Life comes at you fast

Let’s go back to Friday, November 29th at a little past 11pm eastern time. UCF had just lost the last game of the season, dropping them to a 4-8 record. Boos and "Fire Gus” chants rained down from the student section as the team walked off the field. What were you feeling in that moment? Were you ready to renew your season tickets? Did you plan on donating at your usual level? Were you starting the countdown to the Spring Game? If we are all being honest, the vibes were at an all-time low.

Enter:

Truth be told, I’m not sure exactly how we got here. All week there were rumors about different coaches like Jon Sumrall, Jamey Chadwell and Barry Odom having the inside track on the job. But the one name that was still floating around in the periphery was Scott Frost. I was told by somebody I trust last Monday that Frost would be involved, but I assumed it was a cursory conversation. By week’s end, his name continued to be involved. So what sealed the deal? According to this release from Athletics Director Terry Mohajir, it was Frost’s passion

We know that the sequel is often never as good as the original, but in this case, I hope Coach Frost is able to disprove that statement. We could ALL use some positive vibes back in Orlando.

The Sons crew hosted another LIVE Brunch with the Sons on Sunday morning where we broke down the latest with former UCF QB Kyle Israel and Meadowlark Media’s Jeremy Tache. You can catch the replay of the show on our YouTube channel. Click HERE

We also hosted a LIVE Sons Today on Sunday night to recap the introductory press conference with former UCF Kicker Dylan Barnas, and the Publisher of UCFSports.com Brandon Helwig. You can find the episode HERE

Our friends at the Pegasus Podcast also recorded an instant reaction episode of their show, which you can find HERE

Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like Sons of UCF merchandise, available exclusively at Knights Fan Shop. Get yours while supplies last

What’s Next?

It is a good thing Coach Frost is familiar with UCF and the Orlando area, because he is going to have to get to work right away. The transfer portal opens Monday, and Frost will have to evaluate the current roster and players who have declared for the portal to see who fits his future vision. He’ll also have to monitor who enters the portal from other schools so he can help build up the depth that UCF is losing from the 2024 roster.

While that is going on, Coach Frost will have to build out his coaching staff. This will include evaluating the current coaching staff and making contact with coaches from around the country. There are certainly some names that you would think would be interested based on their connections to UCF, including current UCF Analyst Sean Beckton and Tennessee Offensive Analyst McKenzie Milton.

Something to keep in mind, Coach Frost’s tenure in Nebraska got messy towards the end, and he dismissed many of the assistant coaches from his original staff. We’ve been fortunate enough to interview of few of those coaches over the years about their experience. Check them out

Ryan Held:

Mario Verduzco:

Sean Beckton:

PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Sons will go LIVE again each night this week with new programming:

Monday: Sons of UCF Podcast with UCF Mike and Adam

Tuesday: Pegasus Podcast with Christian Simmons and Bailey Adams

Wednesday: Around The Kingdom with Eric Lopez and Trace Trylko

Thursday: Sons LIVE with Trace and Adam

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The Best of the Rest

The Sons family of shows went LIVE all last week with fresh content for your viewing and listening enjoyment. If you missed any of the festivities, please visit our YouTube channel to get caught up. Or, don’t forget, the audio versions are always available on your favorite podcast platform

Around The Kingdom and Around The Kingdom Overtime

Pegasus Podcast

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Going Viral

Our good friend and Sons contributor Robert Aronoff (aka 2Letters2Words) was at Jerry’s World for the Big 12 Championship on Saturday when he ran into UCF Hall of Famer Shaquem Griffin. News of Scott Frost’s hire had just been released, and Robert was able to get Shaquem’s reaction live on camera. The video has gone viral on social media with over 150k views as of this writing, and Coach Frost himself even mentioned it in his remarks on Sunday night

Today I learned

The introductory press conference had all of the usual pomp, circumstance, and fan fare that you would expect. Cheerleaders, band members, donors, and the presentation of a jersey adorned with the number 10. It made for a good quip as Frost mentioned he knew somebody who could use that jersey (hint: KZ), but why did UCF give Frost the number 10?

The number is supposed to signify that Frost is the 10th head coach in UCF history, even though he was already in the role once prior. But, looking through the historical log of UCF coaches, the number designations get a little confusing

By assigning Frost as the 10th coach, it means that interim coaches are not factored into the official list, except for Sammy Weir, who is listed as an interim coach, but was at the helm for the entire 1982 season. With Weir’s inclusion, the math adds up to make Frost the 10th, and 7th, head coach in UCF history.

For additional context, when Gus Malzahn was hired he was presented with a number 9 jersey

Cow of the Week

This guy, Senior Bowl representative Jim Nagy, for this idiotic stance about who should be included into the College Football Playoff. He would like to use “NFL Talent” as a criteria for inclusion, which would seem to be a subjective measure. I will say, if you read the tweet further he talks about scheduling philosophies to maximize your resume, which I do think is an important topic, but he missed the mark on his overall message

That’s all for this week, thanks for supporting the Sons of UCF!

Charge On!