Frost Interview 5/16
- Thread starter Mavric
- Start date
Why skeptical? (honest question, I'm interested) We've talked a great deal in the last year about how significant of a jump year 2 is for new coaches, but especially for new coaches that eventually turn a program around. Having a full recruiting cycle to fix issues, and a staff/athletes that now know your schemes is huge. Big reasons year 2, across the board, sees about a 2 game average jump in wins, and that's even bigger at the more high profile institutions.
The year 2 effect is a big reason I think this team, if it has a good summer, can surprise this year. Bringing the entire staff accelerates this process a great deal, as does bringing in some important newcomers in early and having more opportunities for instruction due to recent NCAA rule changes.
grandpasknee
All-Conference
You speak the truth indeed. But I'm forcing myself to look at baby steps. If we can win 6 (or even 5) but look like a dog that belongs in the fight, and there is no quitting, I'll be happy this first year.
MichiganDad3
All-American
I think 2019 is a minimum of 9 wins. This year I am very uncertain. Having a full staff transfer helps, but this team was bad last year. Our strength coach had to reduce the workouts, something he had never had to do before. Bo won 9 every year. Frost is better than Bo.
Landlord
Banned
What a time to be alive, where the way we consume news/info is that it was first uttered on a radio station, then digested into a number of sound bytes on twitter, then embedded in a thread on a messageboard.
BRB going to link this thread on the huskers reddit page to add another degree of separation :lol:
BRB going to link this thread on the huskers reddit page to add another degree of separation :lol:
What we need to see is all of this momentum surrounding Frost to continue. As we all know, that doesn't always happen with such hot hires. One way that can happen that doesn't necessarily involve winning is to develop star power. We saw that in the spring game with Martinez. Maybe it's him, maybe someone else, but the stories are just waiting to be written with a coach this hot. Imagine if Lamar Jackson got 6 picks....
I am I
All-Conference
Frost knows and see’s things we don’t. He ain’t pumpin sunshine.
If he knew it would be year three or four he’d say so.
There’s talent here and he knows it. Once he gets hIsq system in place and it’s self perpetuating, watch out.
I think he plans on being here a long long time and he KNOWS....it’s only the beginning of this year, of what’s to come....
25 year reign
If he knew it would be year three or four he’d say so.
There’s talent here and he knows it. Once he gets hIsq system in place and it’s self perpetuating, watch out.
I think he plans on being here a long long time and he KNOWS....it’s only the beginning of this year, of what’s to come....
25 year reign
4skers89
All-Conference
People have touched on my two main reasons for skepticism.
I've observed our team quitting or not caring if they get blown out for many years now. Under Bo it was almost like their goal was to get to the magical 9 wins and as long as they could get there, no reason to put too much effort into the games where it would be difficult to win. Under Riley, quitting and half effort were common resulting in a season not seen in 60 years. From the players perspective they've learned there is no consequences to losing. Our fans still showed up in force to games. Players stayed on scholarship, some got their degrees all of which they would get if they were benched for poor performance. Getting benched would really only matter if a player had aspirations for a pro career which as we've seen lately, we've had very few NFL level players. My point is that coaches have limited tools at their disposal. Even if Frost could yank scholarships or run players off that's not his style. I believe how Frost will change attitudes will be through encouragement, challenging each player to reach their full potential and providing immediate feedback where effort is lacking or correcting technique or execution errors. Getting back to winning games will provide further encouragement since winning is more fun than losing. Getting to the point where winning becomes the goal regardless of opponent is going to require another level change in attitude where they must believe they can win. Part of that is developing or recruiting enough talent where each player believes that they along with their teammates have the ability to win every time they step onto the field. Part of that (which is a necessary step) is to be competitive in every game. Part is having the desire for excellence and making sacrifices to play at a high level.
From the sound of it, strength and conditioning was severely lacking under Riley. So we have upperclassmen that should be playing a lot the next couple of seasons that haven't been working out properly for 3 years. Gaining strength takes time, that's just how it works. Two off-seasons won't make up for the past 3 years.
