December 2024 is a timeline that the UCF Knights fans will be remembering for the longest time. They were yet to cope with Gus Malzahn’s departure, who gave up $5 million offer. The Knights did not procrastinate and hired Scott Frost as their new head coach, signing a 5-year contract worth $22 million. This came off as news of respite for many fans. Frost seems to be a familiar face in the Knights’ camp.
He had coached the program from 2016 to 2017. Frost is the one who led UCF to a perfect 13-0 season. However, he did not think twice before swapping the wagons and jumping to his alma mater, Nebraska, in 2018. The 50-year-old coach is reuniting with the program after an eight-year absence. What’s the college football world’s reaction to this? Kansas Jayhawks head coach Lance Leipold broke his silence.
On the July 25th episode of the Sons of UCF podcast, they came up with a compilation of coaches’ interviews at the Big 12 Media Days. They were hit with only one question: to share their thoughts on Frost’s grand return to UCF. Leipold was asked, “Coach, you got a couple of new coaches in the conference this year, including Scott Frost. What kind of learning curve do you think a guy like Scott Frost will have come back to the Big 12?” And one could note a sense of positivity in Leipold’s take. He shared, “I’ve known Scott since he stopped playing in the NFL and was back in Nebraska when I was working there with Frank Solage.”
Credit: Imago
The Jayhawks head coach continued, “He’s an outstanding coach. He’s been at the Power Five level. Was at UCF and an American. I’m sure there’s a little bit of getting up to speed, but I know, like Mike Dawson, one of his assistants with us last year, he’s got a reference of guys that I think he’s too good a football coach not to get themselves acclimated pretty quickly, and he’ll do a fine job.” Besides college football, Frost boosted his resume by joining the Los Angeles Rams’ coaching staff under Sean McVay in September 2024. So, Frost, in that case, has learned from the best.
After all, McVay was the one who helped the Rams’ offense from 32nd in scoring to 1st in scoring. Back in 2023, Los Angeles ranked as a top-10 offense in most categories. However, turns out that Frost will be more powerful being a blended product. Back in 2009, Chip Kelly hired Frost at Oregon as the wide receiver coach.
As in one of the earlier episodes of the Sons of UCF podcast, the host shared, “Kind of blending some of those new run game concepts that what maybe he’s dusting off from his early days there with Chip Kelly, and to be able to kind of blend some old with the new. I think it’s going to make for a very interesting look not only this year for UCF, but I think in the next couple of years, as he kind of finds his groove once again as a play caller.” Amidst racking up confidence from coaches, Frost has landed in the hot seat about a remark on his Nebraska chapter. Now, what did the Cornhuskers’ head coach, Matt Rhule, say about Frost?
Matt Rhule’s compassionate take on Scott Frost’s Nebraska fall
Frost grew up in Nebraska and later joined the Cornhuskers. He quarterbacked them to a national title in 1997 under the guidance of legendary coach Tom Osborne. So, when given a chance, he took up a coaching role at his alma mater. Unfortunately, his Lincoln chapter did not go well. During his five-year run, he never had a winning season and finished with a dismal 16-31 record. That was the worst for a coach in Nebraska’s history in 60 years. And guess what made Frost’s seat hotter?
A comment he made to sum up his Nebraska stint started to spread like wildfire. In an interview with The Athletic’s Chris Vannini, Frost shared, “Don’t take the wrong job.” And obviously it did not sit well with the 2017 Nebraska graduate J.B.Davis, who dished out a brutal jab for the now UCF head coach. The Cornhuskers alum wrote, “The person who needs some class and grace is Scott Frost. His inability to take responsibility for his failures and to put the blame back on everyone else is so unbecoming of someone in his position.” Well, he had his reasons, as under Frost, the program was awful in close games, losing 10 straight one-score decisions to close his tenure. But turns out that Rhule is much more compassionate towards Frost.
At the Big Ten Media Days, he said, “I’ve always been very empathetic of what he went through because this was his home. Like, if you guys fire me tomorrow, I’m just gonna go back to Cape May and sit on the beach and go back to where I’m from.” After all, Matt Rhule, too, had a rocky start at Lincoln with lingering problems like lagging NIL infrastructure and outdated facilities. He noted, “I will say this: This was not a good job when I got here.” Just like Scott Frost was fired from Nebraska, Rhule too was fired by the Carolina Panthers during his third season. Now, will Frost’s rise at UCF leave Nebraska out in the cold with regret?
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