Grind City Football: UCF’s Frost and Memphis’ Norvell showing Power (Five) potential as coaches on rise entering showdown
Michael WallaceBy Phil Stukenborg
Grind City Media CorrespondentMEMPHIS – Prospective Power Five football coaches – those toiling as coordinators at major programs – understand there’s a protocol.
Rarely does one earn an instant promotion. There’s a stop, a level where a coach and his staff must first exhibit the ability to lead and succeed. As ‘Group-of-Five’ leagues go, the American Athletic Conference, formerly the Big East, has proved to be a valuable training ground the past few seasons.
Consider the recent track record:
— Former University of Memphis coach Justin Fuente established his reputation by rebuilding a Tiger football program that had won only five games in the three seasons before he arrived in 2012. Memphis went 19-7 his final two years, and Fuente was named Virginia Tech coach after the 2015 season.
— Former University of Houston coach Tom Herman replaced a somewhat successful, but embattled, Tony Levine in 2014 and led the Cougars to their first conference title in nine years. Houston went 12-1 in 2015 and beat Florida State in the Peach Bowl. In 2016, Herman led the Cougars to nine wins, including regular-season upsets of Oklahoma and Louisville, and was named University of Texas coach.
— Former South Florida coach Willie Taggart directed a turnaround similar to Fuente’s. After the program had endured four straight losing seasons from 2011 to 2014, he led the Bulls to 19 wins the following two years and won a division title in 2016. The success earned Taggart the Oregon job.
When Memphis (3-0) opens AAC play Saturday in Orlando against Central Florida (2-0), the Tigers will be facing a UCF team led by another coach quickly placing himself in position for an inevitable promotion.
Scott Frost has comfortably and confidently stepped into his first head coaching job. A former Oregon offensive coordinator, Frost was named UCF coach in December 2015. He was given the task of resurrecting a once respectable Knights’ program that went winless the season before his arrival.
A former Nebraska quarterback, Frost defied odds and directed the Knights to a 6-6 regular season and a berth in the Cure Bowl against Arkansas State last season. UCF became only the eighth team in Football Bowl Subdivision history to bounce back from a winless season to play in a bowl.
With a 2-0 start this season, Frost is 8-7 as the Knights’ coach. UCF overwhelmed Maryland 38-10 last weekend for an impressive win over a Power Five program.
With Riley Ferguson (No. 4) at quarterback, Memphis coach Mike Norvell carries one of the country’s most productive offenses into Saturday’s game against a UCF defense holding opponents to 13.5 points a game this season. Photo Credit: Andy Altenburger/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
“We just wanted to improve (the program), and we’re still looking to improve it,” Frost said. “We want to keep getting better. I told the guys after (an early week) practice, we’re still not any good; we still haven’t proven anything. We’ve won a couple of games to start the season, but I don’t want our guys being satisfied. I want them to keep working to be better than they were yesterday.”
Frost was the starting quarterback on Nebraska’s 1997 national championship team and prospered under legendary Cornhusker coach Tom Osborne. Frost’s name has surfaced as a possible replacement for Mike Riley, whose future is uncertain after last week’s firing of Nebraska AD Shawn Eichorst.
Frost is not fielding too many questions yet about the Nebraska job, but they’ll come if the Knights continue to gain strength and victories as the season progresses. Most impressive in the win over previously unbeaten Maryland was the UCF defense, which limited the Terrapins to 42 rushing yards.
“There were a lot of things we needed to improve and get better (at) coming off the 0-12 year,” Frost said. “This group is great to coach. I love being their coach because they do everything we ask them to do. They’ve taken our plan and our model for improvement, and they’ve adopted it. They dove in head first and committed themselves to it.”
Frost considers it an encouraging turnaround on the overall investment in the UCF program.
“It’s really rewarding when you see that plan pay off,” the 42-year-old coach said. “I think these guys are enjoying that now and reaping some of the benefits. Two wins doesn’t mean we’re where we want to be yet. We have a lot left to prove and I think our guys are hungry for more.”
UCF held the Terrapins 47 points below their scoring average and recorded 12 tackles for loss, including five sacks. Like Memphis, UCF received votes in the Associated Press and Coaches’ Polls this week but not enough to crack the top-25 national rankings.
“You see growth in every part of the program,” Memphis coach Mike Norvell said of the Knights’ rebirth. “You see the physical development. The schemes and concepts they run are definitely unique and they are suited for his players and his personnel. You see the overall confidence in how they play.”
Norvell, also expected to be a candidate for Power Five openings, and Frost have traveled similar paths to their current positions. They were both coordinators in the Pac-12 – Norvell at Arizona State, Frost at Oregon – before landing head coaching jobs in the AAC.
Florida native and Memphis defensive end Ernest Suttles (no. 48) respects the turnaround UCF has made under Scott Frost, but also appreciates the opportunity the Tigers may have to enter the Top-25 rankings with a quality road win. Photo Credit: Joe Murphy/Getty Images
“They’ve recruited at a high level, they’ve got some great players and they’ve got a good coaching staff that understands how to put players in position to be successful,” Norvell said. “There was no doubt in my mind he’d have them on the right track. He’s definitely done a wonderful job there.”
Frost said the turnaround has as much to do with his assistants. All are sacrificing for the program’s improvement, particularly the players who dedicated themselves during the offseason. Frost said the team is much stronger physically and have bonded emotionally.
For now, the focus for both the Tigers and Knights is to get a pivotal victory Saturday that likely pushes one team into the national rankings. The respect is mutual for the way both Frost and Norvell have positioned themselves and their teams to reach bigger goals.
“It’s definitely a sign of them buying into the new coaching staff,” said Florida native and Tigers’ defensive lineman Ernest Suttles, who transferred from Nebraska and sees a familiar imprint being established again at UCF. “That’s always the key to a turnaround. But it’s not a shocker to me. I know their program is big. I came out of high school from the (Tampa) area. I know what UCF is about. I know what their usual performance level is, and they’re just meeting it again.”
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Memphis Grizzlies. All opinions expressed by Michael Wallace and/or Phil Stukenborg are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Memphis Grizzlies or its Basketball Operations staff, owners, parent companies, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Memphis Grizzlies and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
Published on Sep 28, 2016
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