Frost New Oregon Offensive Coordinator

EUGENE – University of Oregon assistant football coach Scott Frost has been elevated to the positions of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, the Ducks’ head coach Mark Helfrich confirmed Thursday.

Scott Frost CONFIRMED AS DUCKS’ OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR Frost, 38, has served as the program’s wide receivers coach for the past four seasons following one year as defensive coordinator at Northern Iowa (2008) and two seasons as the Panthers’ linebackers coach (2007-08).

The Lincoln, Neb., native possesses a unique array of experience as a standout collegiate quarterback who also has a coaching background encompassing the defensive side of the ball and special teams. He quarterbacked the University of Nebraska to the 1997 national championship over Tennessee, 42-17, with the two-year starter leading the Cornhuskers to a 24-2 record after lettering two years at Stanford.

As a player, Frost was tutored by some of the legendary football coaching minds of all time, including Stanford’s Bill Walsh and Nebraska’s Tom Osborne, as well as the New York Jets’ Bill Parcels in the NFL.

“Scott is a bright, passionate and talented young coach who we are excited to lead our offense,” Helfrich said. “His background on both sides of the ball, the coaches he’s been exposed to and his high character offer further foundations for his success. Surrounded by the continuity and support from the rest of our staff, we are confidently looking forward to this program’s continued success.”

His expertise as a collegiate standout and coach, as well as a six-year NFL veteran, has been vital to Oregon’s unprecedented success during his Eugene tenure. Among his contributions has been the implementation of a mentality instilled as a defender as well as the moxie of a national championship competitor. He has been instrumental in instituting a toughness among his receivers that enhanced their ability as downfield blockers, which has contributed to the success of the Ducks’ running game that has paced the conference in rushing each of the past seven seasons.

He has displayed the versatility to adapt to situations that run the gamut from refining the talents of proven commodities to tutoring less experienced pupils. Despite ranking third in the country in rushing this season while averaging better than 300 yards per game on the ground for the first time in the program’s history (315.2 avg.), 18 players accumulated more catches (250) in 2012 than in the last six seasons.

After quarterbacking Nebraska to an unblemished 13-0 record in 1997, the second-team all-Big 12 Conference standout broke into the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant at his alma mater in 2002 before filling the same role at Kansas State in 2006. He then initiated a two-year stint at Northern Iowa in 2007, where the school finished sixth in the country against the run (91.0 avg.) and seventh in scoring defense (16.9 avg.).

The Panthers completed 2008 with a 12-3 record after posting a 12-1 mark the previous year.

As a Nebraska standout, the 1997 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award finalist completed 192 of 359 passes for 2,677 yards and 18 touchdowns. Included was a senior season in which he became only the 10th player in college football history to both run (1,095 yds.) and pass (1,237 yds.) for 1,000 yards in a single season.

His 2,332 yards of total offense fell one yard shy of what was then the school’s single-season record set in 1971.

Following his collegiate career, Frost was selected in the third round (67th overall) of the 1998 NFL Draft by the New York Jets, where he played safety and special teams from 1998-2000. His professional football career included stops in Cleveland (2001), Green Bay (2001-02) and Tampa Bay (2004).

The second-team Academic All-American and two-time first-team academic all-conference choice graduated with a B.A. degree in finance from Nebraska in 1997.