Very well-written and addresses all the issues in the program:
LINCOLN, Neb. — With the noise and pressure increasing in intensity from camps in support of Scott Frost and against the fourth-year coach, Nebraska ended the speculation Monday, issuing a statement of support for Frost and announcing that he would return to the sideline in 2022.
Frost is 15-27 overall and 0-12 against ranked teams after No. 5 Ohio State beat Nebraska 26-17 Saturday at Memorial Stadium, dropping the Huskers to 3-7 and 1-6 in Big Ten.
“Scott has laid out a clear plan and vision for the future of Nebraska football and has agreed to a restructured contract,” athletic director Trev Alberts said in a statement. “I am excited to continue to work together with Scott. We share a love of Nebraska and this football program and want nothing more than (for) Nebraska football to again compete for championships.”
Terms of the restructured contract were not immediately available. Frost would have been owed $20 million if fired this year, per his 2019 contract extension. He is signed through 2026.
As Alberts and Nebraska move ahead with Frost into a fifth season, are administrative leaders choosing to see what they want with the coach and his program? Or is the progress real and something upon which Frost can build?
“This is going to pop at Nebraska,” Frost said Saturday. “It just is. We’re doing too many good things right.”
The coach made his case last week, repeating points in a tone that grew more urgent during the Huskers’ current four-game skid. After the latest defeat, Frost said “I bleed for this” in noting his disappointment in the continued losses. If Nebraska played in every game with the same zest it showed against the Buckeyes, Frost said, it would have a “couple more wins.”
“That’s the spirit Nebraska fans want to see,” he said.
The Huskers in 2021 have lost four games by a combined 22 points against teams ranked in the top 10 at the time of kickoff. Six of their seven defeats have come by one score; Frost is 5-18 at Nebraska in games decided by eight points or fewer.
“I appreciate the confidence Trev Alberts has shown in me to continue to lead this program,” Frost said in the Nebraska statement. “I love this state, this football program and am honored and humbled for the opportunity to serve as the head coach any my alma mater.
“Our immediate focus is on the two games ahead against Wisconsin and Iowa and the opportunity in front of us to build momentum heading into the offseason and 2022. I understand we have not won at a high enough level, but I am confident our football program will continue to take steps forward.”
The 46-year-old coach will continue to face pressure to make changes to his offensive staff after inconsistency plagued these Huskers. Despite a defense that has often met lofty expectationsunder coordinator Erik Chinander, woes on offense, a lack of clutch play and inadequacies in the kicking game have led Nebraska to equal Frost’s first team in 2018 for the worst 10-game start at the school since 1958.
The Huskers are 1-6 in conference play, last in the Big Ten West. Barring a surge to finish this season against Wisconsin and Iowa or a roster makeover through the transfer portal, Nebraska is likely set to open next season forecasted to finish near the bottom of its division.
Beyond the losses and mistakes on the field, some problems within Frost’s program date to an atmosphere of unaccountability that existed under former athletic director Bill Moos. Moos reached a settlement to leave in Junewith 18 months left on his contract.
Among the concerns, according to sources close to program:
• Lagging organization and attention to detail. The issues went largely unchecked by Moos until Stadium reported in March that Nebraska was looking to back out of this September’s game against historic rival Oklahoma. That move, approved by Frost but quickly set aside after it was made public, served as an embarrassing episode for Nebraska.
With two years of experience as a head coach before arriving in Lincoln, Frost could have benefited from the guidance of an attentive athletic director, sources said. Moos generally allowed Frost to operate free of oversight. For example, he did not intervene last December as Frost let Nebraska players vote to bypass an opportunity to play in a bowl game. The decision created division in the locker room and within the coaching staff.
In that vacuum, the management style of Frost’s former chief of staff and longtime confidante, Gerrod Lambrecht, created a dysfunctional environment and resentment among some staffers and players.
Lambrecht left the football program in August to launch Athlete Branding and Marketing, a company that has helped consolidate resources for name, image and likeness opportunities and match Nebraska athletes with new money-making ventures.
Alberts, who was hired as athletic director in July, has taken a dramatically different approach than Moos. A former Nebraska linebacker, Alberts met with Frost weekly this fall and kept watch on the program by attending practice and talking with staff and players.
• The lack of an apparent plan for success around recruiting and roster maintenance in the upcoming offseason. The losing has taken a toll. Nebraska counts nine commitments in its 2022 class after the addition Saturday of receiver Jalil Martin, a three-star prospect out of Chicago without a 247Sports Composite ranking.
