how things have played out

[inWV]

Clearly the season didn't play out as it was sold (with the notable exception of some comments Moos made). I'm through denial, anger, and am now in acceptance. There have clearly been injuries, some that are known and some that were on very much on a need to know basis. And the MoWash flameout cost us probably both the Indiana and Perdue games. This team was very much not deep enough to withstand the lack of availability of key personnel.
Don't know if Frost and the staff under-estimated what the turnaround would really take. A youngish team hitting on all cylinders at the end of last year may have brought some false hope. And some kids may have evinced buy in early in the season, but then got off the bus once the going got rough. If the staff could replay the tape, I would imagine they would have given some of the younger kids their shot much earlier as opposed to juggling game appearances to keep redshirts. They got the Nelson kid out there and now NU will get the services of a decent LB for three years.
The Pelini teams are far in the rear view mirror and don't matter. I didn't think it was possible to overestimate the damage of the Riley tenure, but it seems Frost inherited a squad of players that simply struggle to win winnable games and find ways to lose. Not every game adjustment or play call has been on point, but how many games have been lost because one or two players couldn't simply make one play to close out a drive given numerous opportunities. Riley featured Potemkin recruiting classes and a lot of those players were part of the roster turnover that occurred. Some of those kids could have helped, but selected not to.
Can't really say what the issue is with the D. Chinander? Maybe. The Davis twins were recruited at Dtackles in a 4-3 and probably aren't optimal solutions as 3-4 DEs. Stille may be a role player. The LBs are still a mess. If Chin "gets all of his guys" on the 2 deep and the D still struggles, then Chin's seat gets hot. Buts let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Was really worried about AMart as he has struggled, but man he looked pretty good last Saturday. Mills did too. The Oline played much better. When fully healthy, the offense has great potential. AM, Mills, WanRob and JD are all legit weapons. Maybe we get all of those guys on the field for Iowa and can score enough points to get the W and go bowling.

 

[husker2612]

Im sure there are lots of things Frost could hit the "do over" button on this year.

 

[Row80]

A youngish team hitting on all cylinders at the end of last year may have brought some false hope.

I believe that this and Frost's success in the second year at UCF both contributed to false hope.

 

[HuskerTilDeath]

The Pelini teams are far in the rear view mirror and don't matter. I didn't think it was possible to overestimate the damage of the Riley tenure, but it seems Frost inherited a squad of players that simply struggle to win winnable games and find ways to lose. Not every game adjustment or play call has been on point, but how many games have been lost because one or two players couldn't simply make one play to close out a drive given numerous opportunities. Riley featured Potemkin recruiting classes and a lot of those players were part of the roster turnover that occurred. Some of those kids could have helped, but selected not to.

As devil's advocate, Riley could claim almost the exact same argument caused struggles during his tenure. He had a make-shift first class and then 2 full classes to completely change offensive and defensive philosophies from Pelini. To expect that the roster would be in a great place after such an abbreviated period is just short-sided and narrow-minded.

Riley had a good amount of misses, but his roster wasn't recruited with Frost's systems in mind, just as Pelini's roster wasn't recruited with Riley's systems in mind. We can blame Riley and absence of back squats all we want, but the two coaches walked into pretty similar situations and so-far Riley was able to win more games with the hand he was dealt.

Hopefully that will change and fortunately for Frost, it looks like he will get all the time he needs to build his program something Riley didn't have the luxury to do.

 

[bshirt73]

