Link: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/article205199249.html
There's a Big Red revival underway at Nebraska thanks to Scott Frost's return
by Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star
LINCOLN - Since the end of Nebraska's football season, the Cornhuskers have hired a wildly popular coach, landed an unexpectedly solid recruiting class and sold out their annual spring game.
It's almost a shame the Huskers have to play this fall. How can football feel any better than it does right now?
Scott Frost, a hire straight out of central casting, has changed the aura.
A Nebraska native, the program's last national championship quarterback and groomed as a coach by some of the most successful men at the college and pro levels, Frost arrived from Central Florida to revive a program coming off its worst season in decades.
As spring football practice opens and the Cornhuskers return to the field, the giddiness has not subsided.
A call for reaction to the Frost hire was issued through social media to the KC Nebraska Alumni Chapter. And the dozens who responded aren't taking a wait-and-see approach.
Six parts.
Frost knows what he's getting into to. He understands the enormity of the task and the expectations of a fan base that longs for a competitive program.
"The things that made Nebraska special haven't gone anywhere," Frost said. "We just need to tap back into them. There's a unity of purpose with the president of the university, the athletic director, the football coaches to players to fans, everybody pulling in the same direction, understanding what the mission is, what the identity of the place is."
Reshaping an identity and mission are central to the cause, and Nebraska doesn't corner the market on such qualities as recruiting the right athletes, playing with passion, dedication and toughness.
But straying from those ideals is often cited by Huskers trying to explain how the winningest program of the final 30 years of the 20th century is barely in the top 20 for victories since 2000.
When Tom Osborne-picked replacement Frank Solich was fired after the 2003 season, Bill Callahan was brought in to modernize the offense and the defense didn't keep up. In came Bo Pelini, who won at an acceptable rate, but couldn't quite get the Cornhuskers to a championship level .... and carried a temper that led to some embarrassing moments.
Nebraska swung the other way in personality with good-natured Mike Riley, an unexpected hire from Oregon State. He bottomed out with a 4-8 record last season and was fired after the school had ushered out the man who hired him, athletic director Shawn Eichorst.
The long view suggests the Bob Devaney-to-Osborne coaching handoff was one of the smoothest in the game's history, from a two-time national champion coach to a three-time winner, although it took a while for Osborne to get there.
The job now belongs to that coach everyone wanted.
"I understand the weight of the job and the opportunity presented to us and how much happiness and pride in our state depends on our football program," Frost said. "The best thing I can do is shut all that out and just put my head down, do the best job I can and make the football team what it should be."
So what should Nebraska football be? For starters, more than what it has been.
The Cornhuskers have been playing football in various conference divisions since 1996 and finished first in three of the next four years. The 1999 team won the Big 12 championship, the program's 22nd league title in 37 seasons. But there have been no conference-title trophies since then.
So, there's a start. Compete with your neighbors, and lofty aspirations can follow.
"It's been difficult to watch," said Ed Stewart, a linebacker and captain of the 1994 national championship team. "There's no reason why Nebraska shouldn't consistently compete for a division championship."
"And if you can compete for a division championship, it gives you a chance for a conference title, and if you can win that, you're in a good place for national consideration."
As a player, Frost transferred to Nebraska for the 1995 season, missing Stewart by a year. But Stewart, the Big 12's senior associate commissioner for football, has followed Frost's career -- 59 games over five NFL seasons and coaching stops at Kansas State, Northern Iowa, and Oregon before his first head coaching position and two seasons at Central Florida.
Stewart believes Frost's the guy.
"I think he's going to have all the traditional elements Nebraska is based on: the unity, work ethic, being physical," Stewart said. "But he's going to have a little bit of the new-wave style from his experience at Oregon and Central Florida."
That style took shape under Chip Kelly in Eugene, where Frost was the Ducks' wide receivers coach before becoming their offensive coordinator for three years. Oregon ranked in the top five nationally in scoring offense each of those seasons.
At Central Florida, Frost took over a program that ranked 126th in scoring. The Knights improved to 66th his first season and led the nation last year at 48.2 points per game.
