UCF unbeaten, and Frost is in demand
ORLANDO – In his first days as the new athletics director at the University of Central Florida two years ago this month, Danny White embarked on a coaching search that focused on one particular type of candidate: those with backgrounds in an up-tempo, spreadbased style of play.
His vision for the Knights’ football program was influenced in no small part by TCU, which had nudged aside in-state powers in Texas and Texas A&M and earned a spot among the elite programs in the Big 12 Conference by being different, particularly with its offensive approach. TCU, like UCF, was an upstart in a state rich in talent and blue bloods. It was an interesting case study to consider.
“If they would’ve tried to do that running the same stuff Texas and Texas A&M were doing, I don’t know if that would’ve been nearly as effective,” White told USA TODAY Sports. “I think a big part of their (TCU) national trajectory is they got really good in football consistently, and the way that they did that was in a talent-rich state playing a little differently.”
White’s search led him to Scott Frost, then an assistant coach at Oregon wellschooled in Chip Kelly’s spread scheme, and results quickly followed. After reaching bowl eligibility in his debut, Frost and the Knights enter Saturday’s matchup with SMU at 7-0, the only unbeaten team left among the Group of Five conferences, and ranked No. 18 in the first College Football Playoff standings, again atop the Group of Five.
But the success has come at a cost. In short order — quicker than even the most optimistic expectations — UCF is faced with the possibility of losing its second-year head coach to a Power Five program: Nebraska was the first name to pop on the radar, because of Frost’s background, but Florida has since become a second realistic contender after Jim McElwain’s dismissal.
There might be another choice, Tennessee, should the Volunteers decide to end the Butch Jones era.
“I’m not going to be in a hurry to leave a good situation,” Frost said to USA TODAY. “One reason I took this job is that this place has a chance to I think maintain a level of competitiveness and excellence because of the advantages we have here.”
UCF, meanwhile, is doing what it can to keep the coaching staff intact. In the background of the greatest start in program history, White and the university are taking steps to maintain the status quo, hoping that increased salaries and new facilities will join Frost’s own track record of carefully weighing his future in keeping the second-year coach at least through the 2018 season.
Dating to Marcus Mariota’s final season at Oregon, when the Ducks reached the national championship game, Frost has been at or near the top of the mostwanted list for several job openings on the Group of Five level. That he waited for this current position speaks to some degree of foresight: UCF wasn’t only smack in the middle of some of the nation’s most fertile recruiting space but also coming off a winless season, handing Frost floor-level expectations heading into his debut.
“He’s just a level-headed guy. I don’t think he needs that big-school brand to feel like he’s doing important work and impacting the lives of young people,” White said of Frost. “And ultimately, long term, he can win at the very highest level and eventually win a national championship. You can do that right here. You’ve got the best recruiting base in America right in our backyard and a situation that’s growing really fast.”
The first step — and “the most pressing issue,” per White — is to increase the salary pool afforded Frost’s coaching staff, bringing that total in line with the Power Five level. Simultaneously, the university has embarked on a series of upgrades to its athletics facilities. The goal is to convince Frost that UCF is a destination, not a stopping point.
“I think he can be the Bobby Bowden of this place or the Steve Spurrier of this place,” White said. “We can be every bit as good as Florida or Florida State, we’re just younger. The state is plenty big enough to have more than two or three major, national brands.
“We’re confident that we’re going to build a heck of a football program, a nationally elite football program. I think he realizes the potential to do that. I know he does.”