December 7, 2024, is the date that the UCF Knights fans will remember for a long time. Back at that time, they were yet to make peace with the fact that Gus Malzahn gave up a $5 million offer and left the head coaching seat. That’s when UCF confirmed the hiring of Scott Frost to fill Malzahn’s place under a 5-year contract. 

Frost, by then, has become a familiar face for the Knights fans. After all, he coached the program from 2016 to 2017 and led a remarkable turnaround in his second year, guiding the Knights to a perfect 13-0 season. He went 19-7 in his two seasons before leaving to take over Nebraska, his alma mater, in 2018. Now that UCF has reunited with Scott, he has come back stronger, having another college football and NFL feather on his cap.

The 50-year-old coach joined the Los Angeles Rams’ coaching staff under Sean McVay in September 2024. Since his coaching career has taken twists and turns, people are curious about how it shaped his offensive scheme. This was taken up on the July 5 episode of the Sons of UCF podcast. The host questioned, “Did he give you any kind of indication as to where he’s grown offensively and maybe philosophically? What he’s picked up from either learning about his time in Nebraska or his time spending with Sean McVay and the Rams?” Under McVay, the Rams’ offensive scheme has flexibility in how they want to attack opposing defenses. As he took over the Rams in 2017, they went from 32nd in scoring to 1st in scoring overnight. 

In 2023, the Rams ranked as a top-10 offense in most categories. Plus, they ranked eighth in third-down conversions, fourth in red zone scoring rate, and eighth in points per offensive drive. Now, you know Frost learned from the best. On that note, analyst Bryan Fischer shared, “Sean is one of the bright offensive minds in all of football. I think everybody understands that. To be able to kind of soak up that, to have it rub off on you in any manner, is going to be huge, I think, for UCF. And I think he’s somebody that every playcaller kind of grabs things from all over. But I think philosophically, he’s still going to be somebody that wants to play fast, that does want to push the tempo, get those type of athletes that want to do that as well.” 

More than Frost’s NFL-influenced experience, the analyst is looking forward to a blended finished product. When Chip Kelly was filling his staff at Oregon back in 2009, he hired Frost for a position he had zero hands-on experience. That’s the wide receiver coach. Less than a decade later, that diversity of background and experience that initially intrigued Kelly has helped Frost emerge as the hottest coach in all of college football. The analyst shared, “Kind of blending some of those new run game concepts that what maybe he’s dusting off from his early days there with Chip Kelly, and to be able to kind of blend some old with the new. I think it’s going to make for a very interesting look not only this year for UCF, but I think in the next couple of years, as he kind of finds his groove once again as a play caller.”

Besides the Oregon chapter, he carries some Nebraska roots, too. He grew up in Nebraska and quarterbacked the Cornhuskers to a national title in 1997 under the guidance of legendary coach Tom Osborne. However, his coaching stint in Lincoln did not go well. In his five years, he never had a winning season and finished with a dismal 16-31 record — the worst for a Nebraska coach in 60 years. Now that he carries a mixed bag of experience and boards UCF, an analyst has already spotted red flags. 

Why Scott Frost’s return is already under the microscope

In an earlier episode of the Sons of UCF podcast, analyst Ari Temkin turned up as someone who did not buy into Frost’s Knights 2.0 chapter. He said, “With Scott Frost, we last saw him he was on the scene in Nebraska and was being fired in a pretty, not a great situation. So I know he has spent some time with Sean McVay and the Rams; he spent some time kind of around different programs and has taken a master’s degree, so to speak, and gotten a sense of what some of his blind spots [are]. But then he comes back, and I think he brings back some of the same coaches that he had previously. So I don’t know, just some of the things that have happened from the start of this that rubbed me the wrong way.” But what makes the analyst so doubtful about Frost’s new ride?

He is carrying his old acquaintances for the coaching roster. To name a few are former defensive line coach from his first tenure at UCF, Mike Dawson. He will hold the new title of Defensive Run Game Coordinator and Edge Coach. Dawson has been with Frost since his Nebraska stint in 2018. Then there is Sean Beckton. He is re-teaming with the head coach for his second stint as the Knights’ wide receiver coach in Orlando. However, this sense of familiarity is not going to serve any good to Frost. 

After all, there has been an eight-year gap. And now he has to fix the Knights, who wrapped up on a disappointing note last season, 4-8. Wait, there are some more troubles. Scott Frost will now have to make a fairly new roster to run the program. That’s because almost all the key starters are gone. So, Temkin raised an alarm, “I’m going to allow Frost some time here, a little bit of grace. Because he’s just taken over, but 40 new players on the roster. You expect that with a new coach coming in, and I just don’t know what we’re going off of from past successes beyond what he did at UCF, which was a lifetime ago.” A golden reunion or a gamble gone wrong? Frost’s UCF return raises eyebrows.