BIG 12 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS

July 7, 2026

Scott Frost

Ford Center at The Star

UCF Knights

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Now joining us on stage UCF Head Coach Scott Frost. Coach, we'll start with your opening statement.

SCOTT FROST: Yeah, excited to be here to represent UCF again. Love being back in Orlando. I want to thank Brett and Scott and everybody at the Big 12 for putting on such a good event in a place where one of our own, Malachi Lawrence, will be playing next year, so we're excited for him to be here.

We got a really fun team to be around right now represented by four great guys that joined us on the trip. Really proud of who they are as football players and as people, and I think they're kind of a testament to how far our program has come in a year's time.

Excited to represent the Knights here and look forward to questions.

Q. When you came back to the program last year, you came back late in the process, December. No recruiting and had to jump back in from being outside of college football. Now, some would argue that last year was year zero and not year one. As you've had a full cycle now to adjust, do you see that change reflected in what you expect for this year?

SCOTT FROST: Yeah, I'm jealous of guys like Eric that got to take their job this year. Last year was tough, because right when coaches were getting hired, the portal was open. When I showed up on campus, the portal was wide open. Our own players that I didn't even know yet were trying to decide what to do. I didn't have a staff, so people were getting -- going on visits and getting signed and deals were being made, and I didn't even have a recruiting department really.

We were way more prepared this year. We were able to keep and retain the right guys and bring in some other really good ones around them. I don't know where it will lead from a wins and losses standpoint, but I'm certainly a lot more confident in this team than I was a year ago.

Q. I just want to know, since your return, what is the rebuilding process looking like right now?

SCOTT FROST: What does a rebuilding process look like?

Q. Is the team where you envisioned it?

SCOTT FROST: I think it's going to be a yearly process every year. I heard Willie talk about it. That's just where college football is now.

You're going to try to keep as many pieces consistent as you can and recruit as many and keep them in your program as you can, but every year is going to be a new team. So we're going to have to go through this process to some degree every year.

I'm really happy with where our team is right now. I think we're better at almost every single position on our football team, and I know that attitude and character of our players and this overall team are better. It's a fun group to be around. I love going into work and working with these guys every day.

I think we've done some good work, and most of that is because of the people in the building with me.

Q. I know we've talked about your dad being a high school football coach in the state of Texas. Talk about recruiting outside the state of Florida, in particular in the state of Texas, and what intrigues you about these athletes in particular here?

SCOTT FROST: I went through second through fifth grade in Palestine in east Texas near Tyler. You know where it is. Dad had a really special player in Ivory Lee Brown. That was like my hero. Ivory was Adrian Peterson's uncle, I believe. It was a great experience for me to be down here.

I certainly know the type of talent that exists in Florida and the type of talent that exists in Texas. Recruiting is different now. I think more than ever kids are willing to go anywhere. It's hard to cast your net so wide that you look under every rock and every corner for players, but we're going to be willing to go anywhere in the country, including Texas, to get players.

I know Orlando is a really awesome place, and kids are going to want to be there, so I think we will have success when we do venture out of the state.

Q. You've often mentioned about the special (indiscernible) team that you had. It was player-led. The players held the standard. They knew what to do in practice, when they were going through adversity, how to handle it. Given now the continuity that you have, how do you feel like the players are holding that standard going back to the player-led team that you have, and what does that standard look like for you?

SCOTT FROST: When you talk about standards, there's a certain level of things, a certain way things need to be done in the building. If coaches have to police that all the time, you don't have a great team.

I remember year one at UCF my first time around, and I would come off the field sweaty and not having my voice at the end of practice every practice. Year two, man, if something went wrong, McKenzie fixed it or Wyatt Miller fixed it or one of the players fixed it. It was a lot easier to be a head coach.

I kind of get that same feeling now. The standards and expectations that the players have for each other is a lot higher than it was a year ago. We have the capability of making it higher because of the type of kid that we have in the program right now. That's fun to be around.

I don't know what that will lead to, but it's certainly moving in the right direction.

Q. I just wanted to ask you about Alonza Barnett and what do you think his impact can be for you this season at quarterback?

SCOTT FROST: Well, we're excited to have a guy. We went in last season with a three-horse race at quarterback. It's going to be nice and refreshing to have a guy that everybody looks to and knows that he's the guy. Alonza has played a lot of football games. He's won a lot of football games. He's a competitor, a guy that I've been really impressed with his presence on the field and in the huddle.

He's in charge, and I think the guys can see that. He has a ton of respect from our guys, and he's the clear leader on offense right now like Lew Carter is the clear leader on defense for us.

We didn't really have that a year ago either, the vocal guy out in front. I think guys like that are going to give us a little bit easier path to hopefully some success.

Q. My question was just really what's the biggest lessons you've learned as a head coach that you couldn't have learned any other way?

SCOTT FROST: That's a good question. You know, every time you get a new job, there's going to be challenges you don't expect. I remember going from a linebacker coach to receiver coach and had to figure it out, and receiver coach to OC quarterback coach and had to figure it out, and then to head coach, and you've got to figure that out.

Even as a head coach, you know, every year is going to be different. Every place is different. You've got to try to solve the riddle and put the Rubik's Cube together in each place.

Particularly now in college football, rules are changing so fast, and there are so many new dynamics to it. You have got to stay light on your feet and be willing to adapt. I think you can't just stick to the same things all the time and be stubbornly committed to what you've done before because everything is changing too rapidly.

Q. My question for you today is what are your (audio interruption) for you and your team this upcoming season?

SCOTT FROST: Strengths and weaknesses? Oh, let's see. I love our depth and our overall talent compared to last year. I'm just fired up to work with this team.

I think every team's weakness right now is, you know, you've got a bunch of guys that are new to the team, and that's going to be the case every year, and get familiar with each other and knowing each other and building something that's bigger than any one greater kid and having everybody fight for that. That's hard to build. And it's hard to build back in the day when you had four years with kids. It's even harder now when you have some kids for one year.

Just like every coach that's sat up here has said, you've got to be really intentional with that. I do feel really good about it.

Q. You were able to retain I think 10 out of your 12 assistant coaches. Talk about what a nice thing that is for you.

SCOTT FROST: Anytime you're in year one, the players are all learning a new scheme and new ways to do things, but so is the coaching staff. Continuity helps. Obviously I want to talk about Shawn Clark, who we lost last year. What an unbelievable person and friend and father and husband. We had to replace Shawn and a corners coach; otherwise, our entire staff is back together.

That just helps so much, because everybody understands the direction we're trying to move and our process for trying to get there. That kind of continuity and understanding of the process can get passed along to the kids a lot faster. It just seems to go a lot smoother when you can retain coaches.

Thank you, guys.