None of the Huskers’ pledges rate among the top 500 prospects nationally. The class is ranked last in the Big Ten and 77th nationally.
Frost has said the group will remain small and that the Huskers plan to fill holes through the transfer portal who “can get you over the hump.” But this year, after Nebraska mined the portal in the offseason in search of three or four impact newcomers, just one transfer from the 2021 cycle, receiver Samori Toure, has made a key statistical contribution.
The recruiting outlook turned dark early this year as offensive linemen Deshawn Woods, tight ends Micah Riley-Ducker and Kaden Helms and linebacker Devon Jackson, all four-star prospects from Omaha’s Metro Conference, declined to visit Nebraska, committing to Missouri, Auburn, Oklahoma and Oregon, respectively.
The 2022 class, in fact, may not need to stay small. Nebraska is simply not attracting interest from top prospects. And it stands to lose some standouts with remaining eligibility among a group that includes quarterback Adrian Martinez, tight end Austin Allen, cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, nose tackle Damion Daniels and center Cameron Jurgens.
• Continued roster attrition. From the 2017 to 2020 recruiting classes, Nebraska has lost 41 scholarship signees. Thirty-three played less than 100 snaps for the Huskers. Sixteen did not play at all. Among the group of 41 are 12 receivers and eight linebackers, pointing to problems with evaluation and development.
• An imbalance of talent and experience between the offense and defense, traced to difficulty with retention and growth of offensive players at every position group other than tight end.
Frost arrived at Nebraska with a strong reputation as an offensive innovator. His UCF team in 2017 ranked second nationally in yards per offensive play at 7.46. Nebraska’s 2021 unit has regained much of the explosiveness for which Frost-designed offenses are known, but such boom-or-bust habits don’t win in the Big Ten. The Huskers are scoring 28.6 points per game, 65th nationally.
Frost in the spring and summer downplayed discrepancies evident between the offense and defense. But in several games this year, notably against Oklahoma and Ohio State and in second halves against Michigan State and Minnesota, the Huskers’ defense has done everything possibly to win the game short of throwing touchdown passes themselves — but has come up short in each situation.
• A stubbornness on the part of Frost to fully address special teams. The third phase matters in this conference. The Big Ten’s propensity to punish teams for missteps that might have rated as minor during Frost’s stints at Oregon or UCF has exposed an apparent blind spot in Lincoln.
After the kicking-game struggles of 2019, Frost opted to hire an analyst to fill the role of special teams coordinator instead of using a dedicated, on-field coach. It didn’t work as planned. But Frost doubled down in early 2021, adding special teams to the plate of outside linebackers coach Mike Dawson.
The Huskers have increased their commitment to develop special teams into a strength. It’s still not there, though, evident by several September mistakes in the return game and a litany of kicking problems. Nebraska’s third kicker of the season missed two field goals last week. A 13-yard punt in the second quarter led to a touchdown in the Buckeyes’ win at Memorial Stadium.
“You’ll never get me to run down any one kid,” Frost said. “These are my guys. I love them. But it isn’t special teams right now. It’s specialists.”
Nebraska also faces pressure related to an ongoing NCAA investigation into Frost’s program for possible improper use of analysts — the revelation of which led to an uncomfortable, impromptu Alberts-Frost news conference during preseason camp in August.
The NCAA-record 381-game sellout streak survives, even it is on life support after the school looked to donors to purchase unsold tickets this year for the benefit of underprivileged kids. Nebraska later offered a two-for-one ticket promotion ahead of the Purdue game.
And there’s the matter of how Nebraska ranks this season, according to one metric, as the unluckiest team nationally of the past two decades.
What if it’s not luck?
Through it all, many of the Huskers have stayed dedicated to fix what is broken.
“Our lapses have been killing us — (at) quarterback, running back, receiver, tight end, O-line,” tight ends coach Sean Beckton said last week. “Our lapses have caused us not to execute. … I could count four to five every single week.”
Simply through more polished execution, Beckton said, Nebraska could have reached seven or eight wins, with goals of an attractive bowl game in reach.
Instead, they’re fighting for pride.
“We’re going to keep playing, doing our jobs as hard as we can,” senior defensive end Ben Stille said. “That’s the main thing at this point. We came back for a sixth year, a lot of these guys did, and we didn’t come back to give up on these last two games.”
After that, it’s onward for Frost, the still embattled coach, and all who stay with him at Nebraska in 2022.
