Scott Frost officially returned to UCF as their head coach on Sunday, making the move about seven years after leaving for Nebraska. The Cornhuskers were supposed to be Frost’s dream job, but in retrospect, he sounded like he had some second thoughts about making that jump.
Frost offered up a fairly telling quote about that move when addressing the media on Sunday. The coach made clear that there were important upsides that came from leaving UCF for Nebraska, but that he ultimately might have been better off staying put.
“When you’re climbing the ladder of success in life, sometimes they forget to tell you to stop when you’re happy,” Frost said. “That being said, there was a lot of pressure. The biggest thing for me is, my dad wasn’t doing well, and I got to spend time with him. My wife and I were lucky enough to have two daughters born at the next place I went. You have good times and bad times everywhere, and in this game, sometimes you get it done, and sometimes you don’t.”
Full Introductory Press Conference
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Frost went 24-2 as Nebraska’s quarterback in 1996 and 1997, and he won a share of the national championship in his final season. When the Nebraska job opened up in 2017, he was coming off a 13-0 campaign with UCF, and was the obvious choice to take over at his alma mater. He openly coveted the position at the time, and it was not at all surprising when he took it. The move did not work out professionally, as he went just 16-31 with the Cornhuskers and was fired three games into his fifth season.
Clearly, Frost was comfortable in his first stint at UCF, but left it to chase his dream job. It is fair to question whether he will be able to replicate his success at UCF in his second stint there, but he appears genuinely thrilled to be back.
