ESPN: How Scott Frost is transforming Nebraska

Saunders

Saunders

Heisman Trophy Winner
Somewhere between despair and revival exists a period of understanding. At Nebraska, not five months into the Scott Frost coaching regime, the Cornhuskers inched closer this spring to the all-important threshold at which recognition of the task at hand has arrived.

In the 16 seasons since Nebraska last played on the big stage in college football, too often the point of entry to get back on top began on some faraway horizon, with no road visible to reach it.

Frost's first set of practices in Lincoln featured the largest crowd nationally this year for a spring game and marked "the first step in a journey for us," said the 43-year-old coach, a former star Nebraska quarterback who led UCF to a 13-0 finish in 2017.

At least, finally, they can see the path. That's understanding. That's a start.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/23339094/how-scott-frost-transforming-nebraska-cornhuskers
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Defensive end DaiShon Neal, at 6-foot-7, has added nine pounds of muscle and jumped from 275 pounds to 292 in this first offseason under Zach Duval, Frost's strength coach and another Nebraska graduate.
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I wish we could see the winter strength testing results from the past few years.  I'll bet over the next couple of years we'll see some good improvement in strength and speed.  They used to release those winter test results before Pelini's time.  

 
Nebfanatic said:
We have found ourselves much more in the national spotlight with Frost as our coach.
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Oh I don't know, Pelini had us there too, Jack Hoffman, Taylor Martinez for Heisman, top 10 ranking (before tanking), 1 second, 3 conference championship games for positives. Sideline tantrums and blowouts for negatives. 

 
Toe said:
Eh, it's Mitch Sherman. Writing about Nebraska is a big part of his job description.
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Yeah, Mitch is a local guy, but at least ESPN is wanting him to write a story about Nebraska.  He had been more on the Big 12 beat recently, after NU's struggles.

 
After schools like FSU, Bama, ND, USC, Michigan, etc. had an assigned ESPN blogger (beyond the conference writers like Ubben for B12 and B10s Rittenburg and Bennett - before getting laid off) pumping out stories for those programs. Nebraska fans complained enough to ESPN, who assigned their most knowledgeable writer/fan, Sherman, to write more Nebraska stories. We got what the vocal fanbase wanted and really, it probably brought more job security to Sherman - even though I believed he was a good writer already. 

 
Savage Husker said:
After schools like FSU, Bama, ND, USC, Michigan, etc. had an assigned ESPN blogger (beyond the conference writers like Ubben for B12 and B10s Rittenburg and Bennett - before getting laid off) pumping out stories for those programs. Nebraska fans complained enough to ESPN, who assigned their most knowledgeable writer/fan, Sherman, to write more Nebraska stories. We got what the vocal fanbase wanted and really, it probably brought more job security to Sherman - even though I believed he was a good writer already. 
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Did people really complain to ESPN that Mitch Sherman needs to be writing more Nebraska stories, and do you think it really had an impact on why Sherman is writing this story about Nebraska?

As far as I know, Mitch is still covering the Big 12, and will do additional work on Nebraska when there is reason to (as he lives in Omaha and he can easily cover the team).

 
ColoradoHusk said:
Did people really complain to ESPN that Mitch Sherman needs to be writing more Nebraska stories, and do you think it really had an impact on why Sherman is writing this story about Nebraska?

As far as I know, Mitch is still covering the Big 12, and will do additional work on Nebraska when there is reason to (as he lives in Omaha and he can easily cover the team).
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I don’t recall specifically which year or date it was, but it was during Pelini’s tenure. Husker fans were pretty vocal on social media about schools who had more content, but not one for Nebraska. It wasn’t a solution based complaint, it was like, “hey, why do these schools have this, but we don’t.” The demand was enough that ESPN assigned a writer to specifically blog about Nebraska more frequently than what the conference bloggers were doing. And, as you stated, because he is a Nebraska boy and is locally based, Sherman was assigned.

There used to be “(mascot) nation” pages and there was a more recruiting content than what it is today. I don’t visit ESPN as often as I used to, but they are now listed under the “CFB Nation” tab on the “NCAAF” page. We are one of 17(?) programs to have a dedicated blog. My guess is that the cuts and layoffs have altered the content we see today.

edit to add: I don’t think this or any future article is a result of Frost because of what I said above. As much as I dislike ESPN for a number of reasons, the credit was deserved years ago and now we have a legit coach where we aren’t talking ourselves into liking. 

 
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Savage Husker said:
I don’t recall specifically which year or date it was, but it was during Pelini’s tenure. Husker fans were pretty vocal on social media about schools who had more content, but not one for Nebraska. It wasn’t a solution based complaint, it was like, “hey, why do these schools have this, but we don’t.” The demand was enough that ESPN assigned a writer to specifically blog about Nebraska more frequently than what the conference bloggers were doing. And, as you stated, because he is a Nebraska boy and is locally based, Sherman was assigned.

There used to be “(mascot) nation” pages and there was a more recruiting content than what it is today. I don’t visit ESPN as often as I used to, but they are now listed under the “CFB Nation” tab on the “NCAAF” page. We are one of 17(?) programs to have a dedicated blog. My guess is that the cuts and layoffs have altered the content we see today.
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I actually talked to Mitch Sherman (I've known him since we were little kids and we went to high school together) on the Friday night before Minnesota game in 2013.  There was an alumni outing at a bar on that Friday night, and he was going to be a guest on a radio show from the bar.  We were talking about how he left the OWH for ESPN.com, to cover football recruiting, but then after a few months he basically was switched to the beat reporter for Nebraska football (which was the same job he had at the OWH).  I think that gig lasted a few years, and then they moved him to the Big 12 beat and football recruiting in the past year or two.  He has still done articles on Nebraska from time to time, since he still lives in Omaha, and still has a lot of contacts there.

 
Reoccurring theme from Frost is patience in the process.  It will take time.  I expect better results this season than last regardless of the 2nd hardest schedule per some services next year.  It'll take time to change the culture.  Change the work ethic.  Make players feel accountable to coaches and each other.  Recruiting, conditioning, implement full schemes etc.....BUT when it all gets done, IMHO it will be a product that everyone can be proud of.  A program built the right way with no short cuts.... 

 
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