Since taking over as the head coach back at UCF, Scott Frost has worked diligently to fill out both his coaching staff and his roster. He is nearly done with his coaching staff, which is good news when it comes to recruiting because players want to know who they will be coached by.
When it comes to bringing in players to fill out his roster, Frost has also done quite the job at that. When the transfer portal opened up in December, UCF had many players enter their names, and a big reason for that was that Gus Malzahn had resigned, leaving the Knights with no coach. UCF had easily over 30 players in the portal, but when Frost was announced as the new head coach, things started to change.
A handful of players pulled themselves out of the portal and chose to stay with the Knights, while others still chose to move on. In the end, a total of 25 players entered the portal. Since Frost took over in mid-December, he has almost broken even by bringing in 23 players from the transfer portal.
The biggest player Frost has brought in is probably former Indiana backup quarterback Tayven Jackson, who did see time on the field for the Hoosiers this season. Jackson was originally recruited by former UCF head coach Josh Heupal at Tennessee coming out of high school and spent one season with the Volunteers before heading to Bloomington.
BREAKING: Indiana transfer QB Tayven Jackson has committed to UCF⚔️ https://t.co/kSYG7dZ8sR pic.twitter.com/VZ8qSU0IOp
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal_) January 3, 2025
Jackson stepped up for the Hoosiers this season when starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke went down with a thumb injury and helped them preserve their undefeated record. Jackson came in during the second half of Indiana's game against Nebraska and helped seal the deal and then got the start against Washington when ESPN College Gameday was in Bloomington.
In his limited play this season, Jackson threw for 349 yards and four touchdowns with just one interception. He was also a threat in the run game, with 73 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Frost is known to like dual-threat quarterbacks, especially with his time at UCF the first time around when he had McKenzie Milton has his starting QB.
The good news for Jackson is that his quarterback's coach is Milton himself, so working with both Frost and Milton will help him develop as a true dual-threat quarterback that the Knights will need to keep the offense running next season with the departure of some big names like star running back RJ Harvey.