ORLANDO, Fla. — With any major regime change there is an expected restructuring of an organization, especially in sports operations. Though Interim Head Coach Danny Barrett had previously stated that he considered himself in the running for the UCF permanent gig, it was assumed from the start that whomever President Hitt hired as athletic director would bring in an outside face, someone to mark the initiation of a new era.
It did not take long for Danny White to find his.
“We interviewed sitting head coaches, people from all walks of life, different levels of football, and ultimately I think when Coach Frost left the room, Dr. Hitt, your quote to me was, I think he said, “Danny, I think you found your guy,” and you were right,” White said when introducing his new coach. “There was one person that really stood out.”
White’s comments are intruiging about only one candidate standing out considering that on the eve of Frost’s hiring the nation was whispering loudly about a potential Dino Babers hire in Orlando.
Babers said that he had turned jobs down to coach in the MAC Championship game and vehemently denied the circus of rumors about a change in scenery.
The one consistent theme in both the Babers rumors and the Frost hire is this: explosive offense. Babers and Frost have led two of the nation’s most promising offensive attacks, largely through the air – making it clear that Danny White was on a mission to bring exciting, high octane football to UCF.
“We’re really excited about bringing the Oregon brand of offense here to Central Florida and excited about the way that Coach Frost talked about the recruiting process and building that relationship with the prospective student-athlete from before they step on campus and certainly through their time in our program and ultimately until they graduate,” White said.
The Athletic Director said that leading into the hire he did confer with about eight student athletes, something that Justin Holman voiced would go a long way in moving this program forward. If anyone should be excited about this offense it’s Holman, who stands to gain exponential growth in the next year.
“I can’t wait to bring an exciting style of play to UCF. I know the kids, the players that I talked to today seemed really excited about that. We’re going to play hard. We’re going to play fast, and we’re going to do it the right way and we’re going to have a lot of fun,” said Frost.
Don’t think that the offensive prowess is all that is separating Frost from the rest. He is hungry, young, and Danny White’s man through and through.
“Certainly the offense is exciting and something that we valued, obviously the success that Coach Frost has had. But we’re hiring more than the Oregon offense. We’re hiring someone that we think is the right person to lead our football program,” White said on Tuesday.
Frost certainly appreciates the opportunity. He believes that the program, despite the winless 2015 season, is on its way up, that becoming a national powerhouse is within reach. In his first stint at the head of the program, he a man bringing optimism to a downtrodden fan-base.
“I’m a first-time head coach. I can’t imagine a better place to become a first-time head coach than this university. I think the sky’s the limit for the football program here, and we’re going to get started day one to try to reach that sky.”
Photo Credit: Matt McGuffee
