It isn't Scott Frost, it is Nebraska.

[wcbrooks]

This is not a new perception, I remember working in the yard one day and my neighbor noticed my Husker sweatshirt and said, “Nebraska? They suck.” That was 2007, I believe. The day before the Rose Bowl, a friend asked how Nebraska will fare against the Trojans and I said it will be exciting for about 10 minutes. He said that’s what he figured, noting they shouldn’t even be there.

Now, granted when Frost was hired there was a sense not just by fans but some national talking heads that popped up in anticipation of a reawakening of the Huskers of old.

However, by and large the prevailing view has been too many structural (meddling or clueless administrators) and geographical impediments (complicating recruiting, for example). Add to that a “delusional” fanbase and you have a recipe for mediocrity.

So, the OP’s original post makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[Rustys Dad]

The national narrative, and the narrative within programs is that Scott Frost is a great coach. He went undefeated when placed at an inferior school but with good talent. His coaching staff is also responsible for that success. He is the national coach of the year.

Nationally it is Nebraska that is the problem. The view is that the area is backwards thinking, has no talent, and has little innovation outside fans showing up mindlessly to games. The narrative is going to be "If Scott Frost can't fix it, nobody can". Nebraska fans think we have this shining jewel that coaches have ruined while the national narrative has become that Nebraska is the place that coaches go to die. This is dangerous and worrying, and all you negative nancies better hope he gets this thing done because every fired coach just pushes this perception.

Frost had one good year at UCF... a program that experienced a lot of success before and after Frost. UCF was a recruiting goldmine. He was OC at an Oregon school with a built in system - making any OC successful.

Maybe... just maybe .... he’s not the coach all Nebraska fans want so hard for him to be. Sort of reminds me of Steve Alford... tossing players under the bus and ‘it’s not my fault.’

I don’t think Frost will get you past 8-9 wins... same as what Bo did..

 

[WestCoastCornhusker2]

The national narrative, and the narrative within programs is that Scott Frost is a great coach. He went undefeated when placed at an inferior school but with good talent. His coaching staff is also responsible for that success. He is the national coach of the year.

Nationally it is Nebraska that is the problem. The view is that the area is backwards thinking, has no talent, and has little innovation outside fans showing up mindlessly to games. The narrative is going to be "If Scott Frost can't fix it, nobody can". Nebraska fans think we have this shining jewel that coaches have ruined while the national narrative has become that Nebraska is the place that coaches go to die. This is dangerous and worrying, and all you negative nancies better hope he gets this thing done because every fired coach just pushes this perception.

It's not Nebraska because we can recruit better every single year than every West division team and better than all of east division except OSU, Michigan, and PSU. It's always poor coaching.

 

[Bugeater]

For one thing we need patience in him and his staff recruiting his type of players for more than just a couple of years...

He also has to figure out what works and what doesn’t work on both sides of the ball in the B1G conference..

He and his staff will have a long winter to review video and hopefully figure out their problems. If they can't learn anything from watching the past 12 games, then it will trouble as usual for Husker football.

Honestly, I wish they'd swallow some pride and have an outsider like Urban come and help evaluate their pluses and minuses. The coaches back about 27 years ago sought out the Florida State staff for suggestions, wouldn't hurt to do the same with this group.

 

[z28craz]

Pelini won 9-10 games every year for 7 years, and he can't even win at an FCS program now. People said a trained monkey could win 9 games here. The Big Ten west is one of the easiest divisions in P5 College Football, possibly the easiest when you look at recruiting rankings.

Apparently you haven’t looked at the ACC or the PAC-12 recently. Outside of a few outliers those conferences are garbage. With the exception of Clemson, Utah and maybe Oregon the BigTen West looks pretty solid against the ACC and the PAC-12.

 

[dinglefritz]

Pelini won 9-10 games every year for 7 years, and he can't even win at an FCS program now. People said a trained monkey could win 9 games here. The Big Ten west is one of the easiest divisions in P5 College Football, possibly the easiest when you look at recruiting rankings.

