Second to none

A timeout at the 7:59 mark in the first half of a college basketball typically goes by without much fanfare, save for your occasional baby race or find the hidden ball game on the jumbotron. But for the UCF Knights, that very moment at the most recent basketball game against Houston signaled something more important than an update on the 50/50 raffle.

While watching the video above and countless others on social media, I couldn’t help but be struck with a sense of nostalgia and, maybe more important, an appreciation for second chances. A new opportunity to chase an old dream. And in the case of Knights Head Football Coach Scott Frost, a chance to prove he can lead a college football program to success again. Now, it’s totally fair to approach this second act with a healthy amount of skepticism, and it’s also fair to point out that a celebration might be premature as the Frost 2.0 era hasn’t even played a down of football, but it was hard to miss that even Nebraska fans were struck by this moment.

In my recent interview with Mitch Sherman from The Athletic, it was clear that Frost had several missteps during his time in Lincoln. Chief among them, according to Sherman, was his guardedness:

“Scott came in and he was very guarded… I saw some of that guardedness and just the way that his personality worked in that setting where the spotlight was on him and everybody wanted a piece of him, and it’s never really been something that he was super comfortable with.”

Second chances often come with periods of reflection and introspection, and in the case of Coach Frost, the interaction on Saturday just might serve as the avatar for his rebirth into coaching and being the face of a program. The smile, the scruffy beard, the hat pulled low towards his eyes all feel very familiar to UCF fans and somewhat foreign to the folks back in Lincoln.

Sherman offered this perspective: “He didn’t do much out with the people. He definitely did support the other sports... but I don’t recall him sitting in the middle of the crowd like that. He was more likely to sit in a suite.”

So far, the only thing that has been sweet is the beginning of the redemption arc of Scott Frost 2.0. It started with the opening press conference, the accumulation of a familial coaching staff, and now the man of the people public appearance. When you think about it from a logical standpoint, there are likely things in all of our lives where we would want a mulligan. The fact that Coach Frost has that opportunity in front of him and that we all get to go along for the ride has the potential to be special. But it will only work if we get authentic Frost, or as Sherman described him, UCF Scott:

“People who were around him at both places would say like, well there was the UCF Scott, who was like this cool guy who seemed like kind of carefree and at times he just let it all flow”

If Saturday’s appearance is any indication, then maybe Frost can challenge the old proverb by author Thomas Wolfe, who famously said you can’t go home again, which defined means, if you try to return to a place from your past, it won't be the same as it was.

Who knows, maybe it could be better.

Welcome back Scott.

The title sponsor of The Sons of UCF is the law firm of Werner, Hoffman, Greig, and Garcia. With a combined 90 years of legal experience, UCF Alum Michael Hoffman and his firm are a trusted source for all of Knight Nation. Check them out now

That’s the way the ball bounces

The UCF Men’s basketball program put together another solid week of results (including a win over Arizona State and a quality loss vs Houston), which has them squarely in the conversation for the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi:

Before anybody gets too excited, there is A LOT of season left, and we are going to need to see more performances like we saw against Arizona State if this team wants to stay in the conversation.

Check out the week that was for UCF Basketball, brought to you by the Sons of UCF:

It’s that time again! No, not the Brian W Peterson mailbag, but the Peterson Accounting Super Bowl: Tax Season. If you need tax services, give them a call before time runs out:

Meet the interns

Say hello to Caitlin Russo, a print/digital journalism student at UCF and an aspiring sports writer. Caitlin will be interning with the Sons this semester with a heavy focus on writing for SonsofUCF.com. She was a club sports beat reporter in the Fall 2023 and a football beat reporter in the Fall 2024 for The Charge News. She is also a huge football fan and (unfortunately) roots for the New York Giants.

Her first written piece will drop on The Sons website on Tuesday, January 21st. Be sure to bookmark the site and check back to read her debut article.

Be sure to never miss out on any Sons content by subscribing to our podcast feed or YouTube channel. Click this link to find your favorite player or be taken directly to our YouTube page. Whilst there, go ahead and leave a comment or a review; we always love a good 5 stars.

The Best of the rest

As always, it was another busy week in the Sons universe, here is what you might have missed:

Christian Simmons and Bailey Adams get you up to speed on the latest with UCF Football’s transfer portal additions on The Pegasus Podcast:

Eric Lopez and Trace Trylko look ahead to the spring practice storylines for UCF Football on an all new Around The Kingdom:

Dwayne Jones was on-hand as UCF officially introduced new volleyball head coach Matt Botsford:

Trace Trylko was joined by Bailey Adams for a new Sons of UCF LIVE, featuring interviews with former UCF WR Dredrick Snelson and UCF Basketball analyst Ben Hazel. Click HERE to watch

If you need to get your footballs in proper shape for the spring, look no further than Florida Football Prep. Their unique preparation process will make sure you have the most playable footballs around

Today I learned

The gauntlet of a Big 12 schedule has UCF next facing Iowa State on Tuesday night in Ames, Iowa. The Cyclones are coming off of an upset loss at the hands of West Virginia, which caused them to drop in the latest AP Poll from #2 to #3. Besides the fact that Iowa State is a good team that will be tough to beat at home, there is another matter of significance for UCF.

According to College Basketball Reference, UCF has never played a team ranked #2 in the nation in regular season play since joining the TAAC (Trans America Athletic Conference, now known as the ASUN) in 1992. UCF has twice played the #1 team in the nation - 2008 against Memphis and 2023 against Houston - and they have played the #3 team in the nation numerous times, including last year against Kansas.

While the Knights may have avoided playing against #2, let’s hope they don’t play like #2 on Tuesday night

Interested in advertising with the Sons of UCF? Contact us at [email protected] and this space, and many others, could be yours.

Cow of the week

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but this week brought forth another situation that gnaws at the emerging fabric of college athletics. In short, Wisconsin cornerback Xavier Lucas announced his intention to enter the transfer portal, reportedly to transfer to the University of Miami (FL). All of this seems standard operating procedure these days, but this one hit a snag when Wisconsin refused to actually put his name in the portal. Lucas then decided to pursue legal recourse, and solicited the help of attorney Darren Heitner, considered to be the father of the State of Florida’s NIL legislation. Heitner petitioned the NCAA, who came back with an interesting ruling:

As you would expect, Wisconsin responded with a statement expressing their disappointment, which caused Heitner to decide to litigate his case on social media, apparently:

I have no idea how this will end. Generally speaking, I tend to think the loudest lawyer has the softest case, but in this day and age, who can really call it. All I know is that with each passing day, we seem to be getting further away from the mark, even if we don’t know what the mark is anymore.

That’s all for this week, folks. Be sure to keep it locked to The Sons this week as we’ll have new episodes of The Pegasus Podcast, Around The Kingdom, To Your Point, and Sons of UCF LIVE. We’ll also be recording some interviews and we’ll have fresh content on SonsofUCF.com.

Have a great week, take care of yourself, and each other.

Charge On!