On the heels of his reintroduction at UCF, Scott Frost gave his first national interview Thursday to Dusty Dvoracek and Danny Kanell, co-hosts of 'Dusty and Danny in the Morning' on SiriusXM College Sports Radio.
Frost's first head coaching job was at UCF from 2016-17, his final season culminating in a perfect 13-0 finish and Peach Bowl victory. From there, Frost spent four-plus seasons as head coach at Nebraska and spent this past season with the LA Rams.
"I loved it here the first time I was here," Frost said. "I love the talent that's right around here and just the lifestyle. It's really important to win here, but it wasn't quite the meat grinder that some of these jobs are. I was out in LA with the Rams and helping out actually on special teams, just to kind of get back into coaching. That's such a first class outfit with Sean (McVay) and Les (Snead) and all the guys that I really wasn't intending to even look for a job. And then Gus (Malzahn) stepped away and this one opened, and the whole thing moved fast. This was just an opportunity I couldn't say no to."
Asked about his growth as a coach since his first stint at UCF, Frost said his experience with the Rams was particularly eye opening.
"You learn through highs and you learn through lows," Frost said. "If you think you know everything already then, then you're just stuck in the mud and not learning anything. You learn how to do things, how not to do things.
"Being out there with those guys in Los Angeles really opened to my eyes to some different ways to do things and different approaches. I've been growing since I got into this business and will continue to do so, but now I get to do it in a place where I really want to live. Orlando's beautiful, everybody wants to be here, and I can plant some roots and let my kids grow up in a good place where Disney is down the street."
December is an extremely hectic month in the college football calendar between high school signing day and transfer portal. It becomes an incredibly difficult situation when you're stepping into a new job and are tasked with hiring a staff. What is the first priority?
"I'm not even sure staff is the first thing anymore," Frost said. "I'm working on about three things at the same time. I had to evaluate our roster and make sure kids are staying and not leaving, doing what we could do there. And work on staff at the same time and get integrated.
"This is probably going to be the busiest time of year for coaches. The bad thing is we got a roster to rebuild here, but the good thing is we have a roster to rebuild. You don't have to do it through recruiting and developing in three years anymore. If you get the right players, you can come in and get the roster flipped quick. We got some really good pieces on this team, and some holes. So we got opportunities for kids. A lot of kids are calling us that want to be back in Florida and playing in a place like this."
Frost's first official hire was bringing back McKenzie Milton as quarterbacks coach.
"He is like an Orlando legend after what he did down here," Frost said. "The guy is just a football player and a baller and he's gonna be an elite coach. So I'm excited to give him his first opportunity to do that. I'll be working with the offense and be right there alongside him. I don't know if the fans would've been too happy with me down here if I hadn't gotten him back in Orlando."
UCF was in the American during Frost's first time around in Orlando. Now they're in the Power Four as a member of the Big 12.
"I've been watching from afar," Frost said. "When I was here the first time UCF was growing. Every time you look at this place, Orlando and UCF, about every four years later, it's a completely different place. The rise and ascension has been really amazing when you've kind of kept your pulse on UCF and where it was and what it's become.
"I have a guy that's been probably going to be on staff that played receiver here, Sean Beckton. And when he played here, this was a I-AA school and then they got to be a mid-major and then all of a sudden they're in the Big 12. There's not a lot of schools that have had the rapid rise in ascension like UCF has had. We're just still kind of in the beginning stages of that. You know, UCF graduates the most undergrads I think in the whole country every year. And that alumni base is growing, the fan support is growing, in a beautiful city with a beautiful campus. So the growth potential here is huge. And I think we're honestly just on an early stage of that."
The team predicted to finish last in the Big 12, Arizona State, just won the conference championship.
"That's one of the things that's attractive to me is I think (the Big 12 is) the most equitable and fair league that's out there," Frost said. "This isn't a league where there's three teams at the top that nobody else is ever gonna beat. Kenny (Dillingham) did an unbelievable job this year. I have a ton of respect for places that I've coached against, Kansas State, Iowa State, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State. You can make an argument that anybody in this league, if they put things together, has a chance to win the league. And that's fun ball to me.
"Obviously we got a challenge ahead of us to make sure that we're one of the teams competing for that. But, it's the type of ball that I like to coach. I already knew that Orlando and the type of players we can get here fit us and our scheme really well."
The other big news of this coaching carousel cycle is North Carolina's hire of former New England Patriots GM and head coach Bill Belichick. UCF hosts UNC in week four next season.
"I'm surprised that he wants to do it," Frost said. "I played for Bill for two years, my first two years with the Jets. I was on the team when he was the head coach all of a sudden for about 48 hours and then left to go to the Patriots. So I haven't talked to him in a long time, but obviously he is the best coach in NFL history. I got a history with him too, going all the way back to 1998, 1999."
Although it's only been two years, a lot has changed in college football since the last time Frost was a head coach between the portal, NIL and upcoming player revenue share.
"They need to figure it out and they're trying to figure it out," Frost said. "I think if you talk to any college coach that's being honest, this isn't sustainable the way it is right now. It's just an interesting landscape. You gotta be on your toes and figuring it out and solving problems and making sure you got enough resources to get the kids what they want, to stay, to come. It's wild now.
"Being in the NFL, there was none of this. You just show up and coach ball. There's a lot more to that now. And going back to Coach Belichick, I hope somebody puts a camera in his office and they can show everybody what happens the first time a kid comes in and asks for more money. I'd love to see that video and see how he handles that."
Frost elaborated on the absurdity of the current setup.
"Picture the NFL, your good players on your roster and there's free agency twice a year and they don't have a contract that keeps them there," Frost said. "I mean, that's really what it's become. We're in an attractive place, which really helps us. I'm happy that kids are making this. I don't know how you feel, but back when we played, Danny (Kanell), shoot, I was lucky if I got a parking token to park in the garage on campus for free, so I didn't get a ticket. Now kids are able to be compensated for what they do and putting their bodies at risk.
"But it's just wild with the rules and regulations we have now. I mean, kids are crazy if they don't explore options to try to take care of themselves. But man, all it takes is one agent or school to call and one person can set the price. Then you get asked for prices that I don't know are real because people are elevated and escalating it to try to get more. It's kind of a fun process, but man, it's wild."
Is the transfer portal changing how coaches coach, always cognizant that being too "tough" or "hurting a player's feelings" may spur them to leave?
"I think that's probably real, to be honest," Frost said. "There's two ways to motivate kids. You motivate through inspiration or you motivate through intimidation. I'd rather have kids that do the right thing because it's the right thing to do rather than because they're gonna get yelled at by the head coach. That being said, we're gonna coach our guys hard. We're gonna be disciplined and make kids do the right thing. If you have kids that don't want to do that, then you're probably better off without them anyway.
"So, we're certainly gonna be good to kids and develop great relationships. I want this to be a big family where the players love the coaches and the coaches love the players. But we're gonna make them do the right things as well. The real guys, you know this, the real guys, they want to be pushed and held accountable."