Clearly the season didn't play out as it was sold (with the notable exception of some comments Moos made). I'm through denial, anger, and am now in acceptance. There have clearly been injuries, some that are known and some that were on very much on a need to know basis. And the MoWash flameout cost us probably both the Indiana and Perdue games. This team was very much not deep enough to withstand the lack of availability of key personnel.
Don't know if Frost and the staff under-estimated what the turnaround would really take. A youngish team hitting on all cylinders at the end of last year may have brought some false hope. And some kids may have evinced buy in early in the season, but then got off the bus once the going got rough. If the staff could replay the tape, I would imagine they would have given some of the younger kids their shot much earlier as opposed to juggling game appearances to keep redshirts. They got the Nelson kid out there and now NU will get the services of a decent LB for three years.
The Pelini teams are far in the rear view mirror and don't matter. I didn't think it was possible to overestimate the damage of the Riley tenure, but it seems Frost inherited a squad of players that simply struggle to win winnable games and find ways to lose. Not every game adjustment or play call has been on point, but how many games have been lost because one or two players couldn't simply make one play to close out a drive given numerous opportunities. Riley featured Potemkin recruiting classes and a lot of those players were part of the roster turnover that occurred. Some of those kids could have helped, but selected not to.
Can't really say what the issue is with the D. Chinander? Maybe. The Davis twins were recruited at Dtackles in a 4-3 and probably aren't optimal solutions as 3-4 DEs. Stille may be a role player. The LBs are still a mess. If Chin "gets all of his guys" on the 2 deep and the D still struggles, then Chin's seat gets hot. Buts let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Was really worried about AMart as he has struggled, but man he looked pretty good last Saturday. Mills did too. The Oline played much better. When fully healthy, the offense has great potential. AM, Mills, WanRob and JD are all legit weapons. Maybe we get all of those guys on the field for Iowa and can score enough points to get the W and go bowling.

Excellent post sir and a good read. I too was absolutely amazed that our OLine looked way, wayyyyy better than ever this year. Oh, of course they're not anywhere close to pipeline quality yet "but" for some reason they greatly improved (loved it!!). Also, fully agree that AMart looked the best he's been all year. I don't know why but it was great to see.

Lastly, again fully agree Chins deserves a chance to see if he can upgrade the defense once he gets some players that he wants/needs. My take is that our lb situation is similar to our OLine this year. They both need big help. So anyway, we'll hope for the best and gotta believe HCSF knows that better than anybody.

Special/kicking teams are a monster sized problem. Just yet another HUGE problem. I don't know what to think about them. Maybe they should be priority #1?

 

[dand84]

I tend to look at things more holistically or at a higher level when assessing where we are after 2 years of this experiment with Frost. To me, the on field results we are seeing really aren't the problem to be fixed, they are the result of decisions and actions taken by the staff.

I think 2 major things about HCSF's leadership are important to understand (and I'm not claiming they are the only things wrong). Whether you think they are good things or bad things is open to debate, but I think they explain why we have 2 years of poor results.

1. Blame the other guy - This is a double-edged sword that will buy you time in the short run, but the excuse will run out quickly. Blaming the ills of our current roster on Riley and "Riley guys" and making constant references to "need our guys" or "need better players" is not a recipe for success in fostering buy in when you take over a new team. It alienates the guys already there and causes division in the team. I believe good coaches create an environment that owns results and welcomes all of its players. Blaming the other guy is HCSF telling you that he is not in control of the results. That is a decidedly poor message to convey.
2. Massive roster turnover - I believe we have turned over roughly 70% of the roster (bear with me, I'm at work and don't have my actual numbers in front of me). I believe something like 1/2 of HCSF's first class is gone or doesn't play. We have a number of good recruits that were either chased off the team or decided to leave due to my first point above. This is one where you debate whether this is good or bad, but the impact is that we have to play walk-ons and true freshman. I don't think playing true freshman in the B1G is a great idea in many cases. Yes there are exceptions, but lets look at the top 3 true Freshman that have played for NEB under Frost: Mo Washington - good first year, now gone. Injured vs. hurt. AM - good first year, not so good second year. Injuries. WR - good first year, now hurt. They have a surprise factor, then get the snot knocked out of them from overuse or teams figuring them out.

 

[bigboxes]

Frost is way more accountable for this year than many on here believe. It's up to him to make adjustments before and during the games.

 

[tstaup]

Probably fair to point out that HCSF seems to be looking for leaders who are intrinsically motivated to play the game vs. having a bunch of guys that have to be pumped up week over week with extrinsic motivations. Through my observations, it appears we have a few of those guys, but not enough of them right now and that presents a rather large in congruence in styles which will take some time to get aligned. That said, while the W-L record isn't showing progress, I think some of the behaviors do, which represents directionality sound progress, and if it continues, will spill over to an improvement in W-Ls.

I'm onboard for the long haul and am excited to celebrate, once again, like it's 1994!

