The worst thing about the Scott Frost hire is, what if if works?

My initial reaction to hearing the news on Saturday night that Scott Frost really is the hire at UCF was to laugh. The Frost that Nebraska footbal fans watched flail away in LIncoln was never a guy who was going to find success. I’ve seen nothing to convince me he’s changed much. He’s had a couple PR campaigns run for him by some of his surrogates, but his refusal to get back into coaching until it was the perfect job didn’t show me much in the way of growth, or acceptance that he had a lot to learn about leading a major program.

But the second thought that occurred to me is “what if he learned more than it appears?” What if this time he has sustained success? And he does it at a P4 (supposedly) conference? His return to UCF could be yet another kick in the gut to a Nebraska fan base that has taken dozens (hundreds?) of those over the last 10 years.

Nebraska football fans will probably get to see whether or not Frost has learned what he needed to learn quickly. He’s got the perfect opportunity to avoid the same mistakes he made in Lincoln when he brought in a staff full of guys who were not up to the challenge of coaching in a Power conference.

Nebraska football fans will be watching Scott Frost closely

I’m reminded of what one of his assistants said about why things worked out at UCF and didn’t at Nebraska:

“At UCF, they just wanted people to love them up and make football fun again. Those kids wanted to be great. They just wanted to be loved and understood. We were a young staff. We’d play noon basketball. Frost would be playing too, and the players were jumping into it with us. Practices were short and fun. We coached off emotion. At Nebraska, I think they’d been chasing (recruiting) stars … and we (ended up) letting more things go.”

UCF isn’t in quite the dire situation it was when Frost took the job the first time around. They’re also in the Big 12 instead of the AAC. At first glance, both those things make me think that he better have the same kind of introspection that unnamed Frost assistant had.

I don’t wish misfortune on Scott Frost. As a human being, I hope he finds success in what is both his second chance, and perhaps his last chance at being a college head coach. This is essentially Bo Pelini in his second stint as DC with LSU. Bo didn’t learn from his mistakes. He flamed out so bad that he’s not even coaching anymore.

If Frost hasn’t learned. If he allows ridiculous graphics like this to go to his head and make him think the road will be easy;

He’s going to fail badly. 

But if he manages to tamp down his ego. If he hires the right people and stops thinking everything he does things is the only way to do things, UCF could be the perfect reentry point. 

The Big 12 is wide open. It is essentially the American Athletic conference with a Power Conference wrapping.  Recruiting to Orlando, Florida is certainly easier than recruiting to Lincoln, Nebraska (though Matt Rhule keeps proving it’s not as hard as Frost made it) and the transfer portal could allow Scott Frost to reload quicker than a bottom of a power conference team would normally regroup.

If he’s learned and if things go even reasonably well for the Knights, there are going to be plenty of Nebraska football fans taking note. And wondering what might have been. And that’s not going to be fun for anyone.