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. This interview happened in 2015 when Scott Frost was first hired by UCF. (Zach Clark, Space Coast Daily)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Get ready UCF faithful! This isn’t the first time this has happened but former UCF Head Coach Scott Frost will return as the head coach for the UCF Knights.
Frost was most recently working as a Senior Football Analyst for the Los Angeles Rams after he spent five years as the Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach for five seasons (2018-2022).
Frost, 49, has been out of a head coaching job since 2022 when he was fired at Nebraska after going 16-31 in five seasons.
The former AP Coach of the Year in 2017 took UCF to new heights when he helped lead the Knights to an undefeated 13-0 season and capped it off with a Peach Bowl win over No. 7 Auburn, coached by then-head coach Gus Malzahn.
Frost spent only two seasons at UCF but he took over the Knights team in 2016 and finished 6-7 in his first season after UCF finished 0-12 in 2015, prior to his arrival.
He came to UCF after he was hired from Oregon where he was the offensive coordinator under head Mark Helfrich and a position coach during his tenure.
He joined the Oregon coaching staff in 2009 as their wide receivers coach, a couple years later he became the offensive coordinator for one of the most exciting offenses in college football. The fast paced, no huddle and hurry up offense was revolutionary by spreading out the defense and putting playmakers in space to make a play. The man who gave Scott his first chance at calling plays was head coach Mark Helfrich after Chip Kelly’s departure for an NFL head coaching gig with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013.
His success at developing top notch NFL talent is etched into his development of Heisman Trophy winner, Marcus Mariota, the second overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
As the quarterback at Nebraska, he led the Huskers to a 13-0 season and a national title in 1997. He then played five years in the NFL as a defensive back in a career that spanned 59 games.
It’s not all about the money for Frost. His journey to the top is a storied one.
Back in 1998, Scott Frost left Nebraska as a player after his senior year and was the first quarterback in school history to rush for more than 1,000 yards and pass for more than 1,000 yards in the same season.
He led the Huskers to a National Championship in 1998 with a victory over future NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning in the notorious Orange Bowl 42-17.
Frost led the Huskers to a National Championship in 1998 with a victory over future NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning in the notorious Orange Bowl 42-17. (DataOmaha Image)
Back in his home state, his parents, Larry and Carol Frost, were his coaches in small town Wood River, Nebraska, where his dad was the head coach and his mother coached the receivers and defensive ends during Scott’s years in high school.
“Dad moved around as a head coach in high school and went to a school (Wood River High School) when I started kindergarten, and he didn’t have enough assistants, so Mom coached the wide receivers and defensive ends for 30 years,” said Head Coach Scott Frost.
Frost comes from a family of winners. His dad played half-back for Nebraska from ’67-’69 (ranks 33rd all-time with 39 receptions in Nebraska history) and his mother was the first Nebraska female athlete to compete for the USA Olympic team, she won the gold medal at the 1967 PanAm Games in the discus and competed in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. His brother Steve, also graduated from Stanford in 1996.
In 1993, coming out of high school, Frost chose to play for Stanford out of high school over the home team Nebraska Cornhuskers. After serving as a backup QB at Stanford and with a couple starts under his belt in his second year, he transferred back to Nebraska in 1995 where he flourished in the spring game defeating the red squad 40-34, led by national champion QB’s Tommie Frazier and Brook Berringer.
In 1996, he took over the QB position at Nebraska and excelled by totaling for 1800+ yards and 22 total TD’s but Nebraska fell just short of 3-peat national championship after falling to Texas in the inaugural Big 12 title game. He followed the next season up by leading Nebraska to a perfect 13-0 season that claimed them the national championship and the schools third national championship in four years.
Frost was later drafted in the third round of the 1998 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. He went on to play six seasons in the NFL.
Scott Frost was a two-time national champion at the University of Nebraska, 1995, 1997
The Jets (1998-2000), Cleveland Browns (2001), Green Bay Packers (2001-2002) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2003).
Coaching runs in the DNA of the Frost household, on Wednesday, Scott Frost achieved that dream by accepting his first head coaching job at the University of Central Florida. After spending 13 years learning from some of the greatest minds in college football, Frost gets his chance at leading a team once again, this time from the headset.
UCF, went 0-12 last season and needs a lot of work to get to where they want to be, however Frost gives UCF a clean slate with his youthful knowledge and innovative perspective for a program that is ready to take the next step in the modern age of college football.
Scott Frost
“We are not going to go into any game thinking we are going to get beat around or lose. We are going to attack everyone. Sometimes it’s going to work, sometimes it won’t, but as we continue the process it’s going to work more and more. We are not going to kneel down to anyone, we will attack them,” said Frost in 2015 when he was hired.
