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UCF to hire Josh Heupel as replacement for Scott Frost

By Brad Berreman

COLUMBIA, MO - OCTOBER 21: Josh Heupel offensive coordinator coach for the Missouri Tigers watches players during warm up prior to a game against the Idaho Vandals at Memorial Stadium on October 21, 2017 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, MO - OCTOBER 21: Josh Heupel offensive coordinator coach for the Missouri Tigers watches players during warm up prior to a game against the Idaho Vandals at Memorial Stadium on October 21, 2017 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /
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After losing Scott Frost, UCF has gone to a similar mold to hire Josh Heupel.

An undefeated season made UCF head coach Scott Frost a hot candidate to move to a Power 5 school, and he has done so by heading to Nebraska. Former Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin emerged as a candidate for a minute, along with Toledo head coach Jason Candle, but Missouri offensive coordinator Josh Heupel is set to replace Frost at UCF.

Heupel is finishing his second season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Missouri, where he has guided a unit that is seventh in the country in total offense and 10th in scoring offense (39.3 points per game). In his first season, the Tigers were 13th in the county in total offense (500.5 yards per game). He spent the 2015 season as offensive coordinator/quarterback coach at Utah State.

Heupel spent the end of his college playing career at Oklahoma, and he was the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2000 as he quarterbacked the Sooners to a national title. He was on Bob Stoops’ coaching staff at Oklahoma from 2006-2014, first as quarterbacks coach then as co-offensive coordinator.

Heupel may need some help making in-roads on the recruiting trail in Florida. To that end, former Miami head coach and most recently Florida defensive coordinator/interim head coach Randy Shannon will join Heupel’s staff as defensive coordinator.

The 39-year-old Heupel is practically the same age Frost was (40, almost 41) when he was hired at UCF, along with the obvious parallel of both being successful, national title-winning collegiate quarterbacks. Heupel and Frost also happen to be good offensive minds for the modern college game. Even with some expected tweaks and his own playbook, Heupel will surely not deviate too far from what the Knights have done on that side of the ball this year.

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As it was for Frost, UCF is probably going to be a stepping stone job for Heupel. But the decision to hire him, somewhat out of nowhere, looks like a good move by athletic director Danny White and company.

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