The B1G West is NOT one of the easiest divisions in college football THIS year. Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin are ALL good this year. NU is improving ever so slowly but for heaven's sake look at the respect given to those 3 teams this year by national voters. On top of that Indiana and Illinois from the east are better than they've been for a while. Good heavens, look at the sh## show conference Clemson plays in. The Pac12 isn't exactly a world beater either.

 

[scarletred]

The B1G West is NOT one of the easiest divisions in college football THIS year. Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin are ALL good this year. NU is improving ever so slowly but for heaven's sake look at the respect given to those 3 teams this year by national voters. On top of that Indiana and Illinois from the east are better than they've been for a while. Good heavens, look at the sh## show conference Clemson plays in. The Pac12 isn't exactly a world beater either.

Agreed except Nebraska hadn’t improved from last season..

 

[dinglefritz]

He and his staff will have a long winter to review video and hopefully figure out their problems. If they can't learn anything from watching the past 12 games, then it will trouble as usual for Husker football.

Honestly, I wish they'd swallow some pride and have an outsider like Urban come and help evaluate their pluses and minuses. The coaches back about 27 years ago sought out the Florida State staff for suggestions, wouldn't hurt to do the same with this group.

We don't need Urban to evaluate anything. Frost has the best mentor who could speak openly and honestly with him IF he chooses to do so. This thing is so damned close in so many ways IMO. We have to have some young guys step up at linebacker next year. We also need a difference maker or two at WR. Wandale's back. Mills is back. Johnson is back. Spielman IS back. The whole O line is back and we're going to have competition at a couple of spots but this group as is was playing pretty damned well these last 3 games.

 

[z28craz]

The frustrating part will be watching SF learn on the job.

I think this is the key. Nobody wanted a coach who needed to learn on the job, but that’s what we have. We have to get off the coaching carousel so it’s critical that we have patience and let Frost work. I am as disappointed as anyone, but I still think Frost is the guy to rebuild this program. I think he has great leadership ability, but part of that is being honest with yourself about your performance and that of your coaches and team. He needs to develop in that area.

 

[dinglefritz]

Agreed except Nebraska hadn’t improved from last season..

You may be right. I see improvement these last 3 games personally. We gave Wisconsin and Iowa, 2 highly ranked teams, all they wanted to end the year and IMO the guys we're losing are replaceable. Jackson will be tough to replace but I think we can find a guy there. We need a stud WR and for a young linebacker or 2 to step up. We've had lots of young guys play on defense and play pretty darned well.

 

[9and4]

The B1G West is NOT one of the easiest divisions in college football THIS year. Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin are ALL good this year. NU is improving ever so slowly but for heaven's sake look at the respect given to those 3 teams this year by national voters. On top of that Indiana and Illinois from the east are better than they've been for a while. Good heavens, look at the sh## show conference Clemson plays in. The Pac12 isn't exactly a world beater either.

Agreed. The score in the Big Ten so far this year: West 10, East 10; the Purdue-Indiana game likely will tip the score in favor of the East, but there's not that big of a difference except that Ohio State is elite, and Rutgers, Northwestern and Maryland have been smoldering garbage (though Northwestern is leading Illinois right now). The rest of the league is strong (Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State, Minnesota, Iowa) or average-ish (Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, Michigan State, Purdue).

 

[bshirt73]

I agree, but he also gets paid more than enough to quickly learn what every fan can see when the swing passes aren’t working (combined w/ Mills early success running but still avoiding giving him touches- then proving the point in the second half when he finally adapted). Continuing to attempt the awful swing plays all season makes us question his adaptability.

I still think Frost can develop into a good coach given time, but I would say this year exposed him as not ready to be a great coach.
It’s been hard to distinguish the blurred line between talent and coaching this year, but most all of us seem to agree the failures have been a combination of both.
Missing bowl practices for third year is an unfortunate penalty when trying to develop the young roster.
There’s a lot of off season work that needs to happen to develop the team.

I'm 100% behind HCSF. But of course there's always an exception to the rule. I too just don't get his deep love for horizontal passes everywhere. They're a total disaster almost every damn time but we just keep playing that fluffy crap all year long. Even with our running game finally improving....#1 priority is still more & more horizontal passes.

