Everything UCF Coach Scott Frost said at the North Carolina Week Press Conference
UCF head coach Scott Frost addressed the media Monday as the Knights return from their bye week to prepare for a high-profile home matchup against North Carolina.
Frost spoke at length about the emotional week surrounding offensive line coach Shawn Clark’s medical emergency, affirming the team’s intent to honor him with their effort on the field. He also discussed quarterback Cam Fancher’s possible return from injury, Tayven Jackson’s improved preparation, and the challenges of facing a Belichick-led UNC defense.
Here’s everything he had to say:
Opening statement
“Just coming off bye week, got a big challenge ahead of us with North Carolina coming in. Guys got some down time. I think we needed that to recover.
“It’s been kind of a hard week around with things that happened off the field, but I think the guys are ready to get back to work today.”
On the status of OL coach Shawn Clark, who suffered a medical emergency last week, and who will coach the OL in his absence
“Yeah, there’s a lot to unpack there. You know, just an unfortunate medical event that happened with him, and I can’t say enough good about him. You know, you enjoy this sport, and you want to do it with people you like and care about, and there’s not very many guys I’ve ever been around that I’ve enjoyed being around as much as Coach Clark.
“Not just a great coach, but just a really good man. He’s doing okay. He’s in stable condition, and thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, Jonelle and the kids.
“We’re going to kind of move forward. We’re going to bring another guy in just to help. Alex Farah was his hand-picked assistant, Coach Clark’s assistant, and he’s been with us this whole time and knows the scheme and has a good rapport with the kids, and we’re going to try to bring a veteran guy in here to help him and help us as long as we need to have someone, hopefully, before Coach Clark’s return.
“It’s been hard on the staff and hard on the kids, particularly offensive linemen, but, you know, we need to fight for him.”
On his message to the offensive line
“To be honest, I haven’t had a meeting with just the o-line yet, and I probably will today. I spent some time at the hospital, and it was kind of a broken week with bye week anyway. You know, but life happens, and the best way we can show respect to him is go out and practice and play as hard as we can, and, you know, things like this put football into perspective.
“Football, we love it, and it’s what we do, and we spend a lot of time at it. There’s bigger things happening in life, and the best way we can honor Coach (Clark) is to go do the best we can.”
On balancing the emotions of Clark’s health situation while trying to prepare for a game
“We were going to be on the field three times last week. We ended up being on the field twice. We were going to have two really hard practices to try to get better at some fundamental basic things that I think we need to improve at, and kind of have a walkthrough for our next opponent. We got the two practices in. We just missed a walkthrough day because of what happened.
“The kids are in a good spot. You know, we worked them hard in camp, and they needed a little time off, so we just got to make sure we’re not rusty coming off a couple days off, and we get to work to try to earn it on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.”
On the status of QB Cam Fancher
“Cam’s cleared to practice. I don’t know how close he is to 100% yet.”
On what Fancher’s potential return means for starting quarterback
“We’ll figure that out as the week goes along.”
On UNC not being a trap game
“Well, it’s not a trap game. We’re going to have to earn everything we get this year. We haven’t done much yet. We’ve won two games, and this is our next challenge. But our guys are excited to get back out there and play. And, you know, for us to give ourselves a chance in this game, we got to have some really good practices the next few days.”
On Frost’s connections to UNC coach Bill Belichick, who was DC with the New York Jets during Frost’s first two seasons with the Jets in 1998-99
“Yeah, I was with Bill for two years. You know, I can’t say enough about how intelligent he is and how much football he knows. And that was before he went on a run as a head coach.
“So, a tremendous amount of respect for what he’s accomplished in the game.”
On the challenges of facing a Belichick defense
“Well, having played for him, he’s going to try to take away what you do best in every game. It’s going to look a little different in every game.
“And because of that, I think we need to be ready against multiple things and be ready to adjust during the game.”
On his memories of playing for Belichick
“Just how smart he was. It was a really good staff. You know, it was him and (Eric) Mangini and (Al) Groh and Romeo Crennel. And I don’t want to leave anyone out, but it was a really good defensive staff. And you can’t help but learn a lot when you’re around those type of guys.”
On the similarities between the NFL and college game
“I’d say NFL and college are more similar now than they’ve ever been. I think there’s some college things that have leaked up to the NFL and NFL things that have come down. And no play or defense or anything is a secret anymore because everybody sees it on a weekly basis. And that just means you have to do the basics and the fundamentals well.”
