It's been a busy two months for Scott Frost.
Officially re-introduced December 8, there would be no honeymoon period to celebrate his return to UCF. Frost had to get right to work hiring a staff and rebuilding a dwindling roster via the transfer portal. January is then a big recruiting month, which helps set the groundwork on who to prioritize for the next year's recruiting class.
In a video posted Monday to UCF's social media, Voice of the Knights Marc Daniels sat down with Frost covering a multitude of topics. I suggest watching the video, but if you don't have 25 minutes to spare, here is a recap and noteworthy quotes:
To start off, Frost said he was tipped off about the possibility the UCF job could open.
"I heard it might open and that got my wheels spinning, I guess, before the job even opened," Frost said. "That was probably nice because it gave Ashley and I a chance to talk about the opportunity and what we would do if it happened."
He admitted that it's almost unbelievable the "stars aligned" and he had a chance to come back. Fittingly, Frost dropped a Robert Frost reference.
"Usually when roads diverge in yellow wood, right, you're never going to come back. It's unusual. I think it's awesome to have a chance to return. And I think the biggest compliment for UCF is how much we loved it and wanted to be back. And probably a big compliment for me is when you do things well in a place, then people want you back. It's probably not very often that you separate from a place and feelings are strong both ways that you get an opportunity to come back. So we're grateful."
FYI: Robert Frost's famous poem, 'The Road Not Taken,' opens with the line, 'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.'
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear;…
www.poetryfoundation.org
Marc asked about his emotions on the day of his return for the press conference. Frost said that day was a blur. He was "so tired" and "dead on his feet" as he had been continually working with the LA Rams through that Saturday, then he had to get up at 4 in the morning to fly to Phoenix to pick up is wife and then head to Orlando. They originally planned to bring the kids, but they were under the weather.
Frost called the Rams organization a "special place."
"I'm so grateful to that group of guys, particularly Sean (McVay) and Les Snead, for giving me an opportunity to just be a small part of it this year. And it really, more than anything for me, it got my mojo back. It reignited my passion for football after being out for a little bit.
"And kind of got me back on my feet. And I don't think I'd be attacking this the way that I am if I hadn't had that opportunity to kind of rejuvenate and get ready to go after something else."
In 2017, Frost became a first-time father late in the season. Now he returns to Orlando as a father of three. His perspective has changed.
"You know, one of my first messages to my team every year when we get ready for training camp is football is what we do and we all love it. I want our entire team to be passionate about it and work as hard as we possibly can. But I always remind them football is not life. And I think as a husband and a father with three kids now, you go home, that's a constant reminder that as important as we think it is all day, there's more important things in life than just a practice or a game.
"We're going to pour our heart and soul into it. But I think you come at it from a more powerful place when it's not the No. 1 thing in your life. You don't get eaten up and ride the wave of every high and every low when there's more solid things in your life."
In regards to his staff, it's not 100 percent complete as Frost said "there's still a couple pieces I'd like to bring on board."
Referencing his previous two head coaching opportunities, he said he was better prepared then to have a staff ready to go. He wasn't necessarily expecting to be a head coach at this point in time, so he took the job without a "fixed idea" on who some of those staff members would be.
"And I think in a lot of ways that's good," Frost said. "Coaching is like any other business. Sometimes you just hire the people you know. I didn't want to do that this time. I wanted to try to get the best that I could. And we ended up with some guys that I didn't know previously that I'm really excited to have on staff."
Frost gave an incredibly thoughtful answer when describing why he wanted to hire McKenzie Milton as quarterbacks coach.
"Obviously he meant a lot to this program and this city and this community and everybody knows him here. That's great. But I wouldn't have hired him if I didn't think he was going to be a really good coach.
"I got the opportunity to coach in a high school all-star game. McKenzie came out and coached with me. And I was honestly blown away by his level of commitment and knowledge and ability to communicate with young men. His passion for it.
"A lot of people that play think they want to get into coaching. And there's way fewer that are going to be good at it. McKenzie is going to be a superstar in this business. Just because of what he brings to the table and his ability to connect and reach young people and train them what to do out of a knowledge base.
"So I know a lot of people are excited to get the quarterback back. I'm excited about the young coach."
Marc called it the "business of college football," a reference to NIL, revshare and the transfer portal, elements that have drastically changed the sport since Frost last was a head coach.
"It's way different. I think if you ask any coach around the country and got an honest answer, nobody's really happy with the way that things are right now. If that's the game we have to play in, we have to try to do the best we can with it.
"I think it's wonderful that guys have an opportunity to get compensated for what they do and the work they put in. And the risk that they're putting their body under every day in practice and in games. I hope there ends up being some better guard rails and parameters around it that make it a little easier."
Frost said December was "wild" with the transfer portal, especially since they got started a bit late in the game. He complimented the staff, particularly Jeff Love, that really helped during the process.
In regards to roster development via high school and portal, Frost said you can have an idealistic view but then reality hit when he arrived and the roster was down to 50 players. They were forced to go heavy on the portal just to have players for spring ball. Over time, they'd like to build rosters more organically via high school.
Asked whether some things from 2017 still apply, Frost said they planned to bring back some of those lessons and buzzwords will return.
"Obviously, it's a completely different group of kids. That's quite a ways in the past now, but I think inspiring young men and coaching and motivating through inspiration instead of intimidation is how I want it done around here.