"We're going to recruit the right kids to fit this offense," said running backs coach Ryan Held, a teammate of Frost's at Nebraska. "I think as innovative as anyone in the country."
It's an approach that borrows from Frost's old college coaches, Osborne and Bill Walsh at Stanford, who won three Super Bowls with the 49ers; coaches he worked for, such as Kelly and Mark Helfrich at Oregon; and two guys Frost said don't get enough credit for his success: Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris.
They were on the defensive staff at Tampa Bay, Frost's final NFL stop. In 2006, Morris joined Kansas State's staff as a defensive coordinator under Ron Prince and got Frost a job as a graduate assistant coaching the secondary.
Once Frost's coaching career got underway, Tomlin -- "the best position coach I ever had," Frost said -- remained in constant contact as Frost rose through the ranks.
"When I got the job at Central Florida," Frost said, "(Tomlin) probably called me a dozen times that first month and a half on his way to work, talking to me about being a first-time head coach and got me thinking about things I might not have thought of."
"I'm so grateful to both of those guys."
Frost's decision to coach Central Florida through its Peach Bowl appearance with Auburn raised eyebrows around college football and further endeared him to his new team.
Coaches often do not stick around. Or they are no longer welcome by their previous school once their decision to leave has been established.
But Frost and his staff juggled both jobs, preparing the Knights while recruiting for the Huskers. One 24-hour period saw Frost work with his team in Orlando in the morning, fly to Nebraska for a recruiting visit, fly to Fresno, California for another recruit and return to Florida for a practice the next morning.
Other coaches -- Frost brought his entire staff to Lincoln -- were similarly stretched.
"People talked a lot about it," said Held, who played at Blue Valley Northwest High. "But it wasn't a statement thing. It was the right thing to do for the kids at UCF."
"At the end of the day, it's about the kids and not leaving them on an island. We wanted to finish the job for them. How many times do you see a team get its butt kicked because of a coaching change?"
Central Florida put together a 34-27 victory to complete a 13-0 season and earn a No. 6 ranking in the final Associated Press poll. The school claimed a national championship as college football's lone unbeaten team and was the lone program to beat the school (Auburn) that defeated both College Football Playoff finalists (Alabama and Georgia).
That success seemed to validate the juggling act by Frost and his staff, exhausting as it was.
The Knights were putting the finishing touches on their bowl victory when the Davis twins, Nebraska defensive linemen Carlos and Khalil from Blue Springs, were helping a friend move. They had taped the bowl game and would watch that night.
But their father, Carl, couldn't wait to send them some video highlights, especially of the sacks. Six in all.
"Starting with the one just before halftime," Khalil Davis said.
Two Central Florida defenders were given credit for a sack of Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham, but about five Knights got there simultaneously on a terrific play call.
Improving Nebraska's offense has fans excited, but the Davis twins were stoked about the entire package from the time they first heard about the hire. Having a coach that understands Nebraska and its traditions is essential to the Husker fan base. But seeing what Frost and his staff accomplished at Central Florida has even greater resonance with the players.
The Davises contacted some of the Knights when the hire was announced and were sold.
"They told us we were getting a great coach and staff," Khalil Davis said. "And it's only been a few weeks, but I felt like we've already been challenged."
"People outside the program can't see it, but players know it. Even just in lifting, holding each other more accountable. Attitudes have changed. We can already see the improvement."
Nebraskans have known Frost since he was a gifted athlete as a youth and high school star. The staff of his high school team at Wood River in south-central Nebraska included his dad Larry, the head coach, and his mother Carol, an assistant.
The parents switched it up for track. Carol, a former national discus champion, was the head coach and Larry was an assistant. Scott won state championships for both parents.
In a move that stunned the state, Scott wanted to learn a pro-style offense and selected Stanford and Walsh over Nebraska. He spent two years behind Steve Stenstrom, and Walsh had Frost play safety as a sophomore. That year, the Cornhuskers won the first of their successive national championships and Frost, unhappy about his position, transferred back to home.
