UCF Football: Knights hire national champion in Josh Heupel to replace Scott Frost

Central Florida football will go from one national champion to another as their head coach, hiring Josh Heupel to replace Scott Frost.

Scott Frost, who won a title during his playing days with Nebraska, decided to return to the school as their new head coach. To replace Frost, UCF has hired Missouri offensive coordinator Josh Heupel.

Heupel claimed his national title while playing quarterback for Oklahoma. In his most recent role as the offensive coordinator at Missouri, he helped Drew Lock become the nation’s leader in passing touchdowns this season.

Heupel becomes the 11th head coach in the history of Central Florida football. Dr. Daniel J. White, the UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics, confirmed the announcement, with a press conference scheduled for later in the day on Tuesday.

"“I’m extremely excited about the opportunity to represent UCF,” Heupel said. “What makes this opportunity so unique is the vision of the leadership from President John Hitt, Provost Dale Whitaker and Director of Athletics Danny White. Their vision for this becoming one of the premier programs in the country makes this an exciting opportunity. That vision, the amazing campus, along with the recruiting base not only allows you to have immediate success but sustained success. I’m very excited to get a staff together and get to work with our wonderful student-athletes.”"

Heupel has spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Missouri. The Tigers went from 124th in the nation in total offense the year before he was hired to seventh this past season. Missouri also averaged just over 39 points per game.

Working with Heupel, Lock led the SEC with 3,695 yards and a conference-record 43 passing touchdowns this past season.

Heupel started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma, with a year spent at Arizona before returning to the Sooners as a full-time assistant. He was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma for four seasons.

In 2001, Heupel was an All-American quarterback, helping lead Oklahoma to the 2001 Orange Bowl and national title.

"“I’m thrilled to welcome Josh and his family to UCF,” Danny White, UCF vice president and Athletic Director, said. “I believe we’ve identified one of the brightest offensive minds in college football. His offensive system is very similar to what we’ve been running. I know he’s going to utilize all the great talent on our roster and continue to add to it. He’s no stranger to success, winning a national championship as a quarterback and leading a number of extremely high-powered offensive teams. Coach Heupel is in coaching for the right reasons. He cares about his student-athletes and that’s one of the most important attributes I look for in a coach.”"

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UCF is also bringing in former Miami and Florida coach Randy Shannon as the defensive coordinator, according to Bruce Feldman.