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How bad was this team under Frost?

SLOHusker

Senior
Aug 7, 2001
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Despite the loss to Illinois, there is a marked improvement in many areas. A bad team yes, but not as bad.

This team lost to a NW team that is almost certain to go 1-11. Their last four games are against OSU, Minn, Purdue, and Illinois. The best shot is against Minn but it's a long shot.

Considering Frost's first 3 games, and really four since Oklahoma was with his DC and too soon for MJ to have any effect, the team that started the season could well have been 131 out of 131 in FBS. NW is currently ranked 122 on this poll (https://www.versussportssimulator.com/FBS/rankings).

There can really be no doubt that Frost is the worst coach in Nebraska history. But how is it possible that going into this season we actually achieved this incredible low?
 
I'm not really sure about that as much as pathetic player development. Ty Robinson was recruited by Alabama. Corcoran and others were top 100 players. They get here and never improve and in many cases got worse.
I see this a lot like when Bo Pelini took over in 2008. He inherited mostly the same roster from Cosgrove’s 2007 team and produced a massive improvement in one off-season.

Maybe we’re not world class on the roster, but we have enough guys to be good enough. The coaching failed them miserably.
 
I'm not really sure about that as much as pathetic player development. Ty Robinson was recruited by Alabama. Corcoran and others were top 100 players. They get here and never improve and in many cases got worse.
Nick Gates and Matt Farniok are 2 good examples of recent O-lineman who've shown they could develop and live up to their college recruiting hype - after leaving NU.
 
Recruiting puzzles me. Kinda tired of the rankings hype. Illinois clearly has better dudes up front. Not sure "how", but we gotta figure out how to dominate (or at least compete) on the lines. It seems like we continually get our brains beat in by programs that never recruit that well according to the hype machines.
 
My 2 centavos
1. Recruiting by NU according to the services has been solid - top 25 to top 20. One could argue that the types of players weren't a good fit for the league.
2. The talent was not well developed across the board. This is especially true wrt the line of scrimmage players. Kids like Domann and CTB did well, but they were going to do that anyway. Hard to coach the baller out of a kid. Martinez was an effective game manager for KSU until he got hurt, but he couldn't find his ass with both hands on that front in Lincoln. Now we know why. I wonder if NU wouldn't have been better of if Adrian had called his own plays.
3. The coaches for the most part did not turn out to be good enough to be coaching in the B1G. But then again, the initial Frost staff was taken entirely from a G5 program.
4. There is a losing culture in Lincoln and a good example of it was on display Saturday. Illinois took an early lead, NU's D bowed up and NU got a lead. After getting punched in the mouth, Illinois players gathered themselves and kept playing. NU's defense kept battling, but the offense wet it's pants after Thompson went out. Basically the game was over after Casey left the field. Again, that is player preparation, but it takes time to reverse a losing culture.
5. The program has officially achieved the status it had pre-Devaney. It will take good players, good coaches and a little good luck to reverse.
6. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a full reset of the coaching staff at the end of the season. Mickey and Busch are really solid recruiters, but that might be offset by the need of a full reset.
7. I'll keep watching regardless.
 
Recruiting puzzles me. Kinda tired of the rankings hype. Illinois clearly has better dudes up front. Not sure "how", but we gotta figure out how to dominate (or at least compete) on the lines. It seems like we continually get our brains beat in by programs that never recruit that well according to the hype machines.
Bielema knows the types of players needed to be competitive in the conference. Frost was going to force the conference to adjust to him. Which turned out to be bullshit.
 
Recruiting puzzles me. Kinda tired of the rankings hype. Illinois clearly has better dudes up front. Not sure "how", but we gotta figure out how to dominate (or at least compete) on the lines. It seems like we continually get our brains beat in by programs that never recruit that well according to the hype machines.
Recruiting is one piece of a big puzzle. But coaching and player development are equally as important. There have been a lot of average USC and Florida teams loaded with talent that might have been national champions elsewhere. Pete Carroll was the first and only coach in a long time that actually turned USC's raw talent into a dominant program.
I cannot fathom what was going un in the program under Frost that was causing players to be so lackluster athletically and undisciplined. Once again it is obvious that nepotism was too much of a factor and people with insider knowledge likely kept their mouths shut too long. Most of this never came out until after he was canned.
 
