UCF hiring Scott Frost a high-risk, high-reward proposition

'You can't go home again.'

You've heard that saying countless times in your life, but one football program is about to put it to the test.

The Central Florida Knights brought their head coaching search to a speedy end on Saturday night, announcing that former head coach Scott Frost would be returning to the program on a five-year contract.

Frost guided UCF to the best stretch of success in program history, helping to build the Knights into an AAC powerhouse, from going 0-12 in the final season under George O'Leary to an undefeated season in which they were banging on the door of the College Football Playoff in just two years. He then jumped at the chance to take the Nebraska job, where his efforts to rebuild the flagging Cornhuskers program didn't exactly go to plan.

The saying "you can't go home again" stems from the understanding that nothing stays the same, that the place you grew up, the place that shaped you, no longer exists in the same form that it was before. It also means that you aren't the same person you were before; your experiences have shaped and changed your perspective.

The same thing is true in college football, and it's especially true for UCF and Frost. The Knights are not the plucky, punchy underdog program taking swings at the world and trying to prove that they belong in the conversation with the big dogs.

No, as of 2023, UCF is one of the big dogs themselves. They're in the Power 4, courtesy of a Big 12 berth. And so far, that time hasn't gone well for them. In two years in the Big 12, the Knights have gone just 12-15, and just 5-13 in conference play. They've looked overmatched on the offensive and defensive lines, and have struggled to find an offensive identity under previous head coach Gus Malzahn.

Their NIL situation seems to be pretty stable, but it's clear that the Knights weren't fully prepared for life in the Big 12 when they joined.

But Frost isn't the same coach he was when he left Orlando, either. His tenure in Lincoln could generously be described as disappointing; the Huskers failed to win more than five games in any of his four seasons, and were sitting at just 1-2 when he was fired in 2022.

Further stripping the luster from Frost's tenure, the Knights didn't miss a step after he left, as Josh Heupel picked up the baton and led the Knights to back-to-back 10 win seasons, and has continued his path of success at Tennessee, leading many to wonder how much of a factor Frost really was in the Knights' ascension.

Making matters worse, there's precedent for coaches returning for a second stint, and, well, it's not pretty. Bobby Petrino returned to Louisville when the Cardinals joined the ACC, and failed to win more than nine games (during a largely Lamar Jackson-fueled run), and was fired in year five after going 2-8 to open the season.

Mack Brown returned to North Carolina in 2019; the former Texas coach continued a long tradition of Tar Heel underachievement, failing to win more than nine games in six years before being fired after a 6-6 campaign this year.

Maybe this will work; maybe Frost will find his recruiting legs with a fully functional NIL machine in Orlando and bring the Knights back to glory again. Maybe he was the missing ingredient in UCF's bid to be more nationally relevant. After all, he built them into a contender once, and it's clear that UCF think he's going to do it again.

But let's not delude ourselves into thinking this is the same man, or the same program that turned from doormat to title contender. Building a title contender in the modern Big 12 is a lot harder than building a plucky upstart demanding attention in the AAC. After all, as Frost found out when he headed back to where he starred in college, sometimes you really can't go ho

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