LINCOLN, Neb. — With the noise and pressure increasing in intensity from camps in support of Scott Frost and against the fourth-year coach, Nebraska ended the speculation Monday, issuing a statement of support for Frost and announcing that he would return to the sideline in 2022.
Frost is 15-27 overall and 0-12 against ranked teams after No. 5 Ohio State beat Nebraska 26-17 Saturday at Memorial Stadium, dropping the Huskers to 3-7 and 1-6 in Big Ten.
“Scott has laid out a clear plan and vision for the future of Nebraska football and has agreed to a restructured contract,” athletic director Trev Alberts said in a statement. “I am excited to continue to work together with Scott. We share a love of Nebraska and this football program and want nothing more than (for) Nebraska football to again compete for championships.”
Terms of the restructured contract were not immediately available. Frost would have been owed $20 million if fired this year, per his 2019 contract extension. He is signed through 2026.
As Alberts and Nebraska move ahead with Frost into a fifth season, are administrative leaders choosing to see what they want with the coach and his program? Or is the progress real and something upon which Frost can build?
“This is going to pop at Nebraska,” Frost said Saturday. “It just is. We’re doing too many good things right.”
The coach made his case last week, repeating points in a tone that grew more urgent during the Huskers’ current four-game skid. After the latest defeat, Frost said “I bleed for this” in noting his disappointment in the continued losses. If Nebraska played in every game with the same zest it showed against the Buckeyes, Frost said, it would have a “couple more wins.”
“That’s the spirit Nebraska fans want to see,” he said.
The Huskers in 2021 have lost four games by a combined 22 points against teams ranked in the top 10 at the time of kickoff. Six of their seven defeats have come by one score; Frost is 5-18 at Nebraska in games decided by eight points or fewer.
“I appreciate the confidence Trev Alberts has shown in me to continue to lead this program,” Frost said in the Nebraska statement. “I love this state, this football program and am honored and humbled for the opportunity to serve as the head coach any my alma mater.
“Our immediate focus is on the two games ahead against Wisconsin and Iowa and the opportunity in front of us to build momentum heading into the offseason and 2022. I understand we have not won at a high enough level, but I am confident our football program will continue to take steps forward.”
The 46-year-old coach will continue to face pressure to make changes to his offensive staff after inconsistency plagued these Huskers. Despite a defense that has often met lofty expectationsunder coordinator Erik Chinander, woes on offense, a lack of clutch play and inadequacies in the kicking game have led Nebraska to equal Frost’s first team in 2018 for the worst 10-game start at the school since 1958.
The Huskers are 1-6 in conference play, last in the Big Ten West. Barring a surge to finish this season against Wisconsin and Iowa or a roster makeover through the transfer portal, Nebraska is likely set to open next season forecasted to finish near the bottom of its division.
Beyond the losses and mistakes on the field, some problems within Frost’s program date to an atmosphere of unaccountability that existed under former athletic director Bill Moos. Moos reached a settlement to leave in Junewith 18 months left on his contract.
Among the concerns, according to sources close to program:
• Lagging organization and attention to detail. The issues went largely unchecked by Moos until Stadium reported in March that Nebraska was looking to back out of this September’s game against historic rival Oklahoma. That move, approved by Frost but quickly set aside after it was made public, served as an embarrassing episode for Nebraska.
With two years of experience as a head coach before arriving in Lincoln, Frost could have benefited from the guidance of an attentive athletic director, sources said. Moos generally allowed Frost to operate free of oversight. For example, he did not intervene last December as Frost let Nebraska players vote to bypass an opportunity to play in a bowl game. The decision created division in the locker room and within the coaching staff.
In that vacuum, the management style of Frost’s former chief of staff and longtime confidante, Gerrod Lambrecht, created a dysfunctional environment and resentment among some staffers and players.
Lambrecht left the football program in August to launch Athlete Branding and Marketing, a company that has helped consolidate resources for name, image and likeness opportunities and match Nebraska athletes with new money-making ventures.
Alberts, who was hired as athletic director in July, has taken a dramatically different approach than Moos. A former Nebraska linebacker, Alberts met with Frost weekly this fall and kept watch on the program by attending practice and talking with staff and players.
• The lack of an apparent plan for success around recruiting and roster maintenance in the upcoming offseason. The losing has taken a toll. Nebraska counts nine commitments in its 2022 class after the addition Saturday of receiver Jalil Martin, a three-star prospect out of Chicago without a 247Sports Composite ranking.
