Former Oregon Ducks Coach Admits Greatest Career Regret: 'Don't Take the Wrong Job'

When it comes to the Oregon Ducks' success in the early part of the College Football Playoff era, current UCF coach Scott Frost was helping write history for Oregon in several assistant coaching roles from four seasons as wide receivers coach, to then a two year stint at offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Now, over a decade later at the Big 12 media days event, Frost is opening up about his time after leaving Oregon. After his time in Eugene, Frost coached at UCF before moving on to lead the Nebraska Cornhuskers. One of Frost's points of refelction over his career has gone viral:

"Don't take the wrong job," Frost said. "I said I wouldn't leave (UCF) unless it was someplace you could win a national championship. I got tugged in a direction to try to help my alma mater and didn't really want to do it. It wasn't a good move. I'm lucky to get back to a place where I was a lot happier."

Jan 10, 2011; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oregon Ducks receivers coach Scott Frost during the third quarter of the 2011 BCS National Championship game against the Auburn Tigers at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images | Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

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Frost of course is referencing his time as the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, a position he took two seasons after departing his offensive coordinator position in Eugene.

During his first year with the Cornhuskers, Frost finished with the worst single-season record of any Nebraska coach in over 50 years (4-8). Subsequent seasons yielded worse results, and Frost was fired from the program in September 0f 2022 after a 1-2 start to the season.

January 10, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Oregon Ducks offensive coordinator Scott Frost addresses the media during Media Day for the College Football Playoff National Championship at Dallas Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Now, after a year as a senior analyst for the Los Angeles Rams, Frost is returning to his former job as coach of the UCF Knights, the position he originally departed the Ducks for.

His tenure with the Knights garnered him national recognition for taking a formerly winless team to two seasons later beating the Auburn Tigers in the 2018 Peach Bowl. Frost finished his original tenure coaching the Knights with the first undefeated and untied season in program history.

He's now on contract with the Knights through 2029.

"Going home isn't always easy," Frost said. "Going back isn't always easy. This was an easy choice for me because of how much we liked it there. It's probably the only place I'd want to be doing this in college football,"

Back during his initial term at UCF, Frost was questioned on whether he would take the Oregon Job left open by the firing of former Ducks coach Mark Helfrich (Frost's former boss), and Frost kept things short and sweet.

"I'm not a candidate for Oregon. I'm where I want to be," Frost said at the time.

Likely, the reason Frost never made his way back to Eugene can be found in a comment he made about recruiting to Oregon in an interview with USA Today's Daniel Uthman.

Jul 8, 2025; Frisco, TX, USA; UCF head coach Scott Frost addresses the media during 2025 Big 12 Football Media Days at The Star. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

"It's hard in those places because we're just not in close proximity, Oregon wasn't and isn't in close proximity to the fertile recruiting ground," Frost said in 2016. "At the end of the day, recruits have to decide to leave Southern California, or Georgia, or Florida, or Texas, where there's some other pretty good schools, and go all the way to Eugene."

Now, back in one of the places he deemed to be a "fertile recruiting ground," the former Duck coach once ranked in the top six for total offense every year during his tenure with Oregon.