Considering where we are starting (last season) and what needs to happen I believe we'll get back to 9 wins year 2. We aren't in the AAC so I'm not expecting UCF results. Hopefully year 2 will meet my expectations which are to be competitive and play hard to the end in every game. If that gets 9 or more wins, great. If they do meet those expectations in year 2 then I would say year 3 will be a dangerous team.
Making Chimichangas
Banned
Edit: I am disagreeing about your 6 wins comment only...just wanted to clarify.
Nebraska has 7 home games. I think they go at least 6-1. Of the remaining 5 road games, I think 2-3 at the minimum. That puts us at 8-4 which is not what we want, but after 4-8 last year would be a great step and improvement. I truly believe this team is capable of winning every game they play this year, but 8-9 wins is probably more realistic. If I am wrong and we only get 5-6 then so be it. But I try not to concede any game as a loss before it is played. Which admittedly puts me in a bind because of the rebuild job Coach Frost is doing. And it is a rebuild of the players minds mostly (OL notwithstanding) and getting them to believe in themselves and their abilities.
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@4skers89, thanks for the follow-up. Great points.
I thought one of the greatest things we saw from spring practices wasn't the coaches interviews, it was from the player interviews. The buy-in is there. Some of these guys have a chance to play beyond Saturdays and realize this staff can help make that happen. We saw a lot of respect shown, and a more serious tone. I noted in what became the Scott Frost megathread last year how UCF players postgame reflected the message of Frost, whereas the Riley ones very much did not. Even though we've only been through spring, we already see that change taking place. Attitude and overall culture can be remarkably easy to change once a few peers buy in because it snowballs so easily, especially amongst the young.
As you mentioned so well, bodies are sometimes harder to change than minds. For example, when I watched the offensive line during the spring game, I saw emerging technique and real thought in angles and leverage, but I also saw linemen too slow to get to the second level or not getting out in front of screens. No doubt in my mind our overall talent level needs to continue to improve, and while a good winter conditioning program was nice, they need an even better summer as a team to be prepared to execute what needs to be executed.
I thought one of the greatest things we saw from spring practices wasn't the coaches interviews, it was from the player interviews. The buy-in is there. Some of these guys have a chance to play beyond Saturdays and realize this staff can help make that happen. We saw a lot of respect shown, and a more serious tone. I noted in what became the Scott Frost megathread last year how UCF players postgame reflected the message of Frost, whereas the Riley ones very much did not. Even though we've only been through spring, we already see that change taking place. Attitude and overall culture can be remarkably easy to change once a few peers buy in because it snowballs so easily, especially amongst the young.
As you mentioned so well, bodies are sometimes harder to change than minds. For example, when I watched the offensive line during the spring game, I saw emerging technique and real thought in angles and leverage, but I also saw linemen too slow to get to the second level or not getting out in front of screens. No doubt in my mind our overall talent level needs to continue to improve, and while a good winter conditioning program was nice, they need an even better summer as a team to be prepared to execute what needs to be executed.
4skers89
All-Conference
Credibility is really the only magic wand that Frost has. Because of his results as a player and what he accomplished as a coach at UCF, when he tells a player "If you want to be good, do this", the player should believe it and buy-in should never be an issue. The problem is the "If you want to be good" part which goes to attitude. The players still have to work hard to perfect what the coaches want them to do. So with players that buy-in, how do you change attitudes so that players are motivated to put in the work? How do you develop a winning culture? The only answer I came up with is players relearning that winning is much more fun than losing and embracing wanting to win. I suppose pride in the program is another motivator which Nebraska born players have a lot of. Desire to play at the next level would be another motivator. I think what you are suggesting is that a few players that buy-in and have a drive to excel will apply peer pressure, holding teammates accountable which I agree is another motivator. I won't put much stock into what the players say until they start showing it on the field. Currently we've got players that won't even throw a decent block. I don't think it's because they don't know how, they simply aren't willing to make the small sacrifice of risking injury to do basic things a football player should do. I watched all of the interviews, players and coaches. I took more interest in what the coaches said because of their credibility. For me, the player interviews are just talk (for now).