None of the Huskers’ pledges rate among the top 500 prospects nationally. The class is ranked last in the Big Ten and 77th nationally.
Frost has said the group will remain small and that the Huskers plan to fill holes through the transfer portal who “can get you over the hump.” But this year, after Nebraska mined the portal in the offseason in search of three or four impact newcomers, just one transfer from the 2021 cycle, receiver Samori Toure, has made a key statistical contribution.
The recruiting outlook turned dark early this year as offensive linemen Deshawn Woods, tight ends Micah Riley-Ducker and Kaden Helms and linebacker Devon Jackson, all four-star prospects from Omaha’s Metro Conference, declined to visit Nebraska, committing to Missouri, Auburn, Oklahoma and Oregon, respectively.
The 2022 class, in fact, may not need to stay small. Nebraska is simply not attracting interest from top prospects. And it stands to lose some standouts with remaining eligibility among a group that includes quarterback Adrian Martinez, tight end Austin Allen, cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, nose tackle Damion Daniels and center Cameron Jurgens.
• Continued roster attrition. From the 2017 to 2020 recruiting classes, Nebraska has lost 41 scholarship signees. Thirty-three played less than 100 snaps for the Huskers. Sixteen did not play at all. Among the group of 41 are 12 receivers and eight linebackers, pointing to problems with evaluation and development.
• An imbalance of talent and experience between the offense and defense, traced to difficulty with retention and growth of offensive players at every position group other than tight end.
Frost arrived at Nebraska with a strong reputation as an offensive innovator. His UCF team in 2017 ranked second nationally in yards per offensive play at 7.46. Nebraska’s 2021 unit has regained much of the explosiveness for which Frost-designed offenses are known, but such boom-or-bust habits don’t win in the Big Ten. The Huskers are scoring 28.6 points per game, 65th nationally.
Frost in the spring and summer downplayed discrepancies evident between the offense and defense. But in several games this year, notably against Oklahoma and Ohio State and in second halves against Michigan State and Minnesota, the Huskers’ defense has done everything possibly to win the game short of throwing touchdown passes themselves — but has come up short in each situation.
• A stubbornness on the part of Frost to fully address special teams. The third phase matters in this conference. The Big Ten’s propensity to punish teams for missteps that might have rated as minor during Frost’s stints at Oregon or UCF has exposed an apparent blind spot in Lincoln.
After the kicking-game struggles of 2019, Frost opted to hire an analyst to fill the role of special teams coordinator instead of using a dedicated, on-field coach. It didn’t work as planned. But Frost doubled down in early 2021, adding special teams to the plate of outside linebackers coach Mike Dawson.
The Huskers have increased their commitment to develop special teams into a strength. It’s still not there, though, evident by several September mistakes in the return game and a litany of kicking problems. Nebraska’s third kicker of the season missed two field goals last week. A 13-yard punt in the second quarter led to a touchdown in the Buckeyes’ win at Memorial Stadium.
“You’ll never get me to run down any one kid,” Frost said. “These are my guys. I love them. But it isn’t special teams right now. It’s specialists.”
Nebraska also faces pressure related to an ongoing NCAA investigation into Frost’s program for possible improper use of analysts — the revelation of which led to an uncomfortable, impromptu Alberts-Frost news conference during preseason camp in August.
The NCAA-record 381-game sellout streak survives, even it is on life support after the school looked to donors to purchase unsold tickets this year for the benefit of underprivileged kids. Nebraska later offered a two-for-one ticket promotion ahead of the Purdue game.
And there’s the matter of how Nebraska ranks this season, according to one metric, as the unluckiest team nationally of the past two decades.
What if it’s not luck?
Through it all, many of the Huskers have stayed dedicated to fix what is broken.
“Our lapses have been killing us — (at) quarterback, running back, receiver, tight end, O-line,” tight ends coach Sean Beckton said last week. “Our lapses have caused us not to execute. … I could count four to five every single week.”
Simply through more polished execution, Beckton said, Nebraska could have reached seven or eight wins, with goals of an attractive bowl game in reach.
Instead, they’re fighting for pride.
“We’re going to keep playing, doing our jobs as hard as we can,” senior defensive end Ben Stille said. “That’s the main thing at this point. We came back for a sixth year, a lot of these guys did, and we didn’t come back to give up on these last two games.”
After that, it’s onward for Frost, the still embattled coach, and all who stay with him at Nebraska in 2022.
