For Frost to come in and address his players rather bluntly in regards to things running poorly and their conditioning being flat out subpar, a fine line may have needed to be walked. That said, Brown feels how Nebraska’s new head football coach approached the situation was best for laying the foundation for his new culture.
“You have to be honest and direct with these kids. I think the previous staff babied them a lot. I heard so many different things about practices and how a lot of the players were babied, even with coach Pelini. Coach Frost is not going to baby the kids. He’s going to tell them exactly what they need to do. He’s going to point out exactly where they need to improve, and if it affects you in an adverse way, maybe you’re not built for their system.”
Brown would expand on the idea of program standards. That Bo Pelini had one, Mike Riley had one, but the standard that existed in the ’90s was head and shoulders above what past regimes tried to implement. That they simply didn’t understand the level of commitment and effort.
He pointed out that was a major reason why frustration existed among past players. They were familiar with this model of taking things to the absolute limit and that wasn’t being upheld for one reason or another.
Frost has gone on record saying that he wants to bring in about 150 players on his roster suggesting that 10 coaches could easily make such practices efficient. Brown not only agrees, he remembers practices like that during his time as a player.
“When I was on defense, at one of our stations there were three groups of offenses coming at us after each play would end. We had to hurry up and get back before the next play getting snapped off. I’m watching other stations where the offense is running the option, throwing plays, it’s so fast-paced. There were four or five stations going on and everybody’s rotating in, everyone’s blocking hard, everyone’s doing their job, everyone’s competing.”
This appears to be another throwback to what Frost’s mentor felt was one way to get a major leg up on his opponents.
“Coach Osborne knew the power of repetition and psychology. That’s one of his gifts. He knew if he could get 1,000 more reps than his opponent, he’ll be that much more prepared whether (using) a first-string or backup. They’re going to be ready to perform at a high level. That’s why you saw second-string quarterbacks, backup cornerbacks, and defensive linemen come in while (playing) as if it was the norm. It wasn’t something new to them.”
Nebraska football fans are obviously ecstatic about the Scott Frost era at Nebraska. Some are already predicting nine wins, winning the Big Ten West division and even capturing the school’s first conference championship in forever and a day in Frost’s first year. While Brown does feel that the Huskers will surprise, he’s not quite ready to put the Big Red in the national title picture…yet.
“I truly believe they can win about eight games, give or take. They’re going to shock a lot of people. Here’s the thing: I don’t watch players. I watch coaches. That’s how you know when people win. That’s how Nick Saban keeps winning. That’s how these different coaches across the country keep winning,” Brown said.
“Coaches are the reason why people win. Urban Meyer goes in his first year after following Luke Fickell and it looked like Ohio State wasn’t going to be good. His first year, they went undefeated.
Scott Frost’s system is so hard to stop if he gets the right quarterback in place, everybody buying in. You see all these speedsters coming in at the wide receiver spot, good running backs. I don’t think a lot of people in the Big Ten are ready for what Nebraska’s going to do this year.”
Suffice it to say one more former Husker is on the Scott Frost bandwagon. While we must be careful when comparing Frost to coaches like Meyer and one of the greatest coaches that college football has ever seen in Saban, Brown does have a legitimate point. Ohio State may have had elite talent waiting in the wings under Fickell, but Meyer was the one who made them believe they could perform at their best.
When Saban showed up at LSU, the Tigers went 8-5 in his first year. His first year at Alabama wasn’t anything to write home about either. However, he would go 10-3 at LSU and 12-2 with the Crimson Tide in his second year at each school.
Is Frost ready to make his mark as the next top coach in college football? From Brown’s perspective, it appears like only a matter of time.