But his time in Lincoln didn't start well. In the Cornhuskers' second game, Nebraska lost 19-0 at Arizona State, a bizarre game in which they fumbled six times, got burned for three safeties, and squandered a 26-game winning streak. Still, Nebraska recovered and didn't lose again until the inaugural Big 12 championship game, to Texas, missing a chance to capture a third straight national title.
A year later, Frost struggled in an early game against, ironically, Central Florida, and boos rained down from fans who take great pride in their presence -- 361 consecutive sellouts -- and decorum.
All was forgiven when Frost led Nebraska to an undefeated season and share of the 1997 national title.
Entering the bowl games that year, Nebraska was ranked behind Michigan, which defeated Washington State 21-16 in the Rose Bowl.
Frost had already decided that if the Cornhuskers defeated Peyton Manning-led Tennessee in the Orange Bowl, he would publicly make a postgame case for the national championship. The Huskers won, big, 42-17 after rolling up 340 rushing yards in the second half.
"I actually disobeyed Coach Osborne," Frost said. "He didn't want us talking about it or addressing it."
But Frost did. On the podium, into a CBS microphone, Frost spoke his mind.
More than two decades later, Frost is back to make another statement.
"I'm going to do the best job I can to make this football team what it should be," he said.
There's a Big Red revival underway at Nebraska thanks to Scott Frost's return
by Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star
LINCOLN - Since the end of Nebraska's football season, the Cornhuskers have hired a wildly popular coach, landed an unexpectedly solid recruiting class and sold out their annual spring game.
It's almost a shame the Huskers have to play this fall. How can football feel any better than it does right now?
Scott Frost, a hire straight out of central casting, has changed the aura.
A Nebraska native, the program's last national championship quarterback and groomed as a coach by some of the most successful men at the college and pro levels, Frost arrived from Central Florida to revive a program coming off its worst season in decades.
As spring football practice opens and the Cornhuskers return to the field, the giddiness has not subsided.
A call for reaction to the Frost hire was issued through social media to the KC Nebraska Alumni Chapter. And the dozens who responded aren't taking a wait-and-see approach.
"Take Christmas, Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, the 4th of July and Halloween -- mix all the things you love about them together -- that's how much joy I felt." - Jamie Green, Prairie Village, Class of 1993
"If Scott Frost at Nebraska was a stock, I would invest my entire net worth in that stock." -- Michael Bean, Kansas City, Class of 2007
"It's the best thing to happen to Nebraska in 20 years." - Bob Cantin, Olathe, Class of 1976
So significant was the hire, in fact, that the Omaha World-Herald recently published a six-part series, “The Return of Scott Frost.""If Scott Frost at Nebraska was a stock, I would invest my entire net worth in that stock." -- Michael Bean, Kansas City, Class of 2007
"It's the best thing to happen to Nebraska in 20 years." - Bob Cantin, Olathe, Class of 1976
Six parts.
Frost knows what he's getting into to. He understands the enormity of the task and the expectations of a fan base that longs for a competitive program.
"The things that made Nebraska special haven't gone anywhere," Frost said. "We just need to tap back into them. There's a unity of purpose with the president of the university, the athletic director, the football coaches to players to fans, everybody pulling in the same direction, understanding what the mission is, what the identity of the place is."
Reshaping an identity and mission are central to the cause, and Nebraska doesn't corner the market on such qualities as recruiting the right athletes, playing with passion, dedication and toughness.
But straying from those ideals is often cited by Huskers trying to explain how the winningest program of the final 30 years of the 20th century is barely in the top 20 for victories since 2000.
When Tom Osborne-picked replacement Frank Solich was fired after the 2003 season, Bill Callahan was brought in to modernize the offense and the defense didn't keep up. In came Bo Pelini, who won at an acceptable rate, but couldn't quite get the Cornhuskers to a championship level .... and carried a temper that led to some embarrassing moments.
Nebraska swung the other way in personality with good-natured Mike Riley, an unexpected hire from Oregon State. He bottomed out with a 4-8 record last season and was fired after the school had ushered out the man who hired him, athletic director Shawn Eichorst.
