Scott Frost: UCF has talent, but chemistry and leadership must emerge
Scott Frost knows he has talent. Now he’s looking for a team.
During Big 12 Media Day at The Star in Frisco, Texas, the UCF football coach was candid about the state of his roster, the challenge of developing team chemistry and the ongoing quarterback battle heading into fall camp.
“I’m confident about the level of talent on our football team,” Frost said. “It’s just unproven talent. We don’t have a lot of returning production, but we’ve got talent.”
It’s a common theme in the modern era of college football- massive roster turnover and new pieces still learning how to fit. Frost said UCF has 70 new players this season and likened the process of building team chemistry to the yearly resets seen in the NFL.
“Every year you’re going to have a brand new team because of the transfer portal and NIL,” Frost said. “You’ve got to build a new team. I hope we don’t have anywhere near (that much turnover) again. But next year’s team will be completely different.”
Frost said that makes sustained success difficult, even for established programs, and the focus must shift to short-term cohesion.
“You’ve got to select all the right guys and turn a collection of individuals into a team every single year with a new group of guys,” Frost said. “It’s going to be harder to have extended success, I think.”
The culture he’s trying to establish is still taking shape. He wants his players to fight through adversity and stay grounded in success, but says he won’t fully know what kind of team he has until they’re tested.
“I love the talent we have on our team,” Frost said. “It’s unproven and inexperienced, and the big question for me is how we’re going to respond. Are we gritty to fight through and get it done? Are we going to respond well when things aren’t going well, or are we going to fall apart? If things are going well, are we mature enough to keep working and stay on the right path?”
Frost was asked to compare the situation to his first season at UCF in 2016, where he inherited a team with more returning experience.
“We had Shaquill (Griffin), Drico (Johnson), (Jamiyus) Pittman, Wyatt Miller and some guys that have played football,” Frost said. “We just have fewer of those guys right now, and even the ones we have that have played, a lot of them came from another school, so it hasn’t come together yet.”
Frost: The sooner a QB emerges, the better
One of the most important pieces still to be determined is the starting quarterback. UCF has three primary contenders: Jacurri Brown, Cam Fancher and Tayven Jackson. While Frost praised the talent in the room, no clear leader has emerged yet.
“Any one of the three guys that I saw in spring, I would feel good about our chances going into games with,” Frost said. “Just the sooner we can figure it out, the better. But again, we’re not going to anoint anybody. Somebody’s got to go earn it, and they’re all three talented enough to be really good players.”
Asked if he had a timeline in mind, Frost didn’t offer a specific date, but said it will be obvious when it’s time to name the starter.
“I want to have accomplished it yesterday, but it isn’t clear yet,” Frost said. “The sooner one person steps up and takes it, I think the better for continuity, but I’m not going to force it to happen until it’s clear. It needs to be clear to the whole team too. When the whole team can see it and knows and there’s no controversy, then we can move forward.”
While the Knights still have questions to answer, Frost is hopeful that the pieces, and the mindset, will come together.
“We’ve got a collection of people that I think are talented enough to win,” he said. “If we come together as a football team and handle adversity and success well.”