Ha....there "must" be a good reason for that stuff but it's way, wayyyy over my head.

 

[MOhusker12]

You are right. We need this to work. We need to support HCSF and he needs to evolve and grow as a coach.

This season sucked because expectations were sky high. However, last seasons team and this years team is much better than Riley's last team. I still remember the 2017 game at Minny and we are in a much better position moving forward.

 

[dinglefritz]

I'm 100% behind HCSF. But of course there's always an exception to the rule. I too just don't get his deep love for horizontal passes everywhere. They're a total disaster almost every damn time but we just keep playing that fluffy crap all year long. Even with our running game finally improving....#1 priority is still more & more horizontal passes.

Ha....there "must" be a good reason for that stuff but it's way, wayyyy over my head.

We don't have the speed to stretch the D deep so he was trying to stretch them laterally to keep them honest and open up some runs IMO. He also IMO was trying to make their stud DE sprint to the sidelines as much as possible to slow down his pass rush. We missed some open receivers. The one INT AM threw should have been a TD. AM tried to force one I think on the last play Wandale played on when he had a guy 5 yards deeper right across the middle. It would have been a VERY easy pass and catch for a first down. Instead we punted.

 

[uberism1111]

Frost will be fine and will get the program rebuilt to an elite level. I'm one of the biggest Frost supporters you will find on the Internet and even I wasn't expecting much these first two seasons. I figured we would have made a bowl game but we were not that far off from that.

I think the team starts to build upwards next season. There isn't anything leave that can't be replaced. Thus, the team will continue to grow and better talent continued to be recruited.

I don't expect us to win a conference title for a few more years. But like I have said all season, check back in 3 years and this program will look completely different on the football field.

 

[bshirt73]

We don't have the speed to stretch the D deep so he was trying to stretch them laterally to keep them honest and open up some runs IMO. He also IMO was trying to make their stud DE sprint to the sidelines as much as possible to slow down his pass rush. We missed some open receivers. The one INT AM threw should have been a TD. AM tried to force one I think on the last play Wandale played on when he had a guy 5 yards deeper right across the middle. It would have been a VERY easy pass and catch for a first down. Instead we punted.

Well stated as always with you sir. But I'm not sure it's worth giving up boatloads of downs for essentially almost zero success (all year long). But hell.....I don't know. Maybe it's worth it.

 

[dinglefritz]

Well stated as always with you sir. But I'm not sure it's worth giving up boatloads of downs for essentially almost zero success (all year long). But hell.....I don't know. Maybe it's worth it.

Those sideline passes/bubble screens were some of our most productive plays earlier in the year. I don't like them a bunch either, but everybody runs them and Tom liked to run them too. It SHOULD be an easy pass for your QB to complete and the idea is to get guys in space. We've had some big plays from those the last 2 years. The negative plays no doubt are killers.

 

[Wasker77]

Pelini won 9-10 games every year for 7 years, and he can't even win at an FCS program now. People said a trained monkey could win 9 games here. The Big Ten west is one of the easiest divisions in P5 College Football, possibly the easiest when you look at recruiting rankings.

Easiest in the P5? I have to think about that, but I would say it is much improved. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and even Indiana are having pretty good years. Purdue and Northwestern are up and down. Illinois is capable of winning games. If we fans have learned anything it is we cannot just show up and expect to win.

 

[Shockleydawg]

SoFla Husker. Hang in there. We appreciate your support. The fanbase has just taken a beating after going 5-7. People are going to say mean things following this. (And then you witness Ohio State continue to shine with the same talent we once loaded up with once upon a time.) Give our fans time to cool off. We love our fans from Florida.

And while you're at it, talk to those Florida recruits for us while you're there. We could use another Fla. native CB Tyrone Williams in a heatbeat. I'm a happy conservative too BTW

 

[bshirt73]

SoFla Husker. Hang in there. We appreciate your support. The fanbase has just taken a beating after going 5-7. People are going to say mean things following this. (And then you witness Ohio State continue to shine with the same talent we once loaded up with once upon a time.) Give our fans time to cool off. We love our fans from Florida.

