UCF has hired Missouri offensive coordinator Josh Heupel to take over as its next football coach.
Heupel immediately hired former UF interim coach Randy Shannon to be the Knights' defensive coordinator.
Like former coach Scott Frost, Heupel is a former college quarterback who won a national title at an elite program who went on to become an innovative offensive coordinator.
While their schemes differ, Heupel is known for developing potent offenses that can score often.
Frost won his national championship at Nebraska, while Heupel was a consensus All-American who led Oklahoma to the 2000 national title.
Both are the sons of football coaches.
Frost took a detour to Stanford before a star career at Nebraska, while Heupel attended Weber State and suffered a torn ACL before clawing his way to Oklahoma.
Heupel was an Associated Press Player of the Year, Walter Camp Award and Archie Griffin Award winner in 2000 who thrived under the direction of Sooners offensive coordinator Mike Leach.
After brief stints with the Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers, he worked as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma in 2004, tight ends coach at Arizona in 2005 and quarterbacks coach and later offensive coordinator at Oklahoma from 2006-14.
During his tenure as the Sooners' coordinator, he helped Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford win the Heisman Trophy.
Heupel was assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Utah State in 2015 before taking over as Missouri's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2016.
He helped Mizzou quarterback Drew Lock go from a difficult 2016 season to leading the SEC in passing in 2017. Lock was 224-of-385 passing for 3,695 yards, 43 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
As Lock improved, so did the Tigers. Missouri went 4-8 last season. This year, Mizzou is 7-5 and will face Texas in the Texas Bowl Dec. 27.
Heupel will inherit a UCF football team that finished 12-0 during the regular season and clinched its third American Athletic Conference title, a No. 12 ranking by the College Football Playoff selection committee _ the highest ranking ever by a Group of 5 school _ and a spot in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan. 1.
The Knights will face No. 7 Auburn, which recorded victories against previously No. 1 ranked teams Alabama and Georgia.
It took less than a week for White to identify Frost's replacement.
Just a few hours after UCF defeated Memphis during a double overtime 62-55 conference championship Saturday night, Frost told players he accepted the Nebraska head coaching job.
White addressed the media the same night with a message that he was prepared and planned to move swiftly to help the program prepare itself for the Dec. 20-22 early signing period.
"I know we've subscribed to this brand of football and I think it's a brand that's innovative, that's what UCF is as a university, we're innovative, we're forward thinking, it's exciting to watch, it's fun for our kids to play," White said. "I know most high school kids in the state of Florida already run it in high school and they like it too so we're gonna continue to play this way but whether the coach has an offensive background or a defensive background, I don't want to box myself in, I don't want to limit the search in that way necessarily."
Former Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin was in the mix as a lead candidate for the UCF job, but negotiations fell through Sunday.
Sumlin's interest could have been impacted by the Florida State's coaching job. Former USF and current Oregon coach Willie Taggart is expected to accept the Seminoles job, which would open another attractive Power 5 vacancy a source said Sumlin was interested in pursuing.
UCF offensive coordinator and interim head coach Troy Walters was a player favorite, but White went in a different direction. It is unclear what roles Walters and tight ends and lead recruiter Sean Beckton will have under Heupel's administration.
A source told the Sentinel Walters and Beckton could end up with Frost's staff at Nebraska, with the coach taking the entire 2017 UCF coaching staff to the Midwest.
Frost and Co. are due to return to Orlando to help UCF with bowl game preparations, but White and Frost both said they would continue to communicate about what works best for everyone involved.