The long view suggests the Bob Devaney-to-Osborne coaching handoff was one of the smoothest in the game's history, from a two-time national champion coach to a three-time winner, although it took a while for Osborne to get there.
The job now belongs to that coach everyone wanted.
"I understand the weight of the job and the opportunity presented to us and how much happiness and pride in our state depends on our football program," Frost said. "The best thing I can do is shut all that out and just put my head down, do the best job I can and make the football team what it should be."
So what should Nebraska football be? For starters, more than what it has been.
The Cornhuskers have been playing football in various conference divisions since 1996 and finished first in three of the next four years. The 1999 team won the Big 12 championship, the program's 22nd league title in 37 seasons. But there have been no conference-title trophies since then.
So, there's a start. Compete with your neighbors, and lofty aspirations can follow.
"It's been difficult to watch," said Ed Stewart, a linebacker and captain of the 1994 national championship team. "There's no reason why Nebraska shouldn't consistently compete for a division championship."
"And if you can compete for a division championship, it gives you a chance for a conference title, and if you can win that, you're in a good place for national consideration."
As a player, Frost transferred to Nebraska for the 1995 season, missing Stewart by a year. But Stewart, the Big 12's senior associate commissioner for football, has followed Frost's career -- 59 games over five NFL seasons and coaching stops at Kansas State, Northern Iowa, and Oregon before his first head coaching position and two seasons at Central Florida.
Stewart believes Frost's the guy.
"I think he's going to have all the traditional elements Nebraska is based on: the unity, work ethic, being physical," Stewart said. "But he's going to have a little bit of the new-wave style from his experience at Oregon and Central Florida."
That style took shape under Chip Kelly in Eugene, where Frost was the Ducks' wide receivers coach before becoming their offensive coordinator for three years. Oregon ranked in the top five nationally in scoring offense each of those seasons.
At Central Florida, Frost took over a program that ranked 126th in scoring. The Knights improved to 66th his first season and led the nation last year at 48.2 points per game.
"We're going to recruit the right kids to fit this offense," said running backs coach Ryan Held, a teammate of Frost's at Nebraska. "I think as innovative as anyone in the country."
It's an approach that borrows from Frost's old college coaches, Osborne and Bill Walsh at Stanford, who won three Super Bowls with the 49ers; coaches he worked for, such as Kelly and Mark Helfrich at Oregon; and two guys Frost said don't get enough credit for his success: Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris.
They were on the defensive staff at Tampa Bay, Frost's final NFL stop. In 2006, Morris joined Kansas State's staff as a defensive coordinator under Ron Prince and got Frost a job as a graduate assistant coaching the secondary.
Once Frost's coaching career got underway, Tomlin -- "the best position coach I ever had," Frost said -- remained in constant contact as Frost rose through the ranks.
"When I got the job at Central Florida," Frost said, "(Tomlin) probably called me a dozen times that first month and a half on his way to work, talking to me about being a first-time head coach and got me thinking about things I might not have thought of."
"I'm so grateful to both of those guys."
Frost's decision to coach Central Florida through its Peach Bowl appearance with Auburn raised eyebrows around college football and further endeared him to his new team.
Coaches often do not stick around. Or they are no longer welcome by their previous school once their decision to leave has been established.
But Frost and his staff juggled both jobs, preparing the Knights while recruiting for the Huskers. One 24-hour period saw Frost work with his team in Orlando in the morning, fly to Nebraska for a recruiting visit, fly to Fresno, California for another recruit and return to Florida for a practice the next morning.
Other coaches -- Frost brought his entire staff to Lincoln -- were similarly stretched.
"People talked a lot about it," said Held, who played at Blue Valley Northwest High. "But it wasn't a statement thing. It was the right thing to do for the kids at UCF."
"At the end of the day, it's about the kids and not leaving them on an island. We wanted to finish the job for them. How many times do you see a team get its butt kicked because of a coaching change?"
