Scott Frost returns to scene of former glory as UCF football coach once again

After seven years away, Scott Frost is back as UCF’s coach, and he’s excited.

“We look like a completely different team than we did in January,” Frost said at Media Day in reference to his squad’s work in the weight room. “The culture of the team also feels better than it did four or five months ago.”

Frost went 19-7 in his two season as the Knights’ coach, and that included a 13-0 dream 2017 season that ended with a Peach Bowl win over Auburn.

Frost, a Nebraska native, parlayed his success at UCF into a homecoming as head coach of the his Cornhuskers.

However, in four-plus years at Nebraska, Frost went 10-25 in the Big Ten Conference and 0-14 against ranked teams. The Cornhuskers went to zero bowl games with Frost, and he was fired in September of 2022 following an embarrassing loss to Georgia Southern.

Now, three years later, Frost finally gets another shot at being a head coach, and it’s at UCF, where he put up the only undefeated season in program history.

This time, though, it figures to be tougher as UCF is coming off a 4-8 season.

In addition, the Knights are no longer in the American Athletic Conference. Now they are in the Big 12, where the Knights are just 5-13 in two years in the league.

Beyond that, the Knights return just four starters from last year, including only one on offense.

Several starters on offense left as transfers, including center Caden Kitler (Arkansas); guard Adrian Medley (Florida State); and tight end Randy Pittman Jr. (Florida State).

Perhaps the most significant loss for UCF was at running back, where RJ Harvey was drafted in the second round by the Broncos after rushing for 2,993 yards and 38 touchdowns during the past two years.

UCF’s biggest hope at the position is Jaden Nixon, who rushed for 921 yards, a 6.4 average and 12 TDs last year at Western Michigan.

At quarterback, there’s a competition between Indiana transfer Tayven Jackson; Florida Atlantic transfer Cam Fancher, a lefty; and former Hurricane Jacurri Brown.

Jackson is considered a slight favorite due to his leadership ability. Fancher has made 26 college starts, breaking camp as the starter for Marshall and FAU the past two years. And Brown is a dangerous runner who is working on his passing skills.

Wide receiver is considered a weak spot for UCF entering the season, but tight end Dylan Wade is solid, catching four TD passes in two years at Maryland. His career game came last year as he caught seven passes for 92 yards against Rutgers.

Right tackle Paul Rubelt, a mountain of a man at 6-10 and 330 pounds, is UCF’s only returning starter on the offensive line. He is a sixth-year senior who finally became a starter last season.

On defense, the Knights lost two starters as transfers: tackle Lee Hunter (Texas Tech) and linebacker Xe’Ree Alexander (Washington).

The Knights return three starters, and perhaps the top player on the unit is former Hurricanes defensive end Nyjalik Kelly, who had a team-high 5½ sacks for UCF last season.

UCF’s other defensive end is Malachi Lawrence, who had five sacks.

Transfers to watch on defense are linebacker Keili Lawson (143 career tackles at Virginia Tech) and safety Phillip Duncan (52 stops last year at FAU).

At kicker, James Madison transfer Noe Ruelas went 16 of 20 on field goals last year, with a long of 52 yards. In high school, he broke a Connecticut record with a 56-yarder.

“It’s kind of cool — it’s almost a completely new team,” Frost said. “There are not a lot of expectations.

“It’s not going to be easy in this league. Success for us will be progress.”