My 2 centavos
1. Recruiting by NU according to the services has been solid - top 25 to top 20. One could argue that the types of players weren't a good fit for the league.
2. The talent was not well developed across the board. This is especially true wrt the line of scrimmage players. Kids like Domann and CTB did well, but they were going to do that anyway. Hard to coach the baller out of a kid. Martinez was an effective game manager for KSU until he got hurt, but he couldn't find his ass with both hands on that front in Lincoln. Now we know why. I wonder if NU wouldn't have been better of if Adrian had called his own plays.
3. The coaches for the most part did not turn out to be good enough to be coaching in the B1G. But then again, the initial Frost staff was taken entirely from a G5 program.
4. There is a losing culture in Lincoln and a good example of it was on display Saturday. Illinois took an early lead, NU's D bowed up and NU got a lead. After getting punched in the mouth, Illinois players gathered themselves and kept playing. NU's defense kept battling, but the offense wet it's pants after Thompson went out. Basically the game was over after Casey left the field. Again, that is player preparation, but it takes time to reverse a losing culture.
5. The program has officially achieved the status it had pre-Devaney. It will take good players, good coaches and a little good luck to reverse.
6. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a full reset of the coaching staff at the end of the season. Mickey and Busch are really solid recruiters, but that might be offset by the need of a full reset.
7. I'll keep watching regardless.
Thanks, inWV. Spot on. OUCH...on the last sentence of #2!

The more time that goes by, the more I appreciate the common denominator in our glory years was Tom Osborne. He, nor the program, even came close to realizing how special he is/was. ...so much so that he and the program completely forewent proper succession planning to replace him. THAT was the beginning of the end of the domination of Nebraska football. Devaney was special. He was "more special" thanks to Osborne.

IIRC, Bob Stoops was very interested in the job when Osborne left. There were probably many others who would have jumped at the chance to inherit the gold standard program back then. Thankfully, the lure, although tarnished, is likely still there (facilities, budget, fan support, etc.) for a great coach to come on board. Time will tell...

GBR!
 
Thanks, inWV. Spot on. OUCH...on the last sentence of #2!

The more time that goes by, the more I appreciate the common denominator in our glory years was Tom Osborne. He, nor the program, even came close to realizing how special he is/was. ...so much so that he and the program completely forewent proper succession planning to replace him. THAT was the beginning of the end of the domination of Nebraska football. Devaney was special. He was "more special" thanks to Osborne.

IIRC, Bob Stoops was very interested in the job when Osborne left. There were probably many others who would have jumped at the chance to inherit the gold standard program back then. Thankfully, the lure, although tarnished, is likely still there (facilities, budget, fan support, etc.) for a great coach to come on board. Time will tell...

GBR!
College football is 90% coaching. The right coach will start winning practically anywhere. More programs have been more willing to fire a coach sooner than NU did until they find the right guy. From my experience as a programmer, there are brilliant people that will learn quickly and be successful and there are plenty of others who will turn out next to nothing after a year on the job. You can't better train or better support the people that are in the second group. They just don't have it. The people in the successful group train themselves and actively seek ways to improve everything all the time.
Coaching and just about every profession has its stars and lackluster performers and the only difference is that there is no scoreboard for many of them for the world to really see it. I have yet to see proof that nepotism has anything but negative results anywhere or at any time. We all agree that Frost would have been fired sooner if not for having been a legacy Husker.
 
Bielema knows the types of players needed to be competitive in the conference. Frost was going to force the conference to adjust to him. Which turned out to be bullshit.
I just wish CT played the whole game. If he did, I think we had a 50-50 chance to win this game based on the first quarter and a half.
 
