Frost and Kelly

[husker2612]

Apologizes if this has been discussed already over the past. The past 2 years Frost and Kelly combine for a record of 16-32. Kelly had success year 1 at Oregon Frost had success year 2 at UCF. Why do you think both are struggling at their current schools? Is it simply the state of Nebraska and UCLA were so far deteriorated that it just takes longer to rebuild and find success? Is it teams in the p5 have adjusted to and figured out how to stop their styles of offense? Is it all just coincidence that they both happen to be struggling equally their first 2 years. Would love to see both programs take off this year.

 

[huskerssalts]

My honest opinion, taking a pro styled type offenses and rebuilding it to their version of the spread option type offenses. That’s why. It’s just taking both coaches time to get their QBs, their style of WRs and so on. Kelly is a proven Head Coach and Frost has proven himself to be a solid to good Head Coach too. Had they taken a team over that was already set up for their styles of offense, I’d have to assume both would have faired better at this point in time.

I honestly see both coaches getting their teams going and once they do, it’s only up from their. UCLA with Kelly at Head Coach out in the PAC 12 and being from the Cali area has a real chance to build something special there and same goes for Frost at the Huskers.

 

[RedCap]

I have my doubts whether Kelly will be able to stick around at UCLA long enough to get his offense installed and rolling. Frost, on the other hand, has a long grace period at Nebraska because of who he was.

 

[hedonistimpulse]

Kelly took over a team at Oregon that had been coached by Mike Bellotti for 14 years prior to his takeover and won 10 games his last season at Oregon.

UCLA was coming off of two consecutive losing seasons when he took over.

Frost took over a team at UCF that had been coached by George O'Leary for 11 years prior to his takeover and won 9+ games in three of the previous four seasons when he left.

Nebraska was coming off losing seasons in two of three years and was getting its third coach in five years.

Debate scheme and talent all you want, but it's easier taking over a program with a lot of recent success and sustained continuity than taking over programs that lack those things like UCLA and Nebraska did when Kelly and Frost took the reins.

 

[bigboxes]

Kelly took over a team at Oregon that had been coached by Mike Bellotti for 14 years prior to his takeover and won 10 games his last season at Oregon.

UCLA was coming off of two consecutive losing seasons when he took over.

Frost took over a team at UCF that had been coached by George O'Leary for 11 years prior to his takeover and won 9+ games in three of the previous four seasons when he left.

Nebraska was coming off losing seasons in two of three years and was getting its third coach in five years.

Debate scheme and talent all you want, but it's got to be easier taking over a program with a lot of recent success and sustained continuity than taking over programs that lack that like UCLA and Nebraska did when Kelly and Frost took the reins.

Enough of the apologies. Frost needs to sink or swim. Bowl game or bust this next year.

 

[hedonistimpulse]

Enough of the apologies. Frost needs to sink or swim. Bowl game or bust this next year.

Cool demand, but pointing out facts are not apologies.

An apology would be saying that Frost's 9-15 record at Nebraska is better than 9-15 because of x, y, or z.

There's a reason Larry Coker won at the U after taking over for Davis, but has struggled since. There's a reason Solich won at Nebraska after taking over for TO, but has struggled since. Continuity and a winning culture are huge advantages. Frost and Kelly didn't have them at NU and UCLA, but did at their other college stop.

Time will tell if they're like Coker and Solich who won on the residual effects of a program or if they're like a Mack Brown or something in between.

Make no mistake though, your arbitrary time line means absolutely nothing. Regardless, the goal for last season was six wins and a bowl game. I assume that'll be the expectation again in 2020.

 

[huskerssalts]

Enough of the apologies. Frost needs to sink or swim. Bowl game or bust this next year.

Forgive me if I don’t fall in line with all that during a season with a Top 5-10 SOS. I do agree, I expect to see progress and improvements in year 3 and I’m confident we will see just that. I don’t think there’s much to worry about with your demand, we should hit 6-8 wins this season even with our SOS.