And while you're at it, talk to those Florida recruits for us while you're there. We could use another Fla. native CB Tyrone Williams in a heatbeat. I'm a happy conservative too BTW

Excellent post sir.

 

[Solana Beach Husker]

Pelini won 9-10 games every year for 7 years, and he can't even win at an FCS program now. People said a trained monkey could win 9 games here. The Big Ten west is one of the easiest divisions in P5 College Football, possibly the easiest when you look at recruiting rankings.

And yet Bo won less than 20% of his big games...winning 9 inconsequential games is harmful for two reasons. The media sees 9 and expects us to keep our coach because Nebraska should not expect more, but the media also sees us get blasted in big games because those 4 losses every year were by an average of 25+ points a game. So we had to keep our coach but we never had a chance to win anything meaningful. Talk about purgatory.

 

[Solana Beach Husker]

There is a very strong correlation between recruiting rankings and on-field results. No team has made the National Championship game without recruiting at a Top 10 level.

Iowa has done a good job of developing players, but doesn't have anything in the trophy case to show for it. Your best team ever got humiliated by Stanford. Great teams need to recruit great players and develop them. Our current staff hasn't shown they can do either.

Wrong...Oregon early this decade did...with HCSF on staff. Oregon had recruiting classes that averaged between 15-21 depending on the services. They were field goal from winning the national title with said classes. Times have changed but it is possible...

 

[Solana Beach Husker]

I’ll be far more critical next season. This year is just disappointing. He better get it figured out because next year won’t be as forgiving, sadly. Another losing season and the media will turn on him and churn out stories of him being a bust, almost forcing Nebraska’s hand.

A good coach would have got us 8-9 wins this year and not make excuses. He may end up being the best coach ever but you’re lying to yourself if you’re saying he’s been good here.

I don’t care about who he recruits. He needs to get players to buy in and function like the upper-tier teams do in the B1G West or they’ll own him as long as he’s here

I'll be critical in year 4...that is when this redshirted class will be developed on the lines. Of course...the lines will determine whether we win or not. You can't speed up the process with developing 300+ pound uglies...either you have them or you don't. Bo fell into a historic DT, and had one historic defense. After that the wheels slowly fell off.

 

[Wasker77]

the National narrative on Nebraska is silence. No one respects our program anymore. They love the nostalgia but that’s where it ends. No one thinks one way or another. If there is some kind of consensus on our program needs to make Scott Its ride or die, it’s because they think we are a hopeless cause. And maybe we are

the narrative inside the program better think Scott is their Ride or Die cause he is. If Scott fails then the program failed and everyone tied to it

I live in Eastern Washington. It is definitely Washington State Cougar country with a growing vocal group of Washington Husky fans. As a Nebraska fan I get a lot of "What happened to Nebraska? They use to be good" or "Boy! I sure remember watching Nebraska in the OLD days". So yes I to believe Nebraska has lost a big chunk of it's national relevancy. Last week a good friend who is a big Cougar fan asked me if I was still a Scott Frost and Bill Moos fan? I answered, "Yes, it is just going to take some time to get back on track".

 

[Harry Caray]

Wrong...Oregon early this decade did...with HCSF on staff. Oregon had recruiting classes that averaged between 15-21 depending on the services. They were field goal from winning the national title with said classes. Times have changed but it is possible...

Fair enough, but Oregon had the 11th best class in 2007 and played for a National Championship 3 years later. They had the #9 class in 2011, and again played for a National Championship 3 years later. There is a strong correlation there.

But a big part of Oregon's success was that they ran a unique system that was hard to prepare for in one week (much like Osborne in the 90s). Now everyone runs a similar system and the Oregon offense is not unique. Chip Kelly is finding this out the hard way at UCLA.

Frost's class last year was 15th, which was pretty good, but we're sitting at 33rd this year with mostly 3-star guys left on the board. That's not going to get it done.

 

[Solana Beach Husker]

Frost had one good year at UCF... a program that experienced a lot of success before and after Frost. UCF was a recruiting goldmine. He was OC at an Oregon school with a built in system - making any OC successful.

