I know there are lots of Frost threads but I have been trying to digest the highlights of what others have said. I may have missed a few arguments but I think these are the most commonly cited. Please add or subtract others.
1. He’s a Nebraskan and understands the culture. Maybe so, but he also chose a bad Stanford program over a top NU program as a player and only came home when it was apparent he didn’t fit Walsh’s West Coast Offense.
2. He would stay until retirement, if wanted. Maybe, but he might also look to a bigger job as he left Nebraska once.
3. He will turn things around by year 3, unlike Riley. That seems like a huge reach. Didn’t we think Turner would quickly improve KU after his similar, immediate successful Buffalo experience? As a guy with only two years as a HC, it will take time to get high caliber assistant coaches and to develop recruiting contacts in the 500 mile radius.
4. He will bring back the toughness lacking since the 2000’s began. Maybe so, but it’s hard to forget that he apparently provided little resistance when LP dragged a former girlfriend from Scott’s apartment by her hair down three flights of stairs. And while that is probably mostly an old, cheap shot, of much more relevance to the toughness question is that he does seem to be more intrigued by Oregon’s Chip Kelly up tempo, wide open offense than NU’s toughest guy on the block approach.
5. He has taken a terrible UCF program and made them very good quickly. It is true UCF was awful in 2015 but they were in a BCS bowl as recently as 2014, so it is reasonable to think he didn’t face the rebuilding challenges that say Turner did at Buffalo or even Frank did at Ohio.
6. He may be a great offensive innovator like TO. Or he may be temporarily succeeding with warmed over up tempo Chip Kelly schemes that will eventually fail.
Although the focus is clearly on the HC position, I’m more concerned about the AD hiring. If we get the right AD, he/she will get the right coach. There were lots of people who thought NU should have hired Gill —and probably still do — but he proved that his success at a smaller program didn’t immediately translate to a Power 5 school. It’s hard not to wonder if the same blinders are being applied now.
It’s going to be a wild ride here again, unfortunately. That much, I’d bet on.
1. He’s a Nebraskan and understands the culture. Maybe so, but he also chose a bad Stanford program over a top NU program as a player and only came home when it was apparent he didn’t fit Walsh’s West Coast Offense.
2. He would stay until retirement, if wanted. Maybe, but he might also look to a bigger job as he left Nebraska once.
3. He will turn things around by year 3, unlike Riley. That seems like a huge reach. Didn’t we think Turner would quickly improve KU after his similar, immediate successful Buffalo experience? As a guy with only two years as a HC, it will take time to get high caliber assistant coaches and to develop recruiting contacts in the 500 mile radius.
4. He will bring back the toughness lacking since the 2000’s began. Maybe so, but it’s hard to forget that he apparently provided little resistance when LP dragged a former girlfriend from Scott’s apartment by her hair down three flights of stairs. And while that is probably mostly an old, cheap shot, of much more relevance to the toughness question is that he does seem to be more intrigued by Oregon’s Chip Kelly up tempo, wide open offense than NU’s toughest guy on the block approach.
5. He has taken a terrible UCF program and made them very good quickly. It is true UCF was awful in 2015 but they were in a BCS bowl as recently as 2014, so it is reasonable to think he didn’t face the rebuilding challenges that say Turner did at Buffalo or even Frank did at Ohio.
6. He may be a great offensive innovator like TO. Or he may be temporarily succeeding with warmed over up tempo Chip Kelly schemes that will eventually fail.
Although the focus is clearly on the HC position, I’m more concerned about the AD hiring. If we get the right AD, he/she will get the right coach. There were lots of people who thought NU should have hired Gill —and probably still do — but he proved that his success at a smaller program didn’t immediately translate to a Power 5 school. It’s hard not to wonder if the same blinders are being applied now.
It’s going to be a wild ride here again, unfortunately. That much, I’d bet on.
