College football: Scott Frost returning to Nebraska after leading Central Florida’s turnaround

Scott Frost, the native son who quarterbacked Nebraska to a share of the national championship 20 years ago, is returning to the Cornhuskers as coach after orchestrating a stunning two-year turnaround at Central Florida.

Athletic director Bill Moos on Saturday announced the hiring about two hours after Frost’s 12th-ranked UCF team defeated No. 16 Memphis 62-55 in two overtimes in the American Athletic Conference championship game to extend its perfect record to 12-0. Frost agreed to a seven-year, $35 million contract.

Frost’s arrival at Nebraska has been long anticipated by fans clamoring for the program to return to the so-called Nebraska Way, a culture that yielded unprecedented success from the 1960s to 1990s under Hall of Fame coaches Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne.

The 42-year-old Frost takes over for Mike Riley and is faced with the task of rebuilding a program that during a 4-8 season had their most losses since 1957, their fewest wins since 1961 and saw opponents score more than 50 points four times.