(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)
University of Central Florida head coach Scott Frost was named to the 2017 Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award watch list, according to UCF Athletics on Wednesday. The award watch list names 20 coaches across the country and is presented by the American Heart Association and Marathon Oil.
At the end of the season, the award is given to the best college-football coach in the country.
In Frost’s first year as head coach in 2016, UCF went 6-7 with a 31-13 bowl-game loss to Arkansas State University in the 2016 AutoNation Cure Bowl. So far in his second season, Frost has led the Knights to a No. 20 ranking entering Week 8 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and Coaches Poll. The undefeated Knights have also started 5-0 for the first time and have a 3-0 record in the American Athletic Conference, out-scoring their first three conference opponents 129-57.
Frost took over a program that went 0-12 in 2015 and helped the Knights regain prominence as a ranked team for the first time since 2013.
The award is in its 32nd season of existence and will be awarded on Jan. 10. Voting is done by the National Sports Media Association.
In addition to Frost, the watch list also has two other AAC coaches: the University of South Florida’s Charlie Strong and the University of Memphis’ Mike Norvell. Other notable names include the Alabama Crimson Tide’s Nick Saban, the University of Miami’s Mark Richt, Urban Meyer from Ohio State University and Brian Kelly of the University of Notre Dame.
For more on the Knights, as they look forward to facing Navy, the AAC West’s best team, follow Ryan Weiss On Twitter at @NDR_RyanWeiss.
