{"id":227882,"date":"2026-04-11T20:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T20:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/227882\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T20:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T20:11:12","slug":"ucfs-scott-frost-lauds-teams-toughness-updates-qb-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/227882\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF’s Scott Frost lauds team’s toughness, updates QB status"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s just two weeks into UCF<\/a>\u2018s spring football camp, but coach Scott Frost<\/a> has already seen a vast improvement in his squad from a year ago.<\/p>\n

The Knights (5-7 in 2025) return a much more experienced roster this time around, with 52 of the nearly 100 players having spent at least two seasons in the program. That doesn\u2019t include the 31 transfers who had experience at other schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re definitely a more mature team,\u201d Frost said following the team\u2019s sixth practice Saturday. \u201cWe had our scuffle on the field, which happens from time to time and [senior safety] Ty Bartram was walking back toward me, and I asked, \u2018Why aren\u2019t you in on that?\u2019 And he goes, \u2018Coach, I\u2019m too old to get involved in something like that.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot more guys who are about the right things and all business and out there to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest question facing Frost and the Knights so far this spring is the health status of starting quarterback Alonza Barnett III<\/a>. Barnett, a redshirt senior, arrived as a transfer in the offseason following four seasons at James Madison, where he led the Dukes to the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been limited throughout camp<\/a> as a precautionary measure, according to Frost.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing a lot of rehabbing right now,\u201d said Frost. \u201cHe\u2019s throwing some on his own, mostly working with the trainers and then getting involved in meetings and on the field, taking reps. He\u2019s getting a lot closer, and we\u2019re being really cautious with him to make sure that he\u2019s 100% ready to go before we put him out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

UCF\u2019s Preston Cushman welcoming new leadership role on offensive line<\/a><\/p>\n

Frost refused to give any details about why Barnett has been limited, only saying, \u201cIt\u2019s nothing major and he\u2019s going to be fine. We just wanted to put him in a position to have the best chance to be healthy this year and for the rest of his career, so we\u2019re taking it slow.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cI\u2019m not concerned. He\u2019s played a lot of football and he\u2019ll catch up really fast, but I don\u2019t think we\u2019re very far away from him being able to take point. I hope that next week, he\u2019s able to do some things and then hopefully that keeps progressing throughout the spring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"QuarterbackUCF football coach Scott Frost said QB Alonza Barnett III (14) might be able to return to spring practices next week. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Another aspect of camp that pleases Frost is the team\u2019s overall toughness.<\/p>\n

\u201cToughness takes a lot of forms. The best thing I\u2019ve seen from our team that shows their mental toughness and grit is how they\u2019ve shown up six practices in a row, ready to practice,\u201d explained Frost.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was worried about today. We were in the indoor [practice facility] twice this week with the air conditioning on and this is the first time we\u2019ve asked them to come back on a Saturday morning. We went out in the Florida heat, and I expected a bit of a letdown, but it was the exact opposite. That shows their fortitude and mental toughness, to keep coming and showing up, trying to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frost indicated that the Knights may not have a \u201ctraditional\u201d scrimmage this spring, instead making certain practice periods live.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot more experienced players who have made a lot of tackles or have been tackled a lot, so you\u2019ve got to balance guys getting ready to do that in fall with keeping everybody healthy,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re taking a look at that right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt Murschel can be reached at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s just two weeks into UCF\u2018s spring football camp, but coach Scott Frost has already seen a vast…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[111,28,114,1335,139,141,140,76046,110,3865],"class_list":["post-227882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-college-sports","tag-florida","tag-latest-headlines","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-social-sports","tag-sports","tag-ucf-knights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}