Fire Trash GIF
 
Booze, broads, bad recruiting, bad hires, boosters, blinders, bears, beets, battlestar galactica
and who was behind hiring the idiot? most of us dumbass fans only knew he went undefeated at ucf and beat an unispired sec team in a bowl. i'll take my pinch of the blame but who has been driving the hiring bus for the last 2 decades? seems like more than frosty and his band need to go somewhere else and get out of the drivers seat.
 
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A good HC and staff can turnaround a dumpster fire quickly. The writing was on the wall for Frost after his 2nd year in which NU still didn't have a winning record. Some coaches just have it (Meyer, Saban, Stoops and etc) while others don't. Look at Heupel, it didn't take him and his staff long to turn things around quickly at Tennessee. If NU gets the right HC and staff in place a decent turnaround could occur. Probably not a Tennessee type turnaround but at least getting to a bowl game for the first time in 7 years.
 
Can’t blame Trev. He wanted to fire Frost last year but didn’t have the political support because Boosters and our fan base were so blinded by “He’s one of us.” To see the absolute shitshow Frost created.
Cue @Bigtimebooster, the really important high level booster who is either a fraud or a weazly traitor who cannot be trusted with anything confidential.
 
Can’t blame Trev. He wanted to fire Frost last year but didn’t have the political support because Boosters and our fan base were so blinded by “He’s one of us.” To see the absolute shitshow Frost created.
We were close last season.
 
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We were close last season.
I heard it before, but it also made me think! If Frost had recruited a really good running back or 2, he might have been around! A running back that broke tackles hehind the line of scrimmage! Could have gotten a few more victories! Perish the thought! Lazy recruiting!
 
Can’t blame Trev. He wanted to fire Frost last year but didn’t have the political support because Boosters and our fan base were so blinded by “He’s one of us.” To see the absolute shitshow Frost created.
I don’t. I should have been more clear. Trev inherited a disaster with a failing coach and unwarranted extension.

I blame the pre-Trev administration.
 
Frost didn’t nothing to improve Nebraska football, he was good at laying blame on Riley for 3 plus years
 
Most of the first these were apparently open secrets among those with knowledge of the program. Why didn't this make it's way up the ladder enough to get his ass out before he trashed the program?
We are seeing the direct result of 3 idiot booze hounds doing whatever they want to, unchecked
 
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Bad recruiting is the main reason. We have very little legitimate Big 10 talent.
Disagree with respect to lack of talent. We could have recruited a 5 star athlete and left under SF staff he would have looked like a 3 star in 3-4 years of underdevelopment due to horrific coaching

That said we have recruited talent that does not fit the needs of big 10 teams such as 6'7" to 6'10" OL. We need maulers that can move their feet, get pad leverage and just want to punish the guy in front of them.
 
Recruiting is one piece of a big puzzle. But coaching and player development are equally as important. There have been a lot of average USC and Florida teams loaded with talent that might have been national champions elsewhere. Pete Carroll was the first and only coach in a long time that actually turned USC's raw talent into a dominant program.
I cannot fathom what was going un in the program under Frost that was causing players to be so lackluster athletically and undisciplined. Once again it is obvious that nepotism was too much of a factor and people with insider knowledge likely kept their mouths shut too long. Most of this never came out until after he was canned.
touch football
 
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Thanks, inWV. Spot on. OUCH...on the last sentence of #2!

The more time that goes by, the more I appreciate the common denominator in our glory years was Tom Osborne. He, nor the program, even came close to realizing how special he is/was. ...so much so that he and the program completely forewent proper succession planning to replace him. THAT was the beginning of the end of the domination of Nebraska football. Devaney was special. He was "more special" thanks to Osborne.

IIRC, Bob Stoops was very interested in the job when Osborne left. There were probably many others who would have jumped at the chance to inherit the gold standard program back then. Thankfully, the lure, although tarnished, is likely still there (facilities, budget, fan support, etc.) for a great coach to come on board. Time will tell...

GBR!
Maybe it's selfish, but the best thing for the program would have been convincing Osborne to stay around longer. If Osborne had stuck around as long as Saban has, he'd have been #1 all time and won 2 to 3 more championships.
 
