Has the play on the field improved under Frost?

The boos rained down from the stands as Gus Malzahn walked off the Bounce House field on November 29, 2024, after a 28-14 loss to Utah, cementing a 4-8 season. Twenty-four hours later, Gus was gone, trading his black-and-gold visor of responsibilities for the promise of a garnet-and-gold safety net at Florida State.

Seven days later, Scott Frost was announced as UCF Football’s Head Coach… again. His hiring quickly swung the vibes pendulum from despair to optimism, largely due to the wild success during his first tenure in Orlando. In the announcement of his hire, Frost said, “The foundation we built here has only grown stronger, and I am thrilled to continue shaping this program’s legacy.”

In the 18 months since that statement, many things have continued to change and evolve in college athletics and in the Knights football program. But how has Frost done in reshaping and building the program? The Sons of UCF convened a panel of local media and content creators to get their thoughts on whether UCF is better, worse, or the same in several key areas of the program in the 18 months since Frost’s hire.

The panel of respondents includes: Christian Simmons (Pegasus Podcast), Andrew Cherico (Knights 247, Sons of UCF), Brian Peterson (Sons of UCF), Austin Heffernan (Space Knights), Dali Drama (Knights 247, Sons of UCF), and Adam Eaton (Sons of UCF).

In part two of a four part series, we examine the play on the field, particularly the quarterback position

In Game Management – Better, Worse, or the Same?

Christian: BETTER – Well, we haven’t seen a running back throw a pass on 4th down yet, so that’s something. Or a quarterback who literally could not walk get the starting nod at Kansas. Or a wide receiver throw a pass on a two-point attempt on the road at Oklahoma. Seriously. Frost had virtually no bar to clear here.

Andrew: SAME – Is it really a UCF season if we can’t tell what team we’re going to see on Saturdays? While I wouldn’t describe Scott Frost’s 5-7 season as a failure, it certainly could have been better had the Knights avoided some of the fundamental mistakes that plagued them throughout the year. At times, UCF looked capable of competing with anyone on its schedule. At others, the inconsistency was hard to ignore. This spring, Frost emphasized getting back to the basics and focusing on the X’s and O’s… but we’ll find out soon enough this fall.

Brian: SAME – We’re not at “galaxy‑brain genius” yet, but we’ve definitely moved past the “why are we calling a timeout here” era. Frost isn’t reinventing football, but he also isn’t treating timeouts like they expire at halftime. The decisions make more sense, the panic moments are fewer, and the sideline looks less like a group project where nobody read the assignment. Frost still has a lot to learn, but we’ve seen fewer head-scratchers than we did with Gustavo. Maybe Frost’s stop in the NFL was more beneficial than we realize.

Austin: SAME – It felt like we were in 2024 when UCF Football couldn’t gain 1 yard against Kansas, or when we were getting smacked around by TTU and BYU with no real response. It makes me sad to say that I can’t say Frost is a better in-game coach than the coach who started a young, promising EJ Colson at QB, but only let him play two drives that both ended in fumbles by a veteran running back. This is one assessment area that I will be keeping a close eye on in 2026. Frost needs to show he can manage a game well. Frost managed the game well against Jax State, which was a bit impressive since Frost was coaching 63 new players. But I want to see Frost win a close game against a Big 12 team, and he hasn’t done that yet. We don’t count Oklahoma State in this equation despite winning 17-14. Oklahoma State lost Coach Mike Gundy early in the season and finished the season 1-11. That game was supposed to be a layup for the UCF Football Program.

Dali: SAME – Clock management and in-game adjustments have been hit or miss. In 2025, there were some good moments, but also a lot of inconsistency, especially in games we lost when the offense couldn’t get going, like the home game against Kansas.

Adam: BETTER – As much as I loved the wild days of Joey Gatewood appearances, or the head-scratching decision to substitute on offense after a big play on a drive, I think Frost has improved UCF in this area. Now, he’s also not without faults, evidenced by several interesting fourth-and-short decisions and a Davi Belfort game-winning drive appearance, but some of those were also driven by talent and personnel (which is a whole separate issue).

Quarterback Play – Better, Worse, or the Same?

Christian: BETTER – This is obviously not based on what we saw last season, but the 2026 UCF roster has the first QB room that I’ve felt genuinely good about in years. Alonza Barnett is a Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year who led his last team to the Playoff and brings immediate star power. Rocco Marriott is the first true freshman with some real buzz in a few years. Keyone Jenkins was also a sneaky-good portal pickup and adds some real insurance if Barnett gets hurt. It’s a truly solid room. Considering how in flux things were at the position when Frost was first hired, building out a room this strong and deep within 18 months is wildly impressive.

Andrew: SAME – It’s hard not to believe Barnett can elevate this program to new heights in the Big 12, but it’s equally hard to make that claim with confidence when we didn’t see a single live-ball rep from him during spring camp. Last season was a disaster, to put it nicely. Between the revolving door at quarterback and the inconsistency that came with it, UCF never found stability at the most important position on the field. Barnett arrives with plenty of hype and expectations, but until the games begin, we simply don’t know whether he can be the one to finally break that cycle.

Brian: BETTER – For the first time in years, the QB room doesn’t feel like a weekly mystery box. We’re no longer relying on “well, maybe he’ll figure it out by conference play.” Even without seeing the new QB1 in action, the room is clearly upgraded. It’s nice to enter a season without needing a rosary and a chiropractor. Frost’s system has always been QB-friendly, and there are signs of more confident, decisive play. There are fewer “what was that?” moments and more throws where you can at least see the idea. I’ll point you to the Space Game last year.  If Davi Belfort throws his pass 1 second sooner, UCF wins the game on a walk-off touchdown.  Frost had the vision; the execution was just lacking.

There’s also a clearer developmental arc, which was something that felt missing before. Guys look like they’re progressing instead of just spinning the wheel each Saturday. That said, it’s still a small sample size, and we’ve all seen how quickly quarterback narratives can flip from “steady” to “hold on tight.” So while the ceiling is still a mystery, the floor appears to have been raised—and at minimum, it no longer feels like every third dropback might turn into a live-action blooper reel. For now, that counts as progress.

Austin: BETTER – I’ll take the uncertainty of Alonza Barnett at this point over what we saw from the end of the Gus era. Last season was brutal at times at the QB position, but it was nice to see some flashes of good QB play from Fancher and Jackson at times. Gus had something good going with JRP, but the 2024 season was pretty disgusting from the QB position. I will not mention the Arkansas transfer quarterback by name, but that was just a really bad experience as a diehard fan.

Dali: BETTER – This is where we could see the biggest improvement. Alonza Barnett III is coming in as the starting quarterback and has College Football Playoff experience. For the first time in a while, it feels like we have a solid group of quarterbacks, with some good transfers and Rocco Marriott waiting in the wings. Quarterback play was a weakness in 2025, but this group seems more dynamic. Still, we need to see how Barnett performs on the field.

Adam: SAME – Judging based solely on what we know right now, I think this is a push. 2024 and 2025 were equally disastrous, though 2024 felt worse given the expectation that KJ Jefferson would be better. So, looking only at the Big 12 era, the best UCF QB has been… John Rhys Plumlee? Most of the college football world would agree that Barnett is a better player than JRP, and if he has the year Knights fans expect, and one of the younger signal callers (Marriott, Carr, or Annett) can develop, Frost will run away with this one in a landslide. But not seeing AB active in spring gives you that 1% reasonable doubt feeling that Knight fans know all too well.

In part three of the series, our panel will examine UCF’s current standing in the Big 12 and college football