Scott Frost talks return to UCF, Big 12, transfer portal chaos and coaching influences
UCF head coach Scott Frost recently took part in his first Big 12 Media Day where he made the rounds with various outlets, including a lengthy sit-down with 365 Sports and the crew of David Smoak, Paul Catalina and Craig Smoak.
Leading off the interview, David Smoak called his return to UCF like a “sequel.”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Frost said. “Some sequels come out way later. I feel like it’s more like the last Indiana Jones movie. It took a while to get here, but it’s fun to be back.”
Paul Catalina likened it to Sean Connery returning to the James Bond franchise.
“That’s better than the last Indiana Jones movie,” Frost laughed. “Way better metaphor.”
Frost didn’t hesitate when asked how it feels to be back at UCF. It’s home.
“It feels, you know, like home,” he said. “I love going into work every day… “My wife and I love Orlando. We’re happy to be home.”
He said his time with the Los Angeles Rams “reignited” his passion for the game. He was inclined to stay in the NFL and didn’t thnk he wanted to return to college.
“UCF’s probably the only job I would have taken,” he said. “Because my wife and I loved Orlando, and I got so much love for the school and the people there that I wanted to go to try to help again.”
UCF is in a much different place than it was in 2017. No longer a Group of Five program fighting for relevance, the Knights are now members of the Big 12.
“The university is so new, and it’s growing so fast,” Frost said. “Our alumni base is growing. The university is growing. Our donor base is growing, and the potential for growth at UCF is so great that I’m excited to be on the ride,” he said. “I can’t wait to watch where UCF is several years down the road.”
UCF Quarterback Competition
The biggest question entering the preseason is who will start at quarterback – Frost was asked about the ongoing battle between Jacurri Brown, Cam Fancher and Tayven Jackson.
“There’s been a lot of years I’ve gone into a season without one quarterback as good as the three we have,” Frost said. “Any one of them, I would feel good about going into the year.
“We want that to reveal itself sooner rather than later so we can start developing some continuity and getting some reps for the right guy. If I knew right now, we’d already do that, but all three guys have shown enough that they deserve a shot, and I really don’t know who it’s going to be right now.”
With so much attention on Frost’s return and the quarterback battle, he was asked if there’s something else he wishes people talked more about.
“I think over time in this season, if things go well, there’ll be some different narratives,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of great kids. We’ve got a lot of talent.”
That’s been a common theme for Frost on the interview circuit – he’s continually said he loves the talent they’ve assembled.
“If we don’t succeed this year, I don’t think it’ll be because of talent,” he said. “It’ll be because we have 70 new players on our football team and trying to get a collection of individuals to work together as a team.”
He emphasized the importance of culture, attitude and cohesion.
“There’s a fine line between winning and losing, and sometimes that just comes down to culture, attitude, competitiveness, and how close-knit your team is,” Frost said. “And we’re working really hard to make sure that we take a group of people and turn them into a cohesive unit.”
Frost on the Big 12: “Anybody Can Win This League”
Frost brings some familiarity with the Big 12, both from his playing days at Nebraska and his time at Oregon, where he regularly faced former Pac-12 programs like Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah.
“It’s exciting,” Frost said. “I was part of the Big 12 as a player when it started. Being away and watching, the league’s fun to watch because there’s so much parity in this league.
“I’ve said this a few times today, but I think you can make an argument for any team in this league that if they put it together and have a great season, they could win this league, and that’s not the case in every league. I love the brand of football, high scoring, and there’s a lot of different styles in this league, which I think make it fun to watch.
“It’s exciting to be in a league where if we do everything right and our team comes together, we’re gonna have a chance, and that’s fun.”
Transfer Portal Madness
Frost didn’t shy away from describing just how chaotic the transfer portal made his offseason.
“There were days I was wishing I hadn’t even thought about doing this,” he said. “It was six in the morning until midnight and falling asleep with my phone in my hand for five weeks.”
With only 48 scholarship players on the roster when he arrived, Frost had to rebuild a roster nearly from scratch.
“You have to evaluate, negotiate, bring kids in, talk to people. You’re making deals, losing deals, getting kids, losing kids, not even sure who’s on your roster, who’s staying,” he said.
But there’s a silver lining.
“The positive thing is it doesn’t take three years of recruiting and developing anymore to flip a roster,” Frost said.
On NIL, Revshare and UCF’s Donor Base: “We’re in Puberty Right Now”
The portal isn’t the only challenge. NIL and the revshare model have created a chaotic and mostly unregulated environment, and Frost worries about the long-term impact.
“I’m so happy the players get compensated now because what they do is, it’s a lot,” Frost said. “They’re putting their health at risk. It’s just out of control, and there has to be some guardrails around it.
“I remember when this started and they said, this isn’t pay for play, this is NIL. Well, we went zooming by that really fast. A couple years ago, Ryan Day, who I have a lot of respect for, just coming off the National Championship, made a lot of news when he said we need 13 million a year to be competitive.
“Now we’re looking at teams spending 40 or 50 million, so I don’t know where it’s going to stop unless we can get a handle on it.”
Frost believes parity in college football depends on structure and a level playing field, something the NFL gets right.
“I was just in the NFL. It’s such a great game because everybody plays by the same rules and the games always come down to the last drive and makes it a competitive, exciting sport, and I hope that for college football at some point.
“College football is not a good place if the game turns into whoever has the richest boosters wins.”
UCF is still building in that area.
“We’re kind of in puberty right now,” Frost said of the school’s donor base. “We don’t have the support and resources that some other people do, but give us five or ten more years and we’ll be a heavy hitter.”
Lessons from Legends: From Osborne to McVay
Frost has played and coached in nearly every system imaginable, mentored by some of the greatest minds in football history.
He rattled off an all-star coaching tree: Playing for Bill Walsh at Stanford, Tom Osborne at Nebraska, Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick with the New York Jets, Monty Kiffin, Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, then coaching under Chip Kelly at Oregon and Sean McVay with the Rams.
“It’s been fun, man. As a guy that loves football, just being around those type of systems and people, I’ve learned a lot.”
In particular, Frost credits Osborne, Morris (now head coach of the Atlanta Falcons) and Tomlin (longtime head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers) as having the greatest influence on how he approaches the job.
“Coach Osborne, above all else, is just a good man,” he said. “Him and probably Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris had the most impact on me and how I like to approach things as a coach.”
Asked about the controversial decision by Nebraska to fire Frank Solich in the early 2000s, Frost didn’t hold back.
“Frank should have been the coach there a long time,” he said. “He was a great, great coach. He kept a lot of what it was alive. I got so much admiration for Frank.”
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