UCF football’s head coach, Scott Frost has named two assistant coaches to his staff with Colorado receivers coach Troy Walters and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College head coach Ryan Held joining the Knights on Friday. (UCFKnights.com Image)
He went on to be selected in the fifth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by Minnesota, where he played with the Vikings from 2000-01. Walters then suited up for Indianapolis (2002-05), Arizona (2006) and Detroit (2007). He played in 98 games, pulling in 98 catches for 1,135 yards and nine touchdowns. Walters also recorded 117 kickoff returns for 2,594 yards and 139 punt returns for 1,241 yards. He reached the NFL playoffs in all four seasons he was with the Colts.
Walters was a consensus All-American, Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and the Biletnikoff Award winner for being the nation’s best wide receiver in 1999. Stanford won its first Pac-10 title since 1971 that year and earned a spot in the Rose Bowl that season.
Walters was born in Bloomington, Ind., and his father, Trent, was a coach with the Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals as well as Indiana, Louisville, Washington and Notre Dame. He is married to the former Josephine Jackson, and they have two children, Tate and Faith.
Ryan Held
An experienced college head coach at the NCAA Division II and junior college ranks, Ryan Held travels to Orlando after he was most recently the head coach from 2014-15 at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College. In his second season, 22 Norsemen earned All-Southwest Junior College Football Conference honors.
Ryan Held
Prior to his stint in Oklahoma, Held was the head coach at Highland Community College during the 2012-13 seasons. That 2013 campaign witnessed Highland reach the playoffs for the first time in the modern era.
Held was the offensive coordinator at Butler Community College in 2011, helping to guide the Grizzlies to an 11-1 record and a top-five national ranking. Their offense ranked second overall as well as No. 1 in the conference with a 513.7 yards-per-game average.
From 2005-08, Held worked as the head coach for Southwestern Oklahoma State. The NCAA D-II member was at the bottom of the Lone Star Conference until Held eventually won the North title in 2006 and 2007, and he was named the division’s coach of the year in 2006. That year, the Bulldogs were voted as one of the Top 10 Most Improved Teams in America.
Held’s first trip in D-II was as the head coach for Oklahoma Panhandle State from 2002-04. The Aggies had back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 20 years, and they also were named one of the most improved programs in the country.
In 2001, Held received his first full-time coaching gig as he was named the head coach for the NAIA’s Peru State Bobcats in Nebraska where he was the youngest head football coach at the time in the country. Peru State finished second in its league and won the Wheat Bowl vs. Baker University.
A native of Kansas City, Mo., Held was a defensive graduate assistant at Tennessee from 1998-99, highlighted by the Volunteers winning the national title in 1998.
Held (1993-96) was a college teammate of Frost (1995-97) at Nebraska. With Held on the roster as a receiver and quarterback, the Cornhuskers won two national titles and three conference championships, while they won it again in 1997 when he was an undergraduate assistant coach.
Held received his bachelor’s degree in community health from Nebraska in 1998, and his master’s degree in sport management from Tennessee in 2001. He’s married to the former Katie Herbst, and they have a daughter, Rhyan.
Coaching Experience
1997 – Nebraska – Undergraduate Assistant Coach
1998-99 – Tennessee – Defensive Graduate Assistant
2001 – Peru State (Neb.) College – Head Coach
2002-04 – Oklahoma Panhandle State – Head Coach
2005-08 – Southwestern Oklahoma State – Head Coach
2011 – Butler (Kan.) Community College – Offensive Coordinator
2012-13 – Highland (Kan.) Community College – Head Coach
2014-15 – Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College – Head Coach
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