UCF hired Scott Frost as head football coach on Saturday, agreeing to a five-year contract through the 2029 season.

The move reunites the Knights with one of their most successful coaches in program history.

Frost led UCF from 2016 to 2017 and engineered a remarkable turnaround in his second year, leading the Knights to a perfect 13-0 season and No. 6 ranking in the Associated Press poll. Frost was named national coach of the year for that performance and went 19-7 in his two seasons before leaving Nebraska, his alma mater, in 2018.

“Today marks an exciting reunion for UCF Football as we welcome back Scott Frost, a coach who ignites the spirit and passion of Knight Nation,” athletic director Terry Mohajir said in a statement. “Scott’s love for his players, as well as his leadership, enthusiasm and vision, were crucial in the decision to bring him back to UCF. During this national search, his passion for UCF was clear to see. I don’t think anyone wanted to lead our program more than Scott.”

Frost, 49, joined the Los Angeles Rams coaching staff in September and has not coached at the collegiate level since being released from Nebraska during the 2022 season.

The position at UCF opened Nov. 30 when Gus Malzahn resigned to become offensive coordinator at Florida State under coach Mike Norvell, who previously worked for Malzahn as a graduate assistant at Tulsa in 2007 and 2008.

Malzahn went 28-24 in four seasons in Orlando and guided the program through the transition to Power 4 football from the AAC to the Big 12 in 2023.

The Knights have finished 6-7 and 4-8 in their first two seasons in their new conference and are looking for a spark from a head coach who has transformed the program into an offensive powerhouse in his two seasons in charge.

Frost’s 2017 UCF team was the FBS’s best offense with 48.2 points per game and secured an undefeated season and an AAC title, a quick turnaround after a 6-7 debut season. The Knights were eliminated from the four-team College Football Playoff, but captured a national championship after defeating a Malzahn-led Auburn team 34-27 in the Peach Bowl to finish their season 13-0.

Frost left at the end of the season to rebuild Nebraska. The quarterback was a two-year starter for the Huskers and led the program to a national championship in 1997, but he struggled to turn things around during his five-year tenure as head coach. Under his leadership, the Huskers posted a 16-31 record and did not have a winning season or play in a bowl game.

Frost was fired three games into his final season and received approximately $15 million in severance pay. In 2023 he was no longer a coach.

Prior to his first head coaching stint at UCF, Frost worked as an assistant at Oregon from 2009 to 2015 and served as their offensive coordinator in 2014 when the Ducks went to the CFP national title game and quarterback Marcus Mariota won the Heisman Trophy.