 

[BeautifulDayintheNeighborhood]

Two many excuses round here and paralysis by analysis. Just win games and beat the shi!t out of Iowa please.

 

[bigboxes]

Boo hoo. Who here thinks that Chip will take UCLA to heights unprecedented? Raise your hands so I can take count. Let's see hedonist is one. Any other takers?

 

[bigboxes]

Why should I care about UCLA? I never liked Chip Kelly. Because Scott Frost? That's like caring about UCF... because Scott Frost. Blech. Just win Scott Frost. Just win.

 

[huskerssalts]

I was and ignoring the other responses and all because we are entitled to our own views and opinions. But you are now taking it a bit far. It’s just a post and the man was curious as to what others thought on the Huskers and UCLAs struggles. No big deal, if you’re not interested in it, then why not move along and go to another thread? If you don’t care about Kelly and/or UCLA and his question, then why bother posting and wasting your time on the thread then? No one is making you read it and no one is forcing you to post your thoughts and ideas.

 

[hedonistimpulse]

Boo hoo. Who here thinks that Chip will take UCLA to heights unprecedented? Raise your hands so I can take count. Let's see hedonist is one. Any other takers?

I have said nothing about what I expect from Kelly, only comparing him to Frost out of respect for the OP's questions.

That being said, Kelly's success or failure has less than zero impact on how Frost does at DONU.

Frost stated EXPLICITLY while still at Oregon that he liked their scheme, but wished they could be more physical. Then he's repeated that several times and has recruited guys that have the frame to give Nebraska a big, physical, fast team.

Rest assured that Nebraska is going to run some form of spread offense and it's likely going to feature some sort of quick tempo, but Frost isn't copying Kelly's guideline for building his program at Nebraska.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

I think Chip is dun as a top flight head coach. I have a hard time believing he will get UCLA back on track....check back with this comparison in two years(ish)...I feel like Frosty will be noticably ahead in this comparison.

 

[headcard]

Kelly took over a team at Oregon that had been coached by Mike Bellotti for 14 years prior to his takeover and won 10 games his last season at Oregon.

UCLA was coming off of two consecutive losing seasons when he took over.

Frost took over a team at UCF that had been coached by George O'Leary for 11 years prior to his takeover and won 9+ games in three of the previous four seasons when he left.

Nebraska was coming off losing seasons in two of three years and was getting its third coach in five years.

Debate scheme and talent all you want, but it's easier taking over a program with a lot of recent success and sustained continuity than taking over programs that lack those things like UCLA and Nebraska did when Kelly and Frost took the reins.

Not only did they both (especially Chip) follow good coaches, at stable programs. Chip was also the OC at Oregon before taking over the Ducks. His situation was much more like Ryan Day or Lincoln Riley taking over their teams. This time, he is trying to build it from the ground up.

 

[HominidHusker]

As implied already, Frost inherited a mess and it got a bit messier with attrition problems.
We don’t know if there’s much/any blame to put on Frost for some of the attrition, but I would say his time so far has been busy fixing a fluid roster crisis, lack of options. Too many starters were starting because there wasn’t much other choice (think OL, WR, DB, LB, true frosh QB)

Once stability comes, culture will really take hold, and he’ll have more of the pieces that he wants to make it work. Starters will have earned their spot against more legit competition.
It’s a tall order, but feels like we’re getting closer.

And the mantra goes “winning fixes a lot.”. Time to start fixing this place up.

 

[RedCap]

The most encouraging thing to me about Frost so far is that he seems willing to make tough coaching changes when necessary. He got rid of Walters and DeWitt and also hired a special teams specialist. That seems to address the biggest coaching issues from last season.

Of course, what matters is the results on the field. We'll see IF improvement happens with those changes (assuming we have a season).

Hope Frost also proves to be willing to change QB's IF/WHEN necessary. I really hope Martinez returns to freshman form but if not, then it needs to be the next man up.

 

[Poolside Knight]

I have my doubts whether Kelly will be able to stick around at UCLA long enough to get his offense installed and rolling. Frost, on the other hand, has a long grace period at Nebraska because of who he was.

And USC still has the cache with recruits no matter the coach(look at current rankings). Many like the UCLA Campus and area more but the setup of USC’s Campus with the Coliseum across the street is really cool

 

[dinglefritz]

Enough of the apologies. Frost needs to sink or swim. Bowl game or bust this next year.

I agree to a point. I think there shouldn't be any reason he can't take this team to a bowl game this year. That said, losing JD hurts. Losing the spring for some of the guys we were going to count on to play this year hurts. We'll see what it does to some of the teams on our schedule this fall. Teams with experienced talent IMO are going to have a competitive edge this fall IMO. Our defense should be able to take advantage of that. IF we don't, well then I might have to join the ranks of the Chindoubters. The WR situtation does not help Martinez IMO in the passing game. Even with the addition of some great talent, will he be able to trust those new guys to be where they're supposed to be.

All that said, Frost is safe. Barring some horrendous problems which can be directly pinned to him on offense, I'll hold my tongue. On D on the other hand, IMO there's no more excuses. We should have enough good depth to compete now.

 

[headcard]

Enough of the apologies. Frost needs to sink or swim. Bowl game or bust this next year.

I think we need to show progress and make a Bowl Game to keep building and keep recruiting momentum going. But I don’t think Frost is gone if it doesn’t happen. And honestly accessing the situation and what a coach is up against, is not apologizing or making excuses.

 

[Reditus]

Apologizes if this has been discussed already over the past. The past 2 years Frost and Kelly combine for a record of 16-32. Kelly had success year 1 at Oregon Frost had success year 2 at UCF. Why do you think both are struggling at their current schools? Is it simply the state of Nebraska and UCLA were so far deteriorated that it just takes longer to rebuild and find success? Is it teams in the p5 have adjusted to and figured out how to stop their styles of offense? Is it all just coincidence that they both happen to be struggling equally their first 2 years. Would love to see both programs take off this year.

I do think that is something that factors in. It's like the wishbone in the old days. Teams eventually figured it out and when enough teams run it you get to practice against it more you get better at stopping it. Having said that I also feel any offense will work if executed properly. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. In the case above though I think it's a bunch of things with talent, fit and experience the most important factors.

 

[Crazyhole]

I think we need to show progress and make a Bowl Game to keep building and keep recruiting momentum going. But I don’t think Frost is gone if it doesn’t happen. And honestly accessing the situation and what a coach is up against, is not apologizing or making excuses.

We'll know a lot about Frost this season. Typically if a coach is going to lose the team, it happens in year 3 and when that happens its hard to turn back. I'm not too upset about our record from the last couple of years because he really started out behind the 8-ball and this is a weird year in general already, but if we see players giving poor effort then the future probably isn't too bright. Regardless, Scott gets at least a couple more years at the very least and he should.

 

[headcard]

We'll know a lot about Frost this season. Typically if a coach is going to lose the team, it happens in year 3 and when that happens its hard to turn back. I'm not too upset about our record from the last couple of years because he really started out behind the 8-ball and this is a weird year in general already, but if we see players giving poor effort then the future probably isn't too bright. Regardless, Scott gets at least a couple more years at the very least and he should.

I think the odds of losing the team are about 0%. I mean, the fan base will claim it after anything goes wrong, like they did the last two years, but it’s not actually going to happen. What is a bigger concern to me, is the potential for a toxic environment within the fan base, if we can’t get this going fast. Our fans and the fishbowl can be a huge positive for us when things are going well, but can also have a huge negative impact when things aren’t going well.

 

[schuele]

I think we need to show progress and make a Bowl Game to keep building and keep recruiting momentum going. But I don’t think Frost is gone if it doesn’t happen. And honestly accessing the situation and what a coach is up against, is not apologizing or making excuses.

With this tough of a schedule, 6 or 7 wins gives Frost a bit of a cushion and most will feel the program is moving in the right direction. Eight or more wins and he'll practically get a ticker-tape parade. If he stays stuck on five wins I still don't think he's in any trouble this year, but the ice will be thinning heading into 2021.

 

[Oldie but goodie]

I agree to a point. I think there shouldn't be any reason he can't take this team to a bowl game this year. That said, losing JD hurts. Losing the spring for some of the guys we were going to count on to play this year hurts. We'll see what it does to some of the teams on our schedule this fall. Teams with experienced talent IMO are going to have a competitive edge this fall IMO. Our defense should be able to take advantage of that. IF we don't, well then I might have to join the ranks of the Chindoubters. The WR situtation does not help Martinez IMO in the passing game. Even with the addition of some great talent, will he be able to trust those new guys to be where they're supposed to be.

All that said, Frost is safe. Barring some horrendous problems which can be directly pinned to him on offense, I'll hold my tongue. On D on the other hand, IMO there's no more excuses. We should have enough good depth to compete now.

I agree with most of this but I actually think the easy, soft schedule in the first half of the season really sets up well for us. We should be favored in every game except Cinci, don't know what they are returning. That should give us 6 wins, average finish would be one more win out of the 5 remaining, I think we can do that. A pretty good improvement gives us wins over MN and IA! That's 8 and we really need that for recruiting if nothing else.

 

[salsa red]

Kelly took over a team at Oregon that had been coached by Mike Bellotti for 14 years prior to his takeover and won 10 games his last season at Oregon.

UCLA was coming off of two consecutive losing seasons when he took over.

Frost took over a team at UCF that had been coached by George O'Leary for 11 years prior to his takeover and won 9+ games in three of the previous four seasons when he left.

Nebraska was coming off losing seasons in two of three years and was getting its third coach in five years.

Debate scheme and talent all you want, but it's easier taking over a program with a lot of recent success and sustained continuity than taking over programs that lack those things like UCLA and Nebraska did when Kelly and Frost took the reins.

That makes you realize how bad the Mike Riley hire was.

 

[DudznSudz]

I agree with most of this but I actually think the easy, soft schedule in the first half of the season really sets up well for us. We should be favored in every game except Cinci, don't know what they are returning. That should give us 6 wins, average finish would be one more win out of the 5 remaining, I think we can do that. A pretty good improvement gives us wins over MN and IA! That's 8 and we really need that for recruiting if nothing else.

I was looking at the Fansided analysis of our schedule. Fansided is trash with their web site (score errors, name errors, number errors, spelling errors constantly, terrible writing), but they at least provided a prediction for the season:

- Similar to most analyses, they think we have a very good shot of going 7-0 and being a Top 15 team by the time we get to Ohio State. Looking at it, I think Purdue will be tough (not only as a team, but because they are our FIRST GAME OF THE YEAR), I think the next two games will be challenging but absolutely should be wins, and I think Cincy is going to be a nail-biter. They're a legitimately good team.

- I think we beat Northwestern, Illinois, and Rutgers with very little problem. Northwestern plays smart and is well coached (as always), but the talent disparity between us and these three teams is just huge, and we're getting better at running our offensive scheme. Illinois and Northwestern might be tough games, but they are tough games we should win convincingly. Rutgers is just a team to practice on right now.

- I think Ohio State mops the floor with us, and Penn State also is similarly a significant loss, but we're able to sting both them and Penn State with some offensive production. I think we show that we're an improving team, but we're not "there" yet in these games.

- The last three games are Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. I think we "could" win 2/3, but it's more likely that we win 1/3. I think it is unlikely that we lose all three. Considering how consistently good Iowa and Wisconsin have been, and how Fleck has Minnesota turning around, I really could not tell you which we win or lose. Iowa and Wisconsin may have "down" years this year, but honestly, we play both away and they seem to have no problem re-loading talent. Minnesota at home could be a fun revenge opportunity, too.

I see us having a "worst outcome" year of 6-6. I see us having a "great" year if we can hit 7-5 or 8-4, with that brutal back half of the schedule. I will be very, very disappointed if we cannot make a bowl game.

Last thought: Frost is our guy. We will not get anyone better than him ANY time soon, he's young, he's the favorite son of the state, and his track record has been good so far until coming to our dumpster fire of a program. We've extended his contract and are building a nation-leading facility around his program. I think keeping him around is a great idea. Period.

 

[Bremser]

...and turn boys into me

Why should I care about UCLA? I never liked Chip Kelly. Because Scott Frost? That's like caring about UCF... because Scott Frost. Blech. Just win Scott Frost. Just win.

...and turn boys into men. The latter helps lead to the former.

 

[dinglefritz]

I agree with most of this but I actually think the easy, soft schedule in the first half of the season really sets up well for us. We should be favored in every game except Cinci, don't know what they are returning. That should give us 6 wins, average finish would be one more win out of the 5 remaining, I think we can do that. A pretty good improvement gives us wins over MN and IA! That's 8 and we really need that for recruiting if nothing else.

I think Cinci has just about everybody back of importance. That is going to be a very tough game. They ended the season ranked and will start this season ranked in the top 25 I think. Their coaching continuity and the fact that their defense minded head coach is very familiar with Frost's offense will make this a tough one IMO. I won't be surprised if they beat us.

 

[oldjar07]

They're both system coaches so they tend to either misread the players they have or try fit a square peg in a round hole when they don't have the right guys. When the system is up and running and the players all buy in it works great. When you don't have that though, oftentimes it doesn't go so well.

That's why I wish Frost would have come in more with the mentality of a program building coach rather than a systems coach. Program building coaches have more flexibility in their approach and can easily change things like practice structure if things aren't going well. I think this approach would have been better than thinking our players are doing fine and we don't need to change anything, they just need to learn the system. That was obviously not the case as we saw the results on Saturdays where much of the team didn't even seem well practiced in the fundamental aspects of football.

 

[headcard]

I think Cinci has just about everybody back of importance. That is going to be a very tough game. They ended the season ranked and will start this season ranked in the top 25 I think. Their coaching continuity and the fact that their defense minded head coach is very familiar with Frost's offense will make this a tough one IMO. I won't be surprised if they beat us.

I agree that will be a tough game. The Purdue and Cinnci games could define the season. But I am not sure how familiar Fickel is with Frost's offense. They only faced each other one time in the AAC and UCF dropped 51 on them, in that game.

 

[jlb321]

everyone knew this was going to be a multiple year rebuild to even get to .500
go back and read all the posts, the coaches words, etc after the hire

finishing second to last in the division in year 2 should have come as no surprise ... people need to go back and remember how tempered the expectations in year one and particularly year 2 were. .. anyone claiming that we are anything but right on the predicted track is a revisionist

expecting to beat a mid-major team at home in only year 3 might be a bridge too far

 

[TheBeav815]

Best thing NU has going for it in 2020 is another year for some key guys to heal up and learn the offense. Especially in the QB room.

Just too many plays that are "one assignment away" last year. That YouTube clip that was posted a while back is a perfect example. If the RB isn't standing in Adrian's lap you're maybe looking at a touchdown pass early against Wisconsin. Little picky thing, but it's the difference between 6 points early in a huge game and an incompletion that lets their defense be ready for that look next time.

Tons of red zone plays at Purdue. "Oh if this guy doesn't do that it's a touchdown." Yeah well he did and it wasn't. Scott was too hesitant too often to be idiot proof with the playcalling last year. His guys didn't have it.

Takes time and takes depth to be able to put 11 guys out there who don't make as many mistakes. We played a center who couldn't snap the ball for half the season and a true freshman RB because our soph RB was out.

The team is in a very tenuous spot with youth, depth, and turnover. You need a 105 of good players to be able to try have that "next man up" mentality. NU flat out has not had that in at least 5 years.

