Background and career
Scott Andrew Frost (born January 4, 1975) is an American football coach and former player who serves as the head football coach at the University of Central Florida. He was the head football coach at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 2018 to 2022, and previously served as UCF's head coach from 2016 to 2017. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Frost played college football as a quarterback for the Stanford Cardinal and the Cornhuskers, the latter of which he led to a national championship in 1997. Frost has coached Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota and Heisman candidate McKenzie Milton. He played professionally for six seasons at safety in the National Football League (NFL). After retiring as a player, Frost served as an assistant coach for several college football teams, most notably as the offensive coordinator for the University of Oregon from 2013 to 2015, where he helped the 2014 Oregon Ducks football team to a berth in the first college football playoff (CFP), where they lost to Ohio State in the national championship game. Frost was subsequently hired as the head football coach at the UCF, where he coached for two seasons. After an inaugural season of 6–7 in 2016, Frost's 2017 Knights posted a 13–0 record, winning the American Athletic Conference championship and defeating the Auburn Tigers in the Peach Bowl. The Colley Matrix recognized the 2017 UCF team as national champions, and the school claims a national title despite not receiving an invitation to participate in the College Football Playoff. However, the NCAA only recognizes the 2017 UCF team as a “Final National Polls Leader,” reserving “National/Co-National Champion” status for teams that finish atop at least one of the “consensus polls,” those being the AP, Coaches Poll, and NFF/FWAA. This remains Frost's only winning season as a head coach. In December 2017, Frost accepted the head coaching position at his alma mater, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Frost's coaching record at Nebraska was 16–31, with a 10–26 record in the Big Ten Conference, a 5–22 record in games decided by eight points or less, and an 0–14 record against ranked opponents. Nebraska fired Frost three games into the 2022 season after an upset loss at home against Georgia Southern. In December 2024, Frost was re-hired as UCF's head coach following the resignation of Gus Malzahn.
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Frost attended Wood River High School in Wood River, Nebraska from 1989 to 1993. In four years as the team's starting quarterback, he threw for 6,859 yards and 67 touchdowns and rushed for 4,278 yards and 72 touchdowns. He led his team to the state playoffs in his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. In those three postseason appearances, Frost's teams won five games and twice made it to the state semi-finals. Both of Frost's parents, Larry and Carol Frost, coached his high school football team. In addition to football, Frost was a standout in track and field, winning a state championship in the shot put. At the state championship meet his senior year, Frost won an all-class gold medal with a throw of 17.92 m (58 ft 9+1⁄2 in), with his personal best from earlier that year reaching 18.62 m (61 ft 1 in).
Frost began his collegiate career as a two-year letterman at Stanford in 1993 and 1994, playing for Bill Walsh, before transferring to Nebraska in 1995 to play for Tom Osborne. In his two seasons starting for Nebraska, Frost quarterbacked his teams to a 24–2 record, completing 192 of 359 passes for 2,677 yards and 18 touchdowns, including a senior season in which he became the first Nebraska player and only the tenth player in college football history to both run (1,095) and pass (1,237) for 1,000 yards, also setting school records for rushing touchdowns (19) and yards. He was the 1996 Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year and a 1997 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award finalist. Frost's senior season featured the notable "Flea Kicker" play in a game against Missouri, where he threw a pass that was inadvertently kicked by teammate Shevin Wiggins and caught by Matt Davison for a touchdown. The score sent the game into overtime where Frost sealed No. 1 Nebraska's victory with a rushing touchdown. Frost and Nebraska went on to defeat Peyton Manning's Tennessee Volunteers in the 1998 Orange Bowl and claim a share of the 1997 national championship. Scott Frost was featured as the cover athlete for the NCAA GameBreaker 99 video game. Frost graduated from Nebraska with a B.A. in finance.
Following his collegiate career, Frost was selected in the third round (67th overall) of the 1998 NFL draft by the New York Jets as a safety. As a rookie in 1998, Frost played in 13 games mostly on special teams, making six tackles and two passes defended. In 1999, Frost played in 14 games with seven tackles. Playing in all 16 games in 2000, Frost made his first career start against the Buffalo Bills on October 29. Frost also got his only career interception against Bills quarterback Rob Johnson on September 17 and sole career sack against the Oakland Raiders' Rich Gannon on December 11. The day after being waived by the Jets, Frost signed with the Cleveland Browns on August 28, 2001. Frost played in 12 games mostly on special teams, making 14 total tackles and a fumble recovery. The Browns waived Frost on December 10. On December 19, 2001, Frost signed with the Green Bay Packers. However, due to injuries, he never appeared in any games for the Packers, and he was waived on December 17, 2002. In his final NFL season, Frost played in four games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003.
In December 2002, while still on the Green Bay Packers' injured reserve list, Frost served as a temporary graduate assistant at his alma mater. He was later a graduate assistant at Kansas State in 2006. In 2007, he took a position at Northern Iowa as the linebackers coach, and in 2008 he was elevated to co-defensive coordinator. His defense finished the 2008 season tied for third in the FCS in takeaways (40) and ninth in scoring defense (17.7 points per game). The 12–3 Panthers also led the Missouri Valley Football Conference in rushing defense (107.1 yards per game) and scoring defense.
On January 26, 2009, Frost joined the coaching staff at Oregon as the wide receivers coach, working under head coach Chip Kelly and offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich. During Frost's four seasons as the wide receivers coach, Oregon reached four straight BCS bowls and three of Frost's wide receivers were invited to NFL camps. Following Chip Kelly's departure to the NFL to coach the Philadelphia Eagles, Oregon promoted Mark Helfrich to head coach and Frost was announced as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on January 31, 2013. In 2014, Frost was a finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top assistant coach. As the quarterbacks coach, he mentored Marcus Mariota, who won the Heisman Trophy, en route to a berth in the National Championship game. During Frost's three seasons as Oregon's offensive coordinator, the team recorded a 33–8 record and finished every year ranked among the nation's top six in both scoring offense and total offense.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
