Four Thoughts on Scott Frost’s Return to UCF -

In a somewhat surprising development, Scott Frost was named head coach at the University of Central Florida over the weekend. As most Husker fans know, it will be his second stint at UCF. After laying low since being fired by Nebraska in 2022, Frost is back on the major college football scene in a big way. Here are four thoughts on his return to Orlando.

When it Comes to Frost, It’s Complicated for Nebraska Fans. Over the summer, we did a series on the Common Fan Podcast called The Reckoning, looking back at every coach of the post-Osborne era and trying to assess what went wrong for Nebraska football since TO’s retirement. Our episode on Frost, titled How in the World Did Scott Frost Not Work at Nebraska, is our most viewed and most downloaded episode ever. The multitude of comments we received in reaction to that episode indicate there is a lot of anger among the fan base about how the Frost era turned out.

I’m genuinely happy that Frost will get another shot at being a head coach. It will never not be shocking to me that his tenure at Nebraska went so poorly. Yes, there were rumors about personal and professional shortcomings, lack of attention to detail, being late to meetings, lack of commitment to recruiting, all sorts of things. Most of us will never know the extent to which any of that stuff was or wasn’t true. But I do believe he desperately wanted to make it work at Nebraska. He wanted to do it for his father, for Tom Osborne, for the entire state. Did the weight of the job become too much for him? Quite possibly. Ultimately, he owns his record and any mistakes he might have made at Nebraska. There’s no hiding from that. But for me, he’ll always be a Husker legend as a player, and that counts for a lot. My sense is, most Husker fans are happy that he’ll get a shot at redemption, even if they’re still a bit salty about how his time in Lincoln played out. Hopefully he learned from his failed stint at Nebraska, and hopefully he finds both success and peace in his second go-round at Central Florida.

Now, if he leads the Knights to the playoffs in the very weak Big 12 before Nebraska makes the CFP, that will severely test any good will Husker fans might be feeling…

Impressive Bounce Back. In case you’ve forgotten, Frost was fired three games into the 2022 season. He stayed out of coaching during the rest of the 2022 and the 2023 seasons, and spent this year on staff with the Los Angeles Rams. Often, it takes some time for fired coaches to work their way back up into the ranks of another top job at a power conference program. It wouldn’t have been surprising to see Frost get an offensive coordinator job somewhere, or maybe even to take a head coaching job at a lower tier program. Or, after the stint with the Rams this season, you had to wonder if he might try to rebuild his career in the NFL. To land back at Central Florida is pretty impressive. Unlike the last time he was at UCF (when they were in the American Athletic Conference), the school is now a member of the Big 12. So not only did he land another head coaching job, it’s an upgrade to boot! It seems there’s still quite a bit of affection for Frost after his first stint in Orlando, which included a magical 13-0 run in 2017. One would have to guess his plan is to stay for the long haul this time around.

Better Chances for Success? Let’s face it: at the moment, the Big 12 is fourth out of four among the power conferences when it comes to football. That’s not to disrespect Arizona State, Iowa State, Kansas State, or Colorado, but the top of the conference isn’t exactly on par with the other three. That’s not a bad thing for Frost. His offense will likely work better in the Big 12, where defense and tackling seem to be optional for some teams. He’ll be surrounded by speed and talent in the state of Florida and the broader region, where he already knows the lay of the land from his first time at UCF. There are a lot of reasons to believe he can once again find success in Orlando in a way that he never did in Lincoln.

What Will the Staff Look Like? It will be interesting to watch as Frost builds his staff of assistant coaches. He was loyal to the end to friend and defensive coordinator Erik Chinander, possibly to a fault. Chinander has had a successful run as playoff-bound Boise State’s defensive coordinator this season. Would Frost want his old buddy back on staff with him at UCF? With their playoff credentials and impending move to the PAC 12, would Chinander even entertain the move?

Others that come to mind include Ryan Held, who was on his staff at UCF and Nebraska and now leads the program at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. There’s also Sean Beckton, a UCF hall of famer who was on staff at both places with Frost, and spent the 2024 season as an analyst with the Knights. And of course Husker legend Barrett Ruud got his start in coaching under Frost at UCF, coached linebackers at Nebraska, and is now the inside linebackers coach for the Atlanta Falcons. If Chinander stays in Boise, does Ruud get his first chance as a defensive coordinator?

It seems that some bridges were burned by the end of Frost’s tenure with the Huskers. I’ll be intrigued to see if any familiar names end up on his staff, or if he decides to make a clean start with an entirely new crew.