"We're going to try to have meetings and challenges for the guys and try to pour into them, not just as football players, but as young people, too. And I think when they see that we're along for the ride with them on that, I think it brings everybody closer together.
"I think our guys can already feel it, that they have a coaching staff that genuinely cares about them and wants to help them on and off the field."
UCF will play their third year in the Big 12 in 2025, which is obviously a big step up from Frost's first time here as a member of the American.
"I don't want to be a broken record, but I have a ton of respect for the Big 12. I was in the first two years of the Big 12, so I have a good, soft place in my heart for the conference in general.
"UCF shouldn't have to take a backseat to anybody now in-state or otherwise in recruiting because we're playing big boy football now. I really like the Big 12 Conference, having watched it from afar. I think it's arguably the most even league in the country. Again, without sounding like a broken record, I think you can make a case for any team in this league that if they did things the right way, they could win the league.
"I coached against several of the teams that used to be in the Pac-12, Utah, and coached against BYU, Arizona and Arizona State. You can make an argument that they could win the league, any of them. Obviously, played and coached against Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas and Oklahoma State. You can make arguments they could win it in Houston, Baylor, TCU, West Virginia, Cincinnati, UCF.
"There's no reason that any one of those teams – if I left anybody out, I apologize – there's no reason any one of those teams can't compete for this. You can make an argument that any of them could win it, and that makes for a fun brand of football."
When he first arrived here in 2016, Frost was among the wave of coaches known for running a high-tempo offense, "UCFast," but the game evolves.
"I think the ultra-fast-paced tempo was in vogue for a while. I think it's kind of out. I think teams are doing it a little different now. A lot of teams caught up, and then a lot of teams were doing that, and now it's kind of morphing a different direction. I still think there's a place for it. We've got to figure out the best formula that works here.
"One thing I know is the speed that we can get in Florida is going to help us on offense and defense. When we talk about complementary football, what that looks like for UCF in terms of what style of play we're going to employ on offense, defense, and on special teams."
The No. 1 advantage for UCF is its location.
"It's just incredible for me. I did about three weeks of recruiting we had in January, and I did it by car, and I drove myself. There's so much talent right around here, and we want to keep as many of those kids home as we can. Even in the portal, there's kids that have left Florida that I think would rather be playing closer to home and closer to family. That just gives us a great recruiting base and arguably the best recruiting base in the country to draw from.
"We're obviously going to go try to get the best kids we can at every position regardless of location or where they're from, but when you've got those kind of kids in your backyard, I think it gives you a big advantage."
Frost reflected a bit on his recollections of playing in the Bounce House.
"I just think it's a cool environment. I'm glad to see there's a waiting list for season tickets now. I think my first year here, I started delivering pizzas to people on campus in sorority houses. The AD then requested that I do that just to try to get more people in the stadium. We're way past that now, which is awesome.
"The growth that I see, I have a unique perspective having been here and left and coming back now seven or eight years later and just seeing how far UCF has come. I think we're just scratching the surface academically and from a resource standpoint, from an alumni-based standpoint. I have a lot of wild imagination about what UCF can become and seeing the progress that it's made in the last seven or eight years really points to where UCF can go."
Looking ahead to working with the football team and spring practice, there's always a lot of "teaching" in the first year, plus building relationships.
"This last week, getting around the players and being able to see them work in the weight room and having a few in-classroom meetings with them to start teaching them our terminology and language. That's the fun part of coaching. We have a long way to go. We're just getting started. The process has begun and I'm really happy with how far the kids have come so far."
If the current postseason format was in place in 2017, that UCF team would have been in the Playoff.
"Yeah, I would have liked a 12-team playoff in '17. I think it's great. I think it gives a lot of different schools something to play for. You never want to get involved in something if you don't have an opportunity to achieve at the ultimate level. I think this playoff system gives everybody an opportunity to dream of that. Now we've got to go to work and try to make that a reality someday."
Frost said he and his wife both loved their time in Orlando, which helped in the decision. The kids will remain in Arizona until the end of school in May, then will move down.
"I'm away from family more than I want to be right now, but we're both really looking forward to putting our feet down here and being able to bring our kids up in Orlando."
Marc brought up Frost's love of Wawa.
"In fact, I have to try to keep myself from stopping there every morning. There's two or three on the way from where I'm staying right now to campus. They've got ready-made sandwiches and drinks and everything you need in the morning."
Then it was trivia time. Frost nailed a sequence of obscure worldwide capital cities. Then a few TV/movie questions that he wasn't ready for.
Movies Frost always watches "if it's on" that include The Gladiator, Saving Private Ryan and Shawshank Redemption.
"But probably the one I've stopped and watched the most is Jaws. I just love the scene where he talks about being on the USS Indianapolis. I think that's some of the best cinema. Some of my favorite cinema ever."
He has a favorite Chicago Cubs shirt from his first time here that he's always going to keep.
Frost spoke more about his appreciation for Sean McVay and his time with the LA Rams.
Has he thought about Opening Knight?
"The experience here so far has been so neat because it's cool and it's new, but it's not new at the same time. Walking back into my office didn't feel strange to me. It felt like it had been 100 years and yesterday at the same time. I imagine I'll get the same feeling when I walk out of here that it's new, but at the same time I'm right back where I was and probably more comfortable than most things that are new in that situation."
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