ORLANDO — UCF head coach Scott Frost knows firsthand how brutal college football can be. And with several high-profile firings shaking up the sport this fall, he said Monday the profession is as unforgiving as ever.
Frost’s comments came a day after LSU dismissed Brian Kelly midway through his fourth season following a 49–25 loss to Texas A&M that effectively ended the Tigers’ playoff hopes. Kelly’s exit joins a growing list that includes James Franklin (Penn State), Billy Napier (Florida), Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State), Sam Pittman (Arkansas), DeShaun Foster (UCLA), Brent Pry (Virginia Tech), Trent Bray (Oregon State), Trent Dilfer (UAB) and Jay Norvell (Colorado State). According to Front Office Sports, the combined buyouts for those 10 coaches exceed $169 million.
“This is a tough business,” Frost said at his Monday press conference. “Maybe politics is tougher. Otherwise, there are very few jobs where that many people are watching and judging. I feel bad for those guys — I’ve been through it myself. A lot of them are good coaches who’ve won in other places. Sometimes things just don’t come together.”
Frost understands the grind well. Nebraska fired him three games into the 2022 season, paying him a $16.2 million buyout. After a year away, he spent 2023 with the Los Angeles Rams as a senior football analyst before returning to UCF last December following Gus Malzahn’s resignation.
Frost previously led the Knights to a 19–7 record from 2016–17, capped by a 13–0 season, a Peach Bowl win over Auburn, and a national Coach of the Year award. That success earned him the Nebraska job, where he once starred as quarterback.
Now in his second stint at UCF, Frost has the Knights sitting at 4–3 ahead of Saturday’s trip to Baylor — where Dave Aranda, another coach under pressure, faces growing scrutiny with a 35–34 record in six seasons. Baylor began the year with Big 12 title hopes but has slipped to 4–4 after back-to-back road defeats.
“It doesn’t make anyone a bad coach or a bad person,” Frost added. “Sometimes it just doesn’t work. But most of those guys will bounce back. That’s just how this business goes.”
