Frost completes his coaching staff hires with Walters, Beckton and Duval

Nebraska Head Coach Scott Frost has announced the addition of three coaches to his Husker staff. Troy Walters and Sean Beckton were added to the Nebraska offensive staff after serving on Frost’s UCF staff the past two seasons, and Zach Duval will lead the Husker football strength and conditioning program.

The addition of Walters and Beckton ensures that Frost will keep his full-time UCF on-field coaching staff intact at Nebraska. The group has been a part of orchestrating one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history. UCF went from a winless season in 2015 before the staff’s arrival to a 12-0 season, American Athletic Conference Championship and a berth in the Peach Bowl just two seasons later.

Walters was a finalist for the 2017 Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach. He will serve as Nebraska’s offensive coordinator and receivers coach after holding the same positions at UCF the past two seasons, while Beckton will coach Nebraska’s tight ends.

At UCF, Walters and Beckton helped the Knights lead the nation in scoring offense at 49.4 points per game. UCF scored at least 30 points in all 12 games in 2017 and ranks fifth nationally in total offense at better than 540 yards per game.

A Nebraska graduate, Duval will serve as the Head Football Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Huskers. Duval’s sports performance program at UCF has helped trigger the Knights’ on-field turnaround the past two seasons. Duval began his strength and conditioning career at Nebraska in 1994 and worked in various roles with the Husker Power program for nearly a decade.

Walters, Beckton, and Duval have two-year contracts which run through Dec. 31, 2019. Walters will make a salary of $700,000, Beckton $400,000 and Duval $375,000.

Another $350,000 remains in NU's $5 million salary pool, and it's expected a good bulk of that will go to Barrett Ruud when he's officially announced as the 10th full-time coach in January.

Troy Walters—Walters brings an impressive resume as a coach and player to Nebraska. A finalist for the Broyles Award in 2017, Walters coordinated the nation’s most explosive offense at UCF. The Knights averaged nearly 50 points per game and better than 540 yards of total offense. His top receiver Tre’Quan Smith was an all-AAC pick in 2017 and totaled 1,082 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns while averaging 20.0 yards per catch. In his two seasons as UCF's offensive coordinator, the Knights increased their scoring production by more than 35 points per game and their total offense output by more than 270 yards per game. Walters also had coaching stops at Indiana State, Texas A&M, North Carolina State and Colorado, before his time at UCF. As a player, Walters was a consensus All-American and Biletnikoff winner at Stanford in 1999 and holds the Pac-12 record for career receiving yards. He went to play in the National Football League for eight seasons, totaling 98 catches for 1,135 yards while accumulating nearly 4,000 yards in returns in pro football.

Sean Beckton—A veteran coach, Beckton has 22 years of total coaching experience, all in the state of Florida. Beckton has 19 years of collegiate coaching experience all at UCF, including the past two seasons as tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator on Frost’s staff. UCF tight end Jordan Akins was a first-team All-AAC pick in 2017 and Beckton’s tight ends averaged better than 16 yards per reception this season. Beckton had two stints as UCF’s receivers coach, highlighted by coaching six-time NFL Pro Bowler Brandon Marshall. He also coached one season with the Orlando Predators (AFL) and three seasons of high school football in Florida. As a player, Beckton ended his career with UCF records of 196 catches and 2,493 yards.

Zach Duval—Duval is a veteran in the strength and conditioning profession and a Nebraska graduate. Duval has been the Director of Sports Performance for football at UCF the past two seasons, assisting in one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history. Duval has more than 20 years of experience in the sports performance world, beginning as part of the Nebraska strength and conditioning staff from 1994 to 2002. While at Nebraska he was part of national championship teams in 1994, 1995 and 1997. Duval returned to Nebraska for one year in 2008 and also has worked at Creighton, Buffalo, and Wyoming.