I read an interview today with Barry Alvarez where he says, among other things, that Frost is a good coach and that Nebraska fans just need to be "patient." Unlike some on on here, I kind of like Barry and so I think his words should be taken seriously. However, all that said, the "Frost problem" remains and provoked some thoughts on my part.
First, I think Frost is a good football coach. But good football coaches come in different types. There are some coaches who are very good at taking a talented team and putting together a winning program. There are other coaches who are very good at turning programs around - - programs that lack talent and are a dumpster fire when the new coach comes in. Frost did a good job at Central Florida but he inherited a talented roster and had a great QB. But he has, so far, failed at Nebraska and so it would seem that he is a coach who is good at taking talent and turning them into winners but maybe not so good at turning around a dumpster fire. On the other hand maybe he is good at turning things around but the dumpster fire was so severe that it will take five or six years to turn this around. Who knows? Furthermore, an argument can be made that by this time Frost has upgraded the talent sufficiently to put a better product on the field than what we have seen. Penalties, turnovers, poor special teams, transfers of our best players ... these are bad signs. The program, in terms of talent, is no longer a dumpster fire and it wasn't last year either. So why the undisciplined play? Why the transfers?
With the hiring of a new AD, and assuming it is not Davison, if Frost has another losing season pressure will mount to fire him. But Barry counsels patience. But how long can we wait? Because even if Frost IS a good coach the fact is that in modern college football you only have a small window of opportunity, for better or for worse, to turn a team around. If you don't do it in four years, the negative recruiting ratchets up, national publicity becomes negative, and an ethos of irrelevance and losing settles in. How can we keep up our recruiting in such an environment? So I ask again: how long do we wait? I HATE the coaching carousel and rolling the dice on yet another new coach is no sure bet. Unless that coach is a huge splash hire which, given the state of our program, is highly unlikely. No great coach in his right mind will want to come to a school where, apparently, coaches go to ruin their careers. So if Frost cannot turn us around this year, who really can? It is a real dilemma.
I honestly don't know what to think other than the fact that if we win this year and turn things around all of this talk will go away. It is my hope that this season is the true turning point. But I have my doubts. In modern football you need a QB who is either a great QB or a great game manager for the talent that surrounds him and does not make mistakes that kill the team. AMart does not fit into either category. So here we sit... and wait. Again.
First, I think Frost is a good football coach. But good football coaches come in different types. There are some coaches who are very good at taking a talented team and putting together a winning program. There are other coaches who are very good at turning programs around - - programs that lack talent and are a dumpster fire when the new coach comes in. Frost did a good job at Central Florida but he inherited a talented roster and had a great QB. But he has, so far, failed at Nebraska and so it would seem that he is a coach who is good at taking talent and turning them into winners but maybe not so good at turning around a dumpster fire. On the other hand maybe he is good at turning things around but the dumpster fire was so severe that it will take five or six years to turn this around. Who knows? Furthermore, an argument can be made that by this time Frost has upgraded the talent sufficiently to put a better product on the field than what we have seen. Penalties, turnovers, poor special teams, transfers of our best players ... these are bad signs. The program, in terms of talent, is no longer a dumpster fire and it wasn't last year either. So why the undisciplined play? Why the transfers?
With the hiring of a new AD, and assuming it is not Davison, if Frost has another losing season pressure will mount to fire him. But Barry counsels patience. But how long can we wait? Because even if Frost IS a good coach the fact is that in modern college football you only have a small window of opportunity, for better or for worse, to turn a team around. If you don't do it in four years, the negative recruiting ratchets up, national publicity becomes negative, and an ethos of irrelevance and losing settles in. How can we keep up our recruiting in such an environment? So I ask again: how long do we wait? I HATE the coaching carousel and rolling the dice on yet another new coach is no sure bet. Unless that coach is a huge splash hire which, given the state of our program, is highly unlikely. No great coach in his right mind will want to come to a school where, apparently, coaches go to ruin their careers. So if Frost cannot turn us around this year, who really can? It is a real dilemma.
I honestly don't know what to think other than the fact that if we win this year and turn things around all of this talk will go away. It is my hope that this season is the true turning point. But I have my doubts. In modern football you need a QB who is either a great QB or a great game manager for the talent that surrounds him and does not make mistakes that kill the team. AMart does not fit into either category. So here we sit... and wait. Again.
