Counting backwards ...
5. He's from Nebraska, he understands the state's culture, knows the value of the walk-on program, and how to blend it with national talent. He won a national championship as a player under one of the top 3 head coaches of all time. He understands the formula; he has just had to start from scratch in replicating that formula. There is literally not another man in the world with his resume who would look you in the eye and say Nebraska is his "Destination Job." Once he turns this around, he will never leave for "greener pastures," and he will stabilize us for the next two decades. No other coach on earth cares more about Nebraska football than Scott Frost. For him, it's personal, and hard work and dedication still yield results in this country. He'll get there.
4. Let's remember, he's qualified. He started as a GA, and worked his way up, learning along the way. He coached a defense at Northern Iowa that became one of its division's elite. He then coached one of the most prolific offenses in NCAA history at Oregon. In 2014, as coordinator, he guided Oregon to the second-highest point total in NCAA history and was a Broyles finalist for assistant coach of the year. Of course, we all know he took a winless UCF team and turned it into an undefeated team in a couple of years. Someone who does that doesn't suddenly forget how to coach. That's an incredible accomplishment, at any level. After that 2017 season, he was the consensus National Coach of the Year. As an NFL player, he worked under Parcells, Belichick, Tomlin and Gruden. I think sometimes fans forget how qualified he is, by every tangible metric.
3. He took over a program that was in shambles, and was coming off 3 coaches in just over a decade. Three coaches, completely different schemes, and extreme lack of identity, continuity and stability. He inherited some good older players, which is why we saw flashes of success in Year 1, but the cupboard of younger players was painfully bare. Riley's final class of 20 saw 9 never play a snap, and only 4 contributed at all. This put a huge dent in the process, because these players should now be true seniors or redshirt juniors, and should be key contributors across the board. That MIA class hurt us this year, which is why we saw so many redshirt freshmen and sophomores. Frost was hired in December, 2017, so expecting a lot of his first class is unfair. So basically, that's two "empty" classes. That's slowing the progress for sure, and the cost of the coaching carousel.
2. The need for stability. In this instant gratification society, some people just want to keep churning head coaches every few years, rolling the dice over and over again. How can anyone think that is a recipe for success? Not only is Nebraska not that attractive of a destination for coaches, due to the recruiting challenges and unattractive (to most) nature of the city and state (I love it, but let's be honest here...), firing Frost would mean starting all over AGAIN (new schemes, terminology, practice protocols, etc., etc.) If it's a new system, which it probably would be, how will the current players fit? It will be starting over, again. That's why it's imperative that he gets five FULL years, and heck, this year almost shouldn't count for obvious reasons. It should be a mulligan. Nothing was normal, from having to open against one of the four best teams in the nation with no "warmup games", to having Game 2 canceled, ruining the rhythm, etc., etc.
1. Despite the weirdness of this year, there WAS progress. Stats don't tell the story, because they can't be compared to other years (no non-conference opponents to fatten stats up). Other than Illinois and maybe Rutgers, we played all good, quality opponents. And against the top two teams in the West, both of which beat Wisconsin, we stood toe-to-toe and came within a play or two of winning. We outgained Northwestern 442-169 and had 28 first downs to their 14. We had young players all over the field, including sophomore Luke Reimers, who led us in tackles with 10. We outgained Iowa 333-322, and sophomore Reimer had 12 tackles, 11 solo. They eyeball test indicates we tackled much better than in the last several years, played more physically than in years, and again, had young players all over the field. The offensive line featured 2 freshmen and a sophomore. The last game, our most successful offensively in which we gained 600 yards against a very good defensive coach, we had 3 freshmen and a sophomore on the OLine! That's incredible. There are a few more great young players on the OLine ready to make their mark next year. The all-important DLine played its best in years, with two more youngsters, Robinson and Rogers, doing an excellent job.
Everybody sees games differently, and we certainly had a couple of clunkers, against Illinois and Minnesota, but I felt much more hope than hopelessness, like I did in the latter years of Pelini and Riley. We were, by and large, competitive in nearly every game.
We're close to turning the corner. Next year will be tough, but hopefully we have a 7-5, 8-4 type of season, compete in every game, and make a bowl game. That will set the stage for the following year, when we should compete for a division title. From there, we take off!
Fortunately, so fortunately, the powers-that-be in Lincoln agree with fans like me that good things lie ahead, and that we are making methodical progress. Five full years is totally fair, and this year wasn't even full. Winter conditioning and spring ball will be critical - and hopefully "normal." Can't wait until the 2021 season, and the exciting games we'll be a part of.