 

[inWV]

Probably fair to point out that HCSF seems to be looking for leaders who are intrinsically motivated to play the game vs. having a bunch of guys that have to be pumped up week over week with extrinsic motivations. Through my observations, it appears we have a few of those guys, but not enough of them right now and that presents a rather large in congruence in styles which will take some time to get aligned. That said, while the W-L record isn't showing progress, I think some of the behaviors do, which represents directionality sound progress, and if it continues, will spill over to an improvement in W-Ls.

As a player during NU's epic run, Frost understands the internal drive of championship players, as he was one of those players. I've seen it myself back in the day when I was on various sports teams. Some kids don't need someone on their ass in order to be motivated.
Clearly Riley was just a bad hire. Essentially a .500 coach over a long career in the college game, CFL and NFL. I was supportive after asking the question Mike who?, as I didn't know who he was or where he had coached. And things looked good his second year, largely due to Tommy Armstrong, a player that wanted to win and didn't need external motivation.
Frost is a young coach in his first P5 job. The B1G is a big boy football conference and tough football players are needed to consistently win games in it. I certainly hope Scott can get it done.

 

[kidofSN]

It is pretty hard for upperclassmen to be leaders when the coach is saying that you are holding the team back due to lack of talented players! Pretty hard to (buy) in also when your coach is preaching that to reporters!

 

[Dreinhart]

Clearly the season didn't play out as it was sold (with the notable exception of some comments Moos made). I'm through denial, anger, and am now in acceptance. There have clearly been injuries, some that are known and some that were on very much on a need to know basis. And the MoWash flameout cost us probably both the Indiana and Perdue games. This team was very much not deep enough to withstand the lack of availability of key personnel.
Don't know if Frost and the staff under-estimated what the turnaround would really take. A youngish team hitting on all cylinders at the end of last year may have brought some false hope. And some kids may have evinced buy in early in the season, but then got off the bus once the going got rough. If the staff could replay the tape, I would imagine they would have given some of the younger kids their shot much earlier as opposed to juggling game appearances to keep redshirts. They got the Nelson kid out there and now NU will get the services of a decent LB for three years.
The Pelini teams are far in the rear view mirror and don't matter. I didn't think it was possible to overestimate the damage of the Riley tenure, but it seems Frost inherited a squad of players that simply struggle to win winnable games and find ways to lose. Not every game adjustment or play call has been on point, but how many games have been lost because one or two players couldn't simply make one play to close out a drive given numerous opportunities. Riley featured Potemkin recruiting classes and a lot of those players were part of the roster turnover that occurred. Some of those kids could have helped, but selected not to.
Can't really say what the issue is with the D. Chinander? Maybe. The Davis twins were recruited at Dtackles in a 4-3 and probably aren't optimal solutions as 3-4 DEs. Stille may be a role player. The LBs are still a mess. If Chin "gets all of his guys" on the 2 deep and the D still struggles, then Chin's seat gets hot. Buts let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Was really worried about AMart as he has struggled, but man he looked pretty good last Saturday. Mills did too. The Oline played much better. When fully healthy, the offense has great potential. AM, Mills, WanRob and JD are all legit weapons. Maybe we get all of those guys on the field for Iowa and can score enough points to get the W and go bowling.

This is a damn good post!

 

[donahues17]

A major issue with the defense is the lack of proper tackling fundamentals that are usually learned in about 5th grade. Keep your head up. If you look at the ground you dont know where the ball carrier is at.

 

[WestCoastCornhusker2]

Clearly the season didn't play out as it was sold (with the notable exception of some comments Moos made). I'm through denial, anger, and am now in acceptance. There have clearly been injuries, some that are known and some that were on very much on a need to know basis. And the MoWash flameout cost us probably both the Indiana and Perdue games. This team was very much not deep enough to withstand the lack of availability of key personnel.
Don't know if Frost and the staff under-estimated what the turnaround would really take. A youngish team hitting on all cylinders at the end of last year may have brought some false hope. And some kids may have evinced buy in early in the season, but then got off the bus once the going got rough. If the staff could replay the tape, I would imagine they would have given some of the younger kids their shot much earlier as opposed to juggling game appearances to keep redshirts. They got the Nelson kid out there and now NU will get the services of a decent LB for three years.
The Pelini teams are far in the rear view mirror and don't matter. I didn't think it was possible to overestimate the damage of the Riley tenure, but it seems Frost inherited a squad of players that simply struggle to win winnable games and find ways to lose. Not every game adjustment or play call has been on point, but how many games have been lost because one or two players couldn't simply make one play to close out a drive given numerous opportunities. Riley featured Potemkin recruiting classes and a lot of those players were part of the roster turnover that occurred. Some of those kids could have helped, but selected not to.
Can't really say what the issue is with the D. Chinander? Maybe. The Davis twins were recruited at Dtackles in a 4-3 and probably aren't optimal solutions as 3-4 DEs. Stille may be a role player. The LBs are still a mess. If Chin "gets all of his guys" on the 2 deep and the D still struggles, then Chin's seat gets hot. Buts let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Was really worried about AMart as he has struggled, but man he looked pretty good last Saturday. Mills did too. The Oline played much better. When fully healthy, the offense has great potential. AM, Mills, WanRob and JD are all legit weapons. Maybe we get all of those guys on the field for Iowa and can score enough points to get the W and go bowling.