Having coached and played under some of the greats in the game of football with names such as: Tom Osborne (NU), Bill Snyder (KSU), Frank Solich (NU), Chip Kelly (OR), Bill Belicheck, Bill Parcells, Jon Gruden and Bill Walsh, Frost knows what it takes to compete at the highest level and win.
“Scott Frost is very well prepared to be a head coach. He has experience on both sides of the ball both as a player and a coach,” said his former coach at Nebraska Tom Osborne.
Tom Osborne
“What he has accomplished at Oregon as offensive coordinator has been pretty remarkable, particularly this year with the injury to their quarterback. He has really distinguished himself in that regard.”
“I know there has been a tremendous amount of interest from schools trying to hire Scott the past couple years, and I think this will be a good fit. He’s a guy that is in pretty high demand and I think he will do an outstanding job,” said Osborne.
Scott Frost says that his coach at Nebraska, Tom Osborne, has played a big role in his pursuit as a coach.
“Playing for Coach Osborne at the University of Nebraska, he’s my hero in coaching,” said Frost.
Frost joined the Oregon coaching staff in 2009 as their wide receivers coach, a couple years later he became the offensive coordinator for one of the most exciting offenses in college football. The fast paced, no huddle and hurry up offense relies on spreading out the defense and putting playmakers in space to make a play. The man who gave Scott his first chance at calling plays was head coach Mark Helfrich after Chip Kelly’s departure for an NFL head coaching gig with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013.
His success at developing top notch NFL talent is etched into one of college football’s best modern day college football quarterbacks and Heisman Trophy winner last season, Marcus Mariota. The second overall pick in last year’s NFL Draft said players can not only expect a great coach in Frost, but a great teacher on and off the field.
Marcus Mariota
“Coach Frost has been a positive role model for me. I’m excited and glad that he has fulfilled a dream of becoming a head coach,” said Marcus Mariota, former QB for Coach Frost at Oregon, last year’s Heisman Trophy Winner and current NFL QB for Tennessee Titans.
“His lessons reach further than the football field and he will have an immediate impact on the lives of his new student-athletes.”
Former UCF Standout and current Jacksonville Jaguars QB Blake Bortles weighed in on the new hire.
Recruiting Florida kids and development will be the key for Frost’s success at UCF.
His message to the kids in Florida..
“If there is a kid out there that wants to be apart of a special offense, I want him to come here,” said Frost.
Recruiting pundits and an anonymous coach in the SEC is already taking notice.
Asked recruiters for feedback on how Scott Frost will do at #UCF on trail. Lot agree w/ this #SEC coach that said: “He is going to kill it.”
With only 6 commits in this years class, Scott will be looking to assemble his coaching staff and hitting the recruiting trail in Florida hard and quickly, in time for the February 3 National Signing Day deadline for high school athletes.
“We are looking for a few fast men to come in here and have fun playing ball. We are going to play the style of offense, if I was a high school kid in the state of Florida, we are going to get you the ball in space and run A LOT plays and have a lot of fun doing it,” said Frost, in a 1-on-1 interview with Space Coast Daily.
Coach Frost said the overwhelming support he has received is greatly appreciated, in fact he received over 200 texts just in the time he was being introduced on the stage as the new UCF head coach.
Mike Tomlin
He received a call from Mike Tomlin, the Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers Tuesday night. Tomlin offered his insight and advice to Frost about moving from the coordinator position to the head coaching position.
Tomlin, who served as the defensive coordinator at the Minnesota Vikings in 2006, was promoted to head coach in 2007 by the Pittsburg Steelers.
Another NFL head coach had great things to say about Frost, the man that brought him on-board the Oregon coaching staff as a wide receivers coach in 2009, Chip Kelly of the NFL Philadelphia Eagles.
Chip Kelly
“Scott is as intelligent of a coach as I have been around. He has all the traits you need to be successful. He’s motivated, smart and very detailed and organized in his work. He has great experience as a player and as a coach. He played quarterback at the college level and on defense as a safety in the NFL so he knows the game inside and out,” said Chip Kelly.
For the past three years, Frost has served as the Oregon offensive coordinator and now gets his chance to run a team his way, his style and attitude. A winner.
Mark Helfrich
“Scott is a bright, passionate and talented young coach … His background on both sides of the ball, the coaches he’s been exposed to and his high character offer further foundations for his success,” said Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich.
One thing is for certain, Frost knows what it takes to succeed at every level because he’s lived it, played in it and coached in it.
Vernon Adams, Oregon’s QB, was a highly touted FCS QB after his junior year at Eastern Washington. He transferred to Oregon his senior year this season and has become a prolific quarterback for Oregon this year. Frost played a big part in Adams’ success at Oregon. Adams reached 27 total TD’s and accumulated over 2,500 yards in his first, and last year at the FBS level. He rallied support for his QB coach and offensive coordinator.
