UCF’s Scott Frost
has a lot on his mind. There’s the Knights’ road game against SMU on Saturday, the team’s bowl bid chances and — oh, yes — his impending role as a new father.
Scott Frost has gotten pretty good at multi-tasking during his tenure as UCF’s head football coach.
In Year 1, he juggled moving cross country from Oregon to Florida, recruiting behind the 8-ball after landing the job on Dec. 1, 2015, and assembling a coaching staff all while preparing for a March wedding to his wife, Ashley.
In Year 2, Frost is chasing an access-bowl bid, preparing the No. 15 Knights to face improved SMU in Dallas during the Mustangs’ homecoming, and his wife is expecting their first child any day now. Baby Frost is due Wednesday.
Simply put, the man has a lot going on.
“I’m 42 years old, so I’m going to be an old dad, but I’m blessed that it’s coming. We’ll see how it works out. I hope she’s smart enough as a coach’s wife not to have it happen Friday or Saturday so we can go
try to get this win,” Frost joked. “But your first child being born is only going to happen to you once in your life and I definitely want to be there.”
Should Frost be unable to travel with the Knights to face the second-place team in the American Athletic Conference’s West Division, defensive coordinator Erik Chinander will lead the team from the sidelines with help from running backs coach Ryan Held.
And offensive coordinator Troy Walters will, of course, make the calls from the booth.
The week has the potential to be pretty special for Frost on the field and away from it. Aside from his impending fatherhood, the Knights are one of just five undefeated teams in the country right now along with Alabama, Georgia, Wisconsin and Miami.
And with the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season set to be released tonight, Frost and Co. get an opportunity to see what kind of elite postseason opportunities are within their reach.
hard to win seven games in a row and what these guys have accomplished up until this point, they deserve a lot of credit for it,” Frost said. “… But I think they have their sights set on bigger things.
“I went undefeated as a college senior [at Nebraska]. It’s damn near impossible. I don’t know how many teams have done it in the last 10 years, but I know these guys have their sights set on that. We can’t do it unless we beat a really good SMU team.”
UCF is coming off a record-setting 73-33 victory over FCS foe Austin Peay on Saturday, but coaches weren’t pleased with the players’ less-than-focused effort.
If the Knights want to avoid heartbreak in Texas, they can’t afford to get distracted about outside chatter — whether it’s national rankings or Frost’s name being circulated in connection with the recently vacated UF job.
“I do see [those rumors] on Twitter and I just keep strolling like it’s another post because I don’t believe it,” UCF defensive lineman Jamiyus Pittman said.
What Pittman and his fellow Knights players do believe is they have the chance to make an already special season a spectacular one if they remain mentally disciplined during their last four games.
“Our preparation that we put in throughout the week, that’s what gets us ready for the weekend,” said receiver Dredrick Snelson, who made SportsCenter’s Top 10 list with an impressive touch“It’s down catch against Austin Peay on Saturday.
“Our coaches preach on not getting too big-headed about the rankings or get beside ourselves because we’re still not done. We want a perfect season and we’re just gonna keep working for it.”