Maybe... just maybe .... he’s not the coach all Nebraska fans want so hard for him to be. Sort of reminds me of Steve Alford... tossing players under the bus and ‘it’s not my fault.’

I don’t think Frost will get you past 8-9 wins... same as what Bo did..

You aren't stepping out on a limb....there are only a few programs that get past 9 wins...and most of those fall back to earth in a year. Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Georgia....they are the only teams out of 120+ that can claim to get past 9 wins on a regular basis. Once the power 5 stop playing and paying cupcakes then the standard will become 6-7 wins just like the NFL...try to win more than you lose. Every year, every team has 3 cupcakes and another 3 teams that are in major transition....then they have to win a few close games to get to 9...but they never really had a chance at the title. The entire sport is a joke, there is no parity, and the rules pushed by the elite in the SEC and Big 10 have made it nearly impossible for schools in poor recruiting areas to ever have a chance. Scholli limits, coach limits, time limits all hurt the teams outside the top 10...5-10 teams will always get 60% of the talent...the other 100 teams fight for the other 40% it spreads out and we get the same effin teams in the playoff every year.

 

[dand84]

The view is that the area is backwards thinking, has no talent, and has little innovation outside fans showing up mindlessly to games.

Color me shocked. The left coast thinks fly over country is backwards. Aren't you late for your avocado/guava enema?

 

[Harry Caray]

Apparently you haven’t looked at the ACC or the PAC-12 recently. Outside of a few outliers those conferences are garbage. With the exception of Clemson, Utah and maybe Oregon the BigTen West looks pretty solid against the ACC and the PAC-12.

We lost to the worst team in the Pac-12 this year. I believe the Pac-12 was 3-0 against the Big Ten this year.

I agree that the ACC is garbage this year (outside Clemson). But other than Ohio State, the Big Ten is pretty average too.

 

[B1G RED RULES]

The national narrative, and the narrative within programs is that Scott Frost is a great coach. He went undefeated when placed at an inferior school but with good talent. His coaching staff is also responsible for that success. He is the national coach of the year.

Nationally it is Nebraska that is the problem. The view is that the area is backwards thinking, has no talent, and has little innovation outside fans showing up mindlessly to games. The narrative is going to be "If Scott Frost can't fix it, nobody can". Nebraska fans think we have this shining jewel that coaches have ruined while the national narrative has become that Nebraska is the place that coaches go to die. This is dangerous and worrying, and all you negative nancies better hope he gets this thing done because every fired coach just pushes this perception.

Care to share your thoughts on Matt Campbell and Iowa State? I know - they have superior 3 star talent and Iowa State has a much better perception and deeper resources than Nebraska, but that being said, how has Campbell managed to get his team to bowl games?

 

[B1G RED RULES]

Yes, and that was expected. Only 2 years as a head coach before coming here. That is extremely young as a head coach at the P5 level.

I would argue we will not know what Frost becomes for at least another 5 or 7 years. By then he will have cycled through an entire class (freshman to graduation) and everything system wise will be built with a solid foundation and culture.

So is Matt Campbell is just a better learner - or is it due to Iowa State being packed with talent and superior resources compared to Nebraska?

 

[bradjens]

Some of it is just the fact that demographics have changed. Big population shift to the south and west. Some kids where not even born yet the last time Nebraska was really a blue blood. But nation press and TV always will like Nebraska and mich no matter how bad they are. That still helps recruitment . but Nebraska , Iowa , have very small populations and fewer and fewer kids are playing FB. For Nebraska to be good again they need the walk on program to uptick like the old days. Iowa gave away 3 walkons scholarships after the game. The FG kicker Lou Garza finalist D back who intercept the ball and a Online man
Nebraska still has the advantage of one FB in state.

it’s hard for Iowa and Iowa state to compete along with UNI for in state recruits so advantages goes to Nebraska. Cold weather FB you have to be physical like you where under Osborne. Nebraska was my second favorite team growing up because Iowa sucked. I wish you all would have not jumped conferences. Wish you all a great holiday season !