Central Florida put together a 34-27 victory to complete a 13-0 season and earn a No. 6 ranking in the final Associated Press poll. The school claimed a national championship as college football's lone unbeaten team and was the lone program to beat the school (Auburn) that defeated both College Football Playoff finalists (Alabama and Georgia).
That success seemed to validate the juggling act by Frost and his staff, exhausting as it was.
The Knights were putting the finishing touches on their bowl victory when the Davis twins, Nebraska defensive linemen Carlos and Khalil from Blue Springs, were helping a friend move. They had taped the bowl game and would watch that night.
But their father, Carl, couldn't wait to send them some video highlights, especially of the sacks. Six in all.
"Starting with the one just before halftime," Khalil Davis said.
Two Central Florida defenders were given credit for a sack of Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham, but about five Knights got there simultaneously on a terrific play call.
Improving Nebraska's offense has fans excited, but the Davis twins were stoked about the entire package from the time they first heard about the hire. Having a coach that understands Nebraska and its traditions is essential to the Husker fan base. But seeing what Frost and his staff accomplished at Central Florida has even greater resonance with the players.
The Davises contacted some of the Knights when the hire was announced and were sold.
"They told us we were getting a great coach and staff," Khalil Davis said. "And it's only been a few weeks, but I felt like we've already been challenged."
"People outside the program can't see it, but players know it. Even just in lifting, holding each other more accountable. Attitudes have changed. We can already see the improvement."
Nebraskans have known Frost since he was a gifted athlete as a youth and high school star. The staff of his high school team at Wood River in south-central Nebraska included his dad Larry, the head coach, and his mother Carol, an assistant.
The parents switched it up for track. Carol, a former national discus champion, was the head coach and Larry was an assistant. Scott won state championships for both parents.
In a move that stunned the state, Scott wanted to learn a pro-style offense and selected Stanford and Walsh over Nebraska. He spent two years behind Steve Stenstrom, and Walsh had Frost play safety as a sophomore. That year, the Cornhuskers won the first of their successive national championships and Frost, unhappy about his position, transferred back to home.
But his time in Lincoln didn't start well. In the Cornhuskers' second game, Nebraska lost 19-0 at Arizona State, a bizarre game in which they fumbled six times, got burned for three safeties, and squandered a 26-game winning streak. Still, Nebraska recovered and didn't lose again until the inaugural Big 12 championship game, to Texas, missing a chance to capture a third straight national title.
A year later, Frost struggled in an early game against, ironically, Central Florida, and boos rained down from fans who take great pride in their presence -- 361 consecutive sellouts -- and decorum.
All was forgiven when Frost led Nebraska to an undefeated season and share of the 1997 national title.
Entering the bowl games that year, Nebraska was ranked behind Michigan, which defeated Washington State 21-16 in the Rose Bowl.
Frost had already decided that if the Cornhuskers defeated Peyton Manning-led Tennessee in the Orange Bowl, he would publicly make a postgame case for the national championship. The Huskers won, big, 42-17 after rolling up 340 rushing yards in the second half.
"I actually disobeyed Coach Osborne," Frost said. "He didn't want us talking about it or addressing it."
But Frost did. On the podium, into a CBS microphone, Frost spoke his mind.
"I just want to say this about the national championship," he said. "If all the pollsters honestly think after watching the Rose Bowl and watching the Orange Bowl that Michigan could beat Nebraska, go ahead and vote Michigan by all means.
"But I don't think anybody out there with a clear conscience can say that Nebraska and especially that great man Tom Osborne doesn't deserve a national championship for this -- at least a share."
Later that evening, the final championship recognized by The Associated Press and Coaches' polls revealed a split. Michigan finished first in the AP Poll but was jumped by the Cornhuskers in the Coaches' Poll. Frost had helped Nebraska win a national title on the field and with voters. "But I don't think anybody out there with a clear conscience can say that Nebraska and especially that great man Tom Osborne doesn't deserve a national championship for this -- at least a share."
More than two decades later, Frost is back to make another statement.
"I'm going to do the best job I can to make this football team what it should be," he said.
