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Walk-On Night

We all know that the walk-on program won’t ever be like it was in the 90’s with kids getting offers from smaller schools. But i feel Frost is the only coach out there who can even get these kids to consider it again because of the excitement he brings back to the program, and maybe the parents of these kids will sell the walk-on opportunity a little more now that Frost is in charge. If I were a parent, I’d tried to sell my kid on playing for Frost a little harder than taking schollies to other schools...if they can afford to do that.
 
I love this idea. Tom Osborne thrived on gritty hard nosed players from Nebraska who wanted to play for Big Red. Scott Frost is laying a blue-print to bring Nebraska back!
 
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What made Nebraska dangerous back then, might be starting to come back at least a little bit. Last night alone they got like 7 preferred walk on commits from kids from Nebraska who had other lower level Division 1 offers. Plus Frost got his QB last night. Nebraska could be back before most realize it

And I'm terrified mostly because it will make our be great once every 5 years harder, with 1 more team to worry about in the WestLaughingLaughing
 
Did I read someone post that Frost would be running his practices like TO used to, where there would be 4 or 5 different units going live at the same time? That is truly what we need to get back to. I know it makes injuries more likely, but it also builds the physicality of the program, and also builds depth that is ready to play at any moment.
 
We all know that the walk-on program won’t ever be like it was in the 90’s with kids getting offers from smaller schools. But i feel Frost is the only coach out there who can even get these kids to consider it again because of the excitement he brings back to the program, and maybe the parents of these kids will sell the walk-on opportunity a little more now that Frost is in charge. If I were a parent, I’d tried to sell my kid on playing for Frost a little harder than taking schollies to other schools...if they can afford to do that.
Frost could sell ice cubes to Eskimos
 
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I love reading stories like this!

I posted about this a year or two ago, but there was a great, extensive article online about "Nebraska: The Last Team To Own The SEC" back in like 2014 when everyone thought the SEC was unbeatable. Despite being a silly premise, it did do a good job of breaking down what made Nebraska so great.

They gave like 3 top reasons (strength and conditioning, unique offense with brutal defense, etc), and one of them was "Cannon Fodder." Meaning, Nebraska developed a magnificent walk-on program full of eager Nebraskans (and kids from surrounding states) that wanted to come here just for the honor of playing in the uniform and possibly seeing the field one day, even during a blow-out. The idea was, work hard, bust your ass against the scholarship players, and you become a damn good player in your own right and might even see some action as you develop. It was a win-win; develop amazing local talent with little risk, and light a fire under the ass of the scholarship guys so they don't get too comfy resting on their laurels.

Now, this was a different era, when these kinds of kids now get offers to play at other small schools, but to see that it might be coming back, even a little bit, means the program is regaining its health. GBR!
 
Here is that section. They also make mention of "a former Nebraska quarterback is currently the OC at Oregon..." because Frost was doing that when this was written.

  • Continuity: Devaney and Osborne.That’s the complete list of coaches who were in charge for all but the final game of the 17-1-1 run.And Osborne was Devaney’s offensive coordinator, so the transition between the two was as seamless as could be expected.Nebraska’s attack certainly was not static over three decades, but the basic framework was consistent.
  • Walk-ons: How does a program practice a highly physical offense?How does it ensure that its defense gets reps against conventional offenses when its team runs an unconventional attack?Well, it helps to have scout teams full of cannon fodder, players who dream of playing for Nebraska and are perfectly content with being beaten on by the starters all week just for the privilege of wearing the Nebraska uniform on Saturdays in Lincoln.And if the high school programs in the state happen to run the college team’s offense so the cannon fodder arrives knowing the system?Even better.As much as fans in the South love (and have always loved) their local teams, no state was quite organized around the principle of fealty to the local program the way that Nebraska was for its Huskers.
  • Strength and conditioning: Think of Boyd Epley as a Billy Beane-type figure for college football.Nebraska was ahead of the market in terms of physical preparation of its players, just like the A’s were ahead of the market in emphasizing the importance of on-base percentage and de-emphasizing the focus on physical tools.
 
One thing people arent mentioning yet is Frosts impact on current walk ons already here.
Riley did get some very good walk on players here, some of whom were very young this year.
Frost and co are a shot in the arm to them as well, for sure. They will be going into winter conditioning with a rejuvinated attitude and drive. They have the chance to impress a new staff with zero biases, a staff that internally wants the walk on program and knows what it means.
 
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