Sports

UCF Running Back’s Choreographed Dance With Cheerleaders Reflects Culture Change Under Scott Frost

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UCF Cheerleaders Dance Football
© Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images // © Mike Watters-Imagn Images

Scott Frost returned to coach college football at UCF during the offseason after a failed stint at Nebraska and two years of unemployment. He has already changed the culture.

Players are having fun and interacting with the community again.

While that might not seem like a good thing, college football players are not professional athletes in a traditional sense. They are just as much students as athletes who should enjoy what they do.

Scott Frost is back.

Gus Malzahn won nine games in each of his first two years at UCF. It was not the undefeated season from 2017 but it was a still a positive result.

Maybe I’m wrong but I think most Knights fans would sign the dotted line right now for nine wins.

Unfortunately, Malzahn could not replicate that success in 2023 or 2024. He went a combined 10-15.

Part of the struggles stemmed from a change in conference. The Big 12 is much more competitive than the American. There is a lot more travel involved.

Part of the struggles stemmed from a lack of NIL money. Other teams in the Big 12 have more funds on which to recruit. It is hard to keep up with schools like Texas Tech when they have a multi-million dollar oil tycoon pumping money directly into the football program. UCF does not have an open checkbook.

The third piece of the equation is culture!

Gus Malzahn ran his course. The fanbase grew tired. Players were lethargic. The buzz was no longer palpable.

Enter Scott Frost.

UCF football has a new energy.

I don’t know if the Citronauts will ever be able to go 13-0 again like they did in 2017. I don’t know if they should expect to win 10 games every year.

It doesn’t matter!

UCF is a program that can be competitive in the Big 12 if all of the dominoes fall in the right direction. Frost is hoping to bring a winning culture back to a team that fell flat in recent years.

The players are genuinely glad to play for him.

Even though the Knights have yet to play a quality opponent in 2025 and struggled against an inferior opponent in their season-opener, you can feel the difference. Scott Frost brought much-needed energy back to Orlando.

A recent video of running back Jaden Nixon serves as the perfect example. The Oklahoma State and Western Michigan transfer joined the dance team during the bye week to shake some pom poms.

Haters are going to point and laugh. Let them. This kind of thing is what college sports are all about.

This is the kind of thing that was missing under Malzahn. Players are having fun. They’re excited to compete. They aren’t afraid to step outside of their comfort zone. That’s a great sign.