The D will be frustratingly worse next year since the players will have another year under Chins tutelage.

 

[Husker_AMG63]

Scott's problem as said above is that he too much blames others for the team's shortcomings. He needs to stop because sooner rather than later that excuse is gonna ain't gonna work with the masses!

Blaming players especially 3rd n 4th year guys just divides the team and benefits no one! I have never seen that tactic work anywhere!

 

[HominidHusker]

I tend to look at things more holistically or at a higher level when assessing where we are after 2 years of this experiment with Frost. To me, the on field results we are seeing really aren't the problem to be fixed, they are the result of decisions and actions taken by the staff.

I think 2 major things about HCSF's leadership are important to understand (and I'm not claiming they are the only things wrong). Whether you think they are good things or bad things is open to debate, but I think they explain why we have 2 years of poor results.

1. Blame the other guy - This is a double-edged sword that will buy you time in the short run, but the excuse will run out quickly. Blaming the ills of our current roster on Riley and "Riley guys" and making constant references to "need our guys" or "need better players" is not a recipe for success in fostering buy in when you take over a new team. It alienates the guys already there and causes division in the team. I believe good coaches create an environment that owns results and welcomes all of its players. Blaming the other guy is HCSF telling you that he is not in control of the results. That is a decidedly poor message to convey.
2. Massive roster turnover - I believe we have turned over roughly 70% of the roster (bear with me, I'm at work and don't have my actual numbers in front of me). I believe something like 1/2 of HCSF's first class is gone or doesn't play. We have a number of good recruits that were either chased off the team or decided to leave due to my first point above. This is one where you debate whether this is good or bad, but the impact is that we have to play walk-ons and true freshman. I don't think playing true freshman in the B1G is a great idea in many cases. Yes there are exceptions, but lets look at the top 3 true Freshman that have played for NEB under Frost: Mo Washington - good first year, now gone. Injured vs. hurt. AM - good first year, not so good second year. Injuries. WR - good first year, now hurt. They have a surprise factor, then get the snot knocked out of them from overuse or teams figuring them out.

1. I’ve also not been a fan of some of his public comments about needing the player upgrades and potentially alienating some upperclassmen in particular. He could have contributed to any locker room divide.
I did not mind the honesty about the teams level of conditioning when he arrived, but saying the players aren’t good enough can be “understood” without being explicitly stated.
Hopefully, moving forward that narrative can disappear. It’s hard to be a coach and say exactly the right things the right way all the time.

2. The turnover is tough to judge without knowing exactly how it went down behind closed doors. New staff, new methods, new expectations, a team that just failed the year prior to taking over- it’s understood some guys won’t buy in and want to leave.

The number of Frost recruits who have already left is a bit concerning to me, but in fairness, the staff didn’t have a complete cycle to build relationships.

I’m accepting of the need for us fans to be patient with roster turnover, but it still requires solid recruiting. We hit a lull right now with 2020 class, but they’re still close to landing at least a few more quality players which is a positive sign. If more of the youngsters stay on board and develop as expected, then hopefully we’ll see more stability and depth.

 

[phoenix4nu]

Scott's problem as said above is that he too much blames others for the team's shortcomings. He needs to stop because sooner rather than later that excuse is gonna ain't gonna work with the masses!

Blaming players especially 3rd n 4th year guys just divides the team and benefits no one! I have never seen that tactic work anywhere!

Very true in my opinion.