On whether there’s a different energy considering the opponent and spotlight of a national FOX game
“No, we’re not putting anything more into it than it’s just our next test. And I hope our kids see it that way. I think they do.
“I think they’re on a very similar trajectory to us. Anytime you have a new coach in this era right now, the way college football is, you know, you’re rebuilding completely. I watched one of their games. They said they had 70 new players. We have 69 new players. It takes a while to get all those players playing together and to the level of your expectations.
“And I think we’re on a similar path to them with similarly new players and new teams.”
On what it would mean for UCF to start 3-0
“It’s just another game for us. You know, we had two non-conference games to start and got a good battle in the first one. And found a way to get that one done.
“And, you know, got a big win in the second one against a team that we should have probably beat. Every game from here on out is going to be a battle. There’s good teams in our league. This is a team that’s going to continue getting better. So we got to go earn it every week.”
On what he was liked and what needs to improve after the first two games
“We’ve done a lot of good things at times, and it hasn’t been consistent enough. So more than anything, I want to see technique fundamentals and see it more consistently.”
On how the wide receivers have evolved over the first two games
“Yeah, the receivers, we’re a young group. You know, I got Speedy (Duane Thomas Jr.) back here (in the room). He played about as much as anybody on our team coming into the year. You can get guys ready to some degree, but you don’t really have experience. So you’ve played in some games, and I think every chance those guys get to go out there, they’re going to get a little bit better.”
On this game being the best evaluation of where UCF current is
“No, again, I’m not going to put any more on this week than I’m going to Kansas State the week after that or Kansas two weeks after that. You know, we’ve got to go out and earn this one, and our focus is primarily on this one.
“They’re going to be hungry and coming in here. I know our team’s hungry. It’s going to be a good game. We’re going to do our best to win that one, and then after that, we’ll look forward to the rest of it.”
On how QB Tayven Jackson has responded in the weeks since Cam Fancher went down with an injury, both in games and practices
“Yeah, there’s definitely been two improvements in my mind, just the grit and toughness that he’s played with since he got another chance, and his preparation last week was a lot better than I’d seen before.
“So he needs to keep doing those things, and just like everybody else on the team, I thought he made some really good plays last week. We missed on a couple things that we had a chance to hit, so just consistency overall, but that goes for everyone on our team.”
On UNC QB Gio Lopez
“You know, obviously, he’s a well-accomplished player. He can really throw it. He’s also slippery. He can make plays with his arm and his legs, and any time you play against somebody like that, it adds another level to what you have to defend. You know, just like us, I know they’re trying to get better every week.”
On how player leadership is important following a tough week with Clark’s medical issue
“Yeah, Myles (Montgomery) has been an unbelievable leader for us. We have other good leaders on the team. They’re learning to be leaders. I think in the meantime, the coaching staff has had to take that on quite a bit, but any time it comes from the locker room, it’s even stronger, and I think that’s getting better every week, too.”
On the overall health of the team
“Yeah, nothing really new to report as far as long-term injuries. We got some bruises and nicks like everybody else, but expecting everybody to be ready.”
On chemistry improving between QB Tayven Jackson and the wide receivers
“Absolutely, and I think that was inevitable regardless of who the quarterback is. It’s just overall improvement as we go. You have a young team. I think our potential for growth is better than some other teams that are more experienced, and they’re probably closer to what they can become, but it’s a race for us to catch those people, try to pass some people.
“With the talent we have, I know we can do it, but it’s got to be intentional, focus on growth and improvement every time we’re on the field.”
On what stands out about North Carolina defensively
“They show a lot of traits. They’re big. They’re physical. They’re multiple, you know, and they got really smart guys between (defensive coordinator) Steve (Belichick) and Bill and others running the show, so it’s going to be a challenge for us, and, you know, we’re looking forward to putting in the work starting today.”
On managing the snaps between running backs Myles Montgomery and Jaden Nixon
“Hopefully, we have the ball a lot, so we get a lot of chances to give it to them.”
On the injury status of safety Jayden Williams, who missed the NC A&T game after having thumb surgery
“Yeah, he’s going to be able to be ready to go. He’s probably going to have a small splint on his thumb, but nothing that will hinder him from playing the way he can play.”
On whether this game means more to him going head-to-head against Belichick
“No. You’ve been in this business long enough. I got a ton of respect for Bill, having spent a lot of time with him. Obviously, he’s won more at the next level than anybody in the history of the game as far as championships, but, again, this is a challenge for us. It’s this game. We’re going to focus on this. If we’re rising and conquering and trying to get better every single day, then one game doesn’t look any different than any other.”
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