Frost has a big rebuild on his hands at UCF in 2025, with nearly 70 new players on the Knights' roster.
Editor’s note: Fourteenth in a series previewing each team in the Big 12 in 2025.
The storyline for UCF’s 2025 football season is a fairly simple one.
A coach uniquely named Scott Frost returns to Orlando where he put together an undefeated season with the UCF Knights in hopes of bringing some heat back to a lackluster program.
“We flipped the roster, made a lot of changes,” Frost said at Big 12 football media days earlier this month. “We have a lot of talent, it is just that we don’t have a lot of returning production or experience, and it is going to be a challenge for us to see how fast we can take that collection of individuals and turn them into a team. It is going to be a fun ride.”
Again?
That’s certainly an apt description of Frost’s first stint at UCF, and before he became the head coach at his alma mater, Nebraska.
The Knights went 7-6 in 2016, Frost’s first season at the school, and then rocked the college football establishment in 2017 by going 13-0 and proclaiming themselves as the national champions that year. They even hung a national championship banner at their stadium in Orlando.
The question now becomes: Can Frost do it again?
He cautioned in Frisco, Texas, that it won’t be nearly as easy as it was eight years ago, mainly due to the fact that the Knights are now in a Power Four conference, the Big 12, and will have no cupcakes on the schedule after opening against Jacksonville State and North Carolina A&T.
UCF went 4-8 last year, 2-7 in conference play, and coach Gus Malzahn resigned at the end of the season to become the offensive coordinator at Florida State. He was 28-24 overall at UCF.
So there’s some work to be done, Frost acknowledged.
“I think that will be an even bigger mountain to climb (than in 2016-17) because of the level of football that’s played in this league,” Frost said. “I loved being in the American (Athletic Conference) back then, but it wasn’t the same level of teams that we’re going to be facing now.”
On the flip side, Frost mentioned that the Orlando area is deep with football talent, and now that he can recruit players to a power conference league, he can get some of the best ones who otherwise would head off to Miami, FSU or Florida.
“The parity in this league, the different types of styles in this league, the high-scoring brand of football that they play, I think it makes for an exciting product,” he said. “There are so many good schools in this league, and great guys coaching them. You can make an argument that any team in this league, if they do things right, can win this league.”
When Frost arrived eight months ago, the program had only 48 scholarship players, as Malzahn’s departure triggered a mass exodus. Frost said on July 9 that there are nearly 70 new players on the roster.
“We have a lot of work to do to make sure we get to know each other and take a collection of individuals and turn them into a cohesive unit,” he said.
He does have some talent to work with, including running back Myles Montgomery, offensive lineman Paul Rubelt, defensive end Nyjalik Kelly and linebacker Keli Lawson.
For the most part, though, the Knights won’t look anything like the team that lost 37-24 to BYU — it wasn’t that close — or 28-14 to Utah on Senior Night.
There’s a quarterback battle brewing, as Tayven Jackson, Cam Fincher and Jacurri Brown engage in the derby to be the opening game starter.
“He’s a smart guy, and he understands how to motivate his players. And then you look at his staff that he put together, I think he put a really dynamic staff together. … Scott’s gonna do an amazing job there. Just hope he doesn’t do it against us.”
BYU coach Kalani Sitake on UCF coach Scott Frost
Defensively, the Knights lost mammoth defensive tackle Lee Hunter to the big NIL bucks at Texas Tech. The 6-foot-4, 320-pounder will be tough to replace, although UCF really wasn’t that good defensively last year. Cornerback Isaiah Reed and edge rusher Sincere Edwards are players to watch on that side of the ball.
The Knights travel to BYU for the Cougars’ Senior Night on Nov. 29, where it will likely be freezing in Provo for the squad accustomed to the heat and humidity of central Florida. But BYU coach Kalani Sitake said he knows Frost well and believes the game will have a lot of postseason ramifications.
“Scott Frost has got a brilliant mind when it comes to football, too. So I think that he’s in a comfortable setting now, something that he’s familiar with,” Sitake said. “I think he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.
“He’s a smart guy, and he understands how to motivate his players. And then you look at his staff that he put together, I think he put a really dynamic staff together. … Scott’s gonna do an amazing job there. Just hope he doesn’t do it against us.”
UCF Knights 2025 preview
2024 record: 4-8 (2-7 Big 12)
Utah ties:
• Long snapper Dalton Riggs played at BYU
2025 schedule
- Aug. 28 — vs. Jacksonville State
- Sept. 6 — vs. North Carolina A&T
- Sept. 13 — Open
- Sept. 20 — vs. North Carolina
- Sept. 27 — at Kansas State
- Oct. 4 — vs. Kansas
- Oct. 11 — at Cincinnati
- Oct. 18 — vs. West Virginia
- Oct. 25 — Open
- Nov. 1 — at Baylor
- Nov. 7— vs. Houston
- Nov. 15 — at Texas Tech
- Nov. 22 — vs. Oklahoma State
- Nov. 29 — at BYU
Category: General Sports
