If you listen to UCF coach Scott Frost, this Saturday’s matchup against North Carolina is “just another game.”
That’s the kind of understatement you expect from a coach trying to manage expectations and impart calm on his team and fan base. But make no mistake about it, this is not just another game. This is a collision of redemption stories.
On one side: North Carolina’s 73-year-old Bill Belichick, arguably the greatest coach in NFL history, now trying to prove himself again as a first-time college coach.
On the other: Scott Frost, a man trying to rebuild a program and his reputation. Their paths have converged in curious symmetry: both exiled from their previous jobs, both afforded a new chance, both charged with resurrecting programs that have slid into the abyss of irrelevance.
For Frost, this is a chance to prove his coaching mojo is not dead. To show that his firing from Nebraska will not define his career and that he can rejuvenate the UCF program like he did nearly a decade ago.
For Belichick, this is more than just a new chapter; it’s probably his last chapter. And it’s a test: can the architect who dominated the NFL for all those years adapt to college? Can he win without the depth, the continuity and the quarterback (see Tom Brady) that long defined his NFL success?
Let’s be honest, shall we? UCF, during its first two years in the Big 12 under Gus Malzahn, fell completely off the radar and became a mundane, forgettable program. Now, with Frost back in Orlando, there is an opportunity to reclaim the dynamic identity the program once had.
Belichick, meanwhile, stepping into a UNC program that is far from elite, became the highest-profile storyline and/or soap opera of the offseason. He became tabloid news fodder with his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson — an off-field subplot that seemed to overshadow his on-field plans and turned Belichick into something he’s never been before: a sideshow.
Belichick was unceremoniously dumped by the Patriots after 24 dynastic seasons and six Super Bowl championships. Patriots owner Robert Kraft essentially fired him two seasons ago, and Belichick still has not forgiven his old boss.
Frost, for his part, was fired at Nebraska after five brutal years — a reminder that even golden-boy heroes stumble when circumstances are wrong. Frost has since admitted that leaving UCF for Nebraska was a huge mistake.
There is also the added intrigue that Frost once played for Belichick for two seasons with the New York Jets in 1998 and 1999, when Belichick was the team’s defensive coordinator. Frost, a former quarterback at Nebraska, was drafted by the Jets and transitioned to safety, playing under Belichick before bouncing around to three other NFL teams during his six years in the NFL.
Asked his memories of Belichick earlier this week, Frost said: “Just how smart he is. … I was with Bill for two years. I can’t say enough about how intelligent he is, and how much football he knows.”
Now, Frost and Belichick are coaching competitors in much the same situation —trying to rebuild their programs in an NIL/transfer portal era neither is accustomed to. Frost has remade his UCF roster with more than 70 new players, trying to instill a new culture, a new mindset. Belichick, stepping into the college game after decades in the NFL, faces a similar overhaul.
Here’s the crux. If Frost wants to reclaim belief among UCF’s faithful and among college football watchers at large, it would certainly help if he could outcoach the genius himself — Belichick.
Belichick, for all his storied past, is human in this setting. He hasn’t built his new resume yet. His players didn’t grow up under the Belichick doctrine. His reputation precedes him, but reputation doesn’t win on Saturdays.
It is remarkable that in so many ways, Frost and Belichick are mirror images of each other now. Their past success has been tarnished and they are trying to rebuild their reputations. They both face unpaved paths with expectations that are renewed but fragile.
Frost may insist this is just another game, but the truth is, it’s more than that. It’s an opportunity early in his tenure at UCF to show he has regained his coaching chops.
While it’s true that redemption doesn’t come in one game, oftentimes that’s where it begins.
If he can outcoach the man who many consider the greatest, it won’t make Scott Frost whole again, it won’t erase the five years at Nebraska. However, it would prove that he still has what it takes.
It will show that his coaching mojo is real and that UCF, once off the map, is at least back in the conversation.
It would be a statement game that wouldn’t rewrite history, but it could reset the future.
Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on social media @BianchiWrites and listen to my new radio show “Game On” every weekday from 3 to 6 p.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen