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Maybe it's selfish, but the best thing for the program would have been convincing Osborne to stay around longer. If Osborne had stuck around as long as Saban has, he'd have been #1 all time and won 2 to 3 more championships.
Tom went out on top.
 
Maybe it's selfish, but the best thing for the program would have been convincing Osborne to stay around longer. If Osborne had stuck around as long as Saban has, he'd have been #1 all time and won 2 to 3 more championships.
He was at Nebraska longer than Saban has been at Alabama
 
Bad recruiting is the main reason. We have very little legitimate Big 10 talent.
Not true. There are players that will play on Sunday on this team. I just saw Toure playing for Green Bay and he was a transfer last year. Palmer definitely will play. There are other guys who can play. They just need someone to get the ball to them.
 
Maybe it's selfish, but the best thing for the program would have been convincing Osborne to stay around longer. If Osborne had stuck around as long as Saban has, he'd have been #1 all time and won 2 to 3 more championships.
I don't think alot of folks understand it took dr. tom 20 years, with full attention on developing staff and players to win the nc's he did....the first thing that should have been done when solich took over is have dan and bucks hands x-rayed to see why they fumbled so much...cause right after they started fumbeling solich just ran crouch left crouch right, to make us one dimentional..(did the same with lord)...solich leaveing the rb position caused huge problems..went from the lp/green work horses, to the dan and buck fumbeling show.

and they should of had someone learn from milt (and dan young) in his final years
I suppose the same could be said for mcbride and darlinton..

it's a problem when you win 3 out of 4 nc's...cause the only place to go from there is down.....
I think if Nebraska is to get back to playing decent football, it will take a coach who understands the run game, with some passing...I know there's dream'in folks who think urban is gonna fly in with manning...but here in the real world it's not that easy at all.

I prescribe aranda or rhule as hc...mickey as oc...and houstons dc...bush special teams
what part of recruiting the south do any of the guys above listed not understand?????????(hello)?????????????

then a serious look on the lines, what makes a oline? do they run block or pass black..and how much focus on each?
what makes a dline? do the practice tackleing? or is that just from game time experince?
question like these, need to be addressed and answered in a coherent way moving forward...

can we develope linemen from around Nebraska to block and tackle like we used to? or do we have to out recruit the bama's and ohio states for them???and if so where is that nil money coming from?

again questions that need answers. not hip hip huraha's or golf simulators..
 
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I don't think alot of folks understand it took dr. tom 20 years, with full attention on developing staff and players to win the nc's he did....the first thing that should have been done when solich took over is have dan and bucks hands x-rayed to see why they fumbled so much...cause right after they started fumbeling solich just ran crouch left crouch right, to make us one dimentional..(did the same with lord)...solich leaveing the rb position caused huge problems..went from the lp/green work horses, to the dan and buck fumbeling show.

and they should of had someone learn from milt (and dan young) in his final years
I suppose the same could be said for mcbride and darlinton..

it's a problem when you win 3 out of 4 nc's...cause the only place to go from there is down.....
I think if Nebraska is to get back to playing decent football, it will take a coach who understands the run game, with some passing...I know there's dream'in folks who think urban is gonna fly in with manning...but here in the real world it's not that easy at all.

I prescribe aranda or rhule as hc...mickey as oc...and houstons dc...bush special teams
what part of recruiting the south do any of the guys above listed not understand?????????(hello)?????????????

then a serious look on the lines, what makes a oline? do they run block or pass black..and how much focus on each?
what makes a dline? do the practice tackleing? or is that just from game time experince?
question like these, need to be addressed and answered in a coherent way moving forward...

can we develope linemen from around Nebraska to block and tackle like we used to? or do we have to out recruit the bama's and ohio states for them???and if so where is that nil money coming from?

again questions that need answers. not hip hip huraha's or golf simulators..
I still think Osborne would have won 2 titles with Crouch and would have recruited well enough afterwards for a chance at 1 or 2 more. That's if he coached until the age Saban is. Saban won 4 of his titles after the age of 60 which is when Osborne retired.
 
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