I think Frost gets it when it comes to numbers. He signs guys and gets in transfers to fill roster spots with SCHOLARSHIP athletes. Not "oh let's hand out scholarships to 4 more walk-ons and call it the Nebraska way." Losing guys sucks but he's smart enough to go out there and sign more guys, and he has the stones enough to mean it when he tells a kid that if he doesn't want to be here, the exit is thattaway.

The dance becomes keeping the guys who are just too damned talented to let them slip away when they get in their feelings for a stretch, a la Eric Crouch.

 

[Red I 73]

I was looking at the Fansided analysis of our schedule. Fansided is trash with their web site (score errors, name errors, number errors, spelling errors constantly, terrible writing), but they at least provided a prediction for the season:

- Similar to most analyses, they think we have a very good shot of going 7-0 and being a Top 15 team by the time we get to Ohio State. Looking at it, I think Purdue will be tough (not only as a team, but because they are our FIRST GAME OF THE YEAR), I think the next two games will be challenging but absolutely should be wins, and I think Cincy is going to be a nail-biter. They're a legitimately good team.

- I think we beat Northwestern, Illinois, and Rutgers with very little problem. Northwestern plays smart and is well coached (as always), but the talent disparity between us and these three teams is just huge, and we're getting better at running our offensive scheme. Illinois and Northwestern might be tough games, but they are tough games we should win convincingly. Rutgers is just a team to practice on right now.

- I think Ohio State mops the floor with us, and Penn State also is similarly a significant loss, but we're able to sting both them and Penn State with some offensive production. I think we show that we're an improving team, but we're not "there" yet in these games.

- The last three games are Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. I think we "could" win 2/3, but it's more likely that we win 1/3. I think it is unlikely that we lose all three. Considering how consistently good Iowa and Wisconsin have been, and how Fleck has Minnesota turning around, I really could not tell you which we win or lose. Iowa and Wisconsin may have "down" years this year, but honestly, we play both away and they seem to have no problem re-loading talent. Minnesota at home could be a fun revenge opportunity, too.

I see us having a "worst outcome" year of 6-6. I see us having a "great" year if we can hit 7-5 or 8-4, with that brutal back half of the schedule. I will be very, very disappointed if we cannot make a bowl game.

Last thought: Frost is our guy. We will not get anyone better than him ANY time soon, he's young, he's the favorite son of the state, and his track record has been good so far until coming to our dumpster fire of a program. We've extended his contract and are building a nation-leading facility around his program. I think keeping him around is a great idea. Period.

CBS has the Huskers finishing 5th in the West ahead of Purdue and Illinois.

 

[jeans15]

No Bowl is unacceptable.

 

[HominidHusker]

No Bowl is unacceptable.

I think it’ll be tough to get there, but 3 years in, as a coach you need to get your team ready to play and win. Period. It’s your job.
Losing seasons simply aren’t ok at Nebraska.

 

[Red I 73]

No Bowl is unacceptable.

Will there be bowl games if fans are limited?

 

[TheBeav815]

Will there be bowl games if fans are limited?

Based on the crowd shots of most of the bowl games I've seen that won't be a new development.

 

[DudznSudz]

Based on the crowd shots of most of the bowl games I've seen that won't be a new development.

Ha ha, yeah, the last bowl game we went to where we beat up on UCLA in SF, that was...not a very full stadium.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Based on the crowd shots of most of the bowl games I've seen that won't be a new development.

There was an ACC title game a few years back and I swear that stadium was 85% empty. This isn't the one I was thinking of I don't think but found it pretty fast so I posted it.

 

[huskerhooligansdotcom]

Ha ha, yeah, the last bowl game we went to where we beat up on UCLA in SF, that was...not a very full stadium.

"the last bowl game we went to where we beat up on UCLA"

Let me remind everyone of the #1 most forgettable husker bowl game of all time. 2016 vs Tennessee in the Music City bowl. Ryker Fyfe got the start. It was a bad game. Very forgettable