GBR!
5. He's from Nebraska, he understands the state's culture, knows the value of the walk-on program, and how to blend it with national talent. He won a national championship as a player under one of the top 3 head coaches of all time. He understands the formula; he has just had to start from scratch in replicating that formula. There is literally not another man in the world with his resume who would look you in the eye and say Nebraska is his "Destination Job." Once he turns this around, he will never leave for "greener pastures," and he will stabilize us for the next two decades. No other coach on earth cares more about Nebraska football than Scott Frost. For him, it's personal, and hard work and dedication still yield results in this country. He'll get there.
4. Let's remember, he's qualified. He started as a GA, and worked his way up, learning along the way. He coached a defense at Northern Iowa that became one of its division's elite. He then coached one of the most prolific offenses in NCAA history at Oregon. In 2014, as coordinator, he guided Oregon to the second-highest point total in NCAA history and was a Broyles finalist for assistant coach of the year. Of course, we all know he took a winless UCF team and turned it into an undefeated team in a couple of years. Someone who does that doesn't suddenly forget how to coach. That's an incredible accomplishment, at any level. After that 2017 season, he was the consensus National Coach of the Year. As an NFL player, he worked under Parcells, Belichick, Tomlin and Gruden. I think sometimes fans forget how qualified he is, by every tangible metric.
3. He took over a program that was in shambles, and was coming off 3 coaches in just over a decade. Three coaches, completely different schemes, and extreme lack of identity, continuity and stability. He inherited some good older players, which is why we saw flashes of success in Year 1, but the cupboard of younger players was painfully bare. Riley's final class of 20 saw 9 never play a snap, and only 4 contributed at all. This put a huge dent in the process, because these players should now be true seniors or redshirt juniors, and should be key contributors across the board. That MIA class hurt us this year, which is why we saw so many redshirt freshmen and sophomores. Frost was hired in December, 2017, so expecting a lot of his first class is unfair. So basically, that's two "empty" classes. That's slowing the progress for sure, and the cost of the coaching carousel.
2. The need for stability. In this instant gratification society, some people just want to keep churning head coaches every few years, rolling the dice over and over again. How can anyone think that is a recipe for success? Not only is Nebraska not that attractive of a destination for coaches, due to the recruiting challenges and unattractive (to most) nature of the city and state (I love it, but let's be honest here...), firing Frost would mean starting all over AGAIN (new schemes, terminology, practice protocols, etc., etc.) If it's a new system, which it probably would be, how will the current players fit? It will be starting over, again. That's why it's imperative that he gets five FULL years, and heck, this year almost shouldn't count for obvious reasons. It should be a mulligan. Nothing was normal, from having to open against one of the four best teams in the nation with no "warmup games", to having Game 2 canceled, ruining the rhythm, etc., etc.
1. Despite the weirdness of this year, there WAS progress. Stats don't tell the story, because they can't be compared to other years (no non-conference opponents to fatten stats up). Other than Illinois and maybe Rutgers, we played all good, quality opponents. And against the top two teams in the West, both of which beat Wisconsin, we stood toe-to-toe and came within a play or two of winning. We outgained Northwestern 442-169 and had 28 first downs to their 14. We had young players all over the field, including sophomore Luke Reimers, who led us in tackles with 10. We outgained Iowa 333-322, and sophomore Reimer had 12 tackles, 11 solo. They eyeball test indicates we tackled much better than in the last several years, played more physically than in years, and again, had young players all over the field. The offensive line featured 2 freshmen and a sophomore. The last game, our most successful offensively in which we gained 600 yards against a very good defensive coach, we had 3 freshmen and a sophomore on the OLine! That's incredible. There are a few more great young players on the OLine ready to make their mark next year. The all-important DLine played its best in years, with two more youngsters, Robinson and Rogers, doing an excellent job.
Everybody sees games differently, and we certainly had a couple of clunkers, against Illinois and Minnesota, but I felt much more hope than hopelessness, like I did in the latter years of Pelini and Riley. We were, by and large, competitive in nearly every game.
We're close to turning the corner. Next year will be tough, but hopefully we have a 7-5, 8-4 type of season, compete in every game, and make a bowl game. That will set the stage for the following year, when we should compete for a division title. From there, we take off!
Fortunately, so fortunately, the powers-that-be in Lincoln agree with fans like me that good things lie ahead, and that we are making methodical progress. Five full years is totally fair, and this year wasn't even full. Winter conditioning and spring ball will be critical - and hopefully "normal." Can't wait until the 2021 season, and the exciting games we'll be a part of.
GBR!
