FRISCO, Texas — Scott Frost admits he never attended a Big 12 Football Media Days when he was a player at Nebraska, but he’s enjoying his first time as UCF‘s head coach.
“I really like this league, and I was excited to get into the league,” Frost said. “There are a bunch of good guys in this league, from a head coaching perspective, that I respect. This is way more relaxed than other ones [media days] I’ve done. There’s just a lot of things about the Big 12 that I’m a fan of.”
Frost, 50, looked at ease while making his way around the hustle and bustle of Tuesday’s media event at The Star.
Eight years ago, Frost led the UCF program to incredible heights with a perfect season in 2017 before leaving to take his dream job at Nebraska. Unfortunately, things soured with the Huskers, and he was out of college football by 2022.
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That is, until six months ago, when he returned to the Knights, eager to prove himself once again. Since then, things have progressed at breakneck speed, with the hiring of a new coaching staff and rebuilding of a roster decimated by the transfer portal following the departure of coach Gus Malzahn.
“I’m comfortable around the team now,” Frost told the Sentinel. “I won’t be really comfortable until we get some games under our belt, and I know exactly what we have and what we need to do to keep improving.”
As the upcoming football season approaches, UCF finds itself in a position filled with uncertainty, leading to low expectations from those outside the program. The Knights are not viewed as serious contenders for the Big 12 title, let alone as a top-tier team in the league.
That’s just fine with Frost.
“I love it. I like being the underdog. I like people not expecting much out of us,” Frost said. “It’s going to give us some fuel and motivation for what I think we can accomplish.”
If Frost needs any additional motivation, he needs only to point his players in the direction of last season’s Big 12 champions.
Arizona State was selected to finish last in the league in the preseason poll released during media days in Las Vegas in 2024. The Sun Devils went on to win the conference championship, earning a spot in the College Football Playoff.
The players, meanwhile, aren’t concerned about any of the offseason projections for the Knights.
“Our expectations are playing hard, winning games and competing,” senior defensive end Nyjalik Kelly said. “We just want to take it one week at a time. We believe in each other. We believe in the coaches, and we believe in the culture.”
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Redshirt senior offensive lineman Paul Rubelt added: “We expect to win, and I think we have a good chance at doing so. I like the team chemistry. I like the guys that we have. We have a lot of talent, but in the end, we’ve got to do it on the field. We’ve got to prove it. It’s not impossible.”
When Frost took over at UCF in 2016, he inherited a squad coming off a winless season. He quickly rebuilt the culture surrounding the program, establishing a family chemistry among the Knights.
Rebuilding the chemistry on a squad that features 60-plus newcomers will be a challenge.
“We have to put a lot of emphasis on that, and spend a lot of time on it, making sure that we’re not just a collection of individuals that don’t play together,” Frost explained. “Teams like that don’t win very much, and it’s not as much fun when you’re not part of something bigger than yourself. We’re going to continue investing a lot of time in that, and hopefully, we can come together as a team for a shared experience.”
That message has certainly carried over into offseason player activities.
“It’s people I haven’t known for probably a month, who just go here in the summer, that I’m very close with now,” Kelly said. “We’ve only known each other for two or three weeks. Everybody’s close on the offense and defense. We’re very close. We hang out, go to the bowling alley, and go out to eat. Everybody is just together.”
Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.
