Scott Frost highlights ‘young’ UCF program compared to Big 12 competition
Scott Frost guided UCF to its first and only undefeated season in 2017 during just his second year as the Knights head coach. Now back in his second stint with the football program, he’s hoping to lead the Knights to success in the Big 12
While UCF football has enjoyed success during its history, the program only been around since 1979, and FBS since 1996. That’s young compared to some of the other teams in the conference. Despite this, the Knights have totaled six 10-win seasons in its 29 years of existence, and Frost will be tasked with maintaining that standard beginning this fall.
“UCF, in my opinion, it’s so young compared to most of the other schools in Power 4 leagues,” he said at Big 12 Media Days. “It certainly feels like home to me and feels comfortable, but it has grown since I’ve been here, and it’s amazing to see the changes.
“I think we’re just scratching the surface of what UCF can be as a university and athletic department. If we keep working hard to push it, I think UCF can become something even far greater than what it has become today.”
When Frost moved on to be the head coach at Nebraska following the 2017 season, he left the program in good hands. Josh Heupel, the current headman at Tennessee, led the Knights to consecutive 10-win seasons in 2018 and 2019.
UCF went 6-4 during the shortened COVID season in 2020. When Gus Malzahn took over a head coach in 2021, the Knights asserted themselves as a formidable foe in their final two years in the AAC.
Malzahn oversaw the program’s transition to the Big 12 ahead of the 2023 season, and ever since then the Knights haven’t enjoyed the same success they experienced from 2017-2022. However, Frost is confident that his program has the ability to turn their fortune around beginning this fall.
“The support of the people around Orlando and the alumni that that we have are certainly pushing us in a good direction,” he continued. “I’m really excited to be able to represent that group.”
Frost’s second tenure will begin against Jacksonville State during Week 1 this fall. While the Gamecocks have had two strong seasons at the Division I level, their former head coach Rich Rodriguez took the head job, like Frost, at a school he had previously led to great heights: West Virginia.
With changes surrounding the Jacksonville State program, it appears that UCF won’t face its first real challenge until Week 4 vs. North Carolina. Their Big 12 schedule will begin on the road against Kansas State the following week.
