Luke McCaffrey

[All Hail Herbie]

Without question, this coaching staff will get 5 years to demonstrate whether their vision works.   Coach Frost gets this latitude because of his ties to the state and program, his coaching success as an assistant and head coach elsewhere, and the lack of true alternative head coaching options at this point.  

There is no need to pare off his first year or explain away prior missteps.  When you accept the job for $5 million annually, you own the product / result.  

For those of us who are skeptical, it is because the trend line right now is not positive.  Based on 3 poor seasons, and many missed opportunities, that is an objective evaluation.  He has 24 months to turn this around or the program will simply move on and wish him luck elsewhere. 

 

[hunter49]

well, i guess there will be no big changes in coaching?

but we are losing many players to the portal.

has Frost lost this team?

 

[BigRedBuster]

well, i guess there will be no big changes in coaching?

but we are losing many players to the portal.

has Frost lost this team?

How does the number of players leaving this year compare to other programs?  I really don't care about two years ago.  

 

[BigRedBuster]

Just for some context.

Great context and what I've been trying to say.  I really don't care about attrition two years ago or even last year.  That happens sometimes with a coaching change.  This year we seem to be on par with a lot of other programs and so I'm not alarmed at the number leaving.  Also, the majority of the ones leaving were not going to be major contributors next year.

 

[HANC]

Exactly. Compare apples to apples. Discount the previous years as SF was cleaning house and kids that didn't buy in. Yes, a few other schools changed coaches, but did they inherit a dumpster fire in a football city like Lincoln? 

 

[HuskerNation1]

So a QB is only successful if they win games? Isn't there an entire sideline of other people that directly contribute to that as well? 

Of course wins are not the only variable, and it does take a full team effort, but I strongly disagree with those who immediately dismiss Luke as never having potential to be a good QB.  I seem to recall a freshman named Taylor Martinez who had great speed and athleticism but had a horrible passing motion. This is not saying Luke could get to a level that Taylor was able to perform, but Luke's underlying speed and athleticism are something I would have liked to see Nebraska be able to utilize in future seasons.

And to my other point, both QBs stunk this year, and AM has been in the program longer than Luke and should have performed better and had better decision making.  I don't believe Frost or Verduzco have done a great job developing either of them.  

 

[HuskerNation1]

So did pretty much every other coach hired in 18', of which there were plenty.  It's kind of amazing to look through the list at the best hires of that year and see how many are already out the door or struggling though.  No one would have expected Chip Kelly to be a non-factor in year 3.    Mullen/Fisher are trending in the right direction.  Taggart, gone from FSU.  Joe Moorehead, gone from MSU.  Chad Morris, gone from Arkansas.  Kevin Sumlin, gone from Arizona.  Jeremy Pruitt, gone from TN.  Matt Luke, gone from Ole Miss.  

Great post.  So many other top programs moved on to a new staff after 3 years of underperformance.  

 

[HuskerNation1]

Without question, this coaching staff will get 5 years to demonstrate whether their vision works.   Coach Frost gets this latitude because of his ties to the state and program, his coaching success as an assistant and head coach elsewhere, and the lack of true alternative head coaching options at this point.  

There is no need to pare off his first year or explain away prior missteps.  When you accept the job for $5 million annually, you own the product / result.  

For those of us who are skeptical, it is because the trend line right now is not positive.  Based on 3 poor seasons, and many missed opportunities, that is an objective evaluation.  He has 24 months to turn this around or the program will simply move on and wish him luck elsewhere. 

This is a good post, and while I personally think Year 4 must be the year Frost turns the program around, you may be right that he will get a 5th year.  With that said, I think it's important for Frost not to just get to a .500 season in Year 4 (or 5) but we really need to be a couple games above .500.  I think the bar has gotten so low with this program that some may accept .500 as a great thing when in reality that should be the floor and only happen every great once in a while.

 

[J-MAGIC]

Great post.  So many other top programs moved on to a new staff after 3 years of underperformance.  

Which is very dumb and bad for the overall health of the program. And most of those other situations are not really applicable to Frost and Nebraska: Taggart and Moorehead inherited good situations relative to their programs they were supposed to continue and the team got demonstrably worse right away under their leadership; Sumlin, Morris, and Pruitt inherited average/bad situations relative to their programs and cratered them further; and Luke was a sacrificial lamb for the NCAA sanctions. 

Frost inherited the worst situation relative to his program, burnt everything to the ground because he knew he had the leash from the administration, and has steadily improved the team each year.

 

[runningblind]

I reserve judgement on Frost until year 5 or 6.

If it takes until year 6 before we know how things are going, there will be a lot of apathy in Husker fandom.  I think we will know the actual state of the program come December after a normal year again.  If they go 4-8 once more, we know this isn't working out.  If they manage 7-5 + I can believe things are on the right track.  The wins have to come this year,  or recruiting will die, support will dwindle and there will be many more transfers.  

 

[HuskerNation1]

Which is very dumb and bad for the overall health of the program. And most of those other situations are not really applicable to Frost and Nebraska: Taggart and Moorehead inherited good situations relative to their programs they were supposed to continue and the team got demonstrably worse right away under their leadership; Sumlin, Morris, and Pruitt inherited average/bad situations relative to their programs and cratered them further; and Luke was a sacrificial lamb for the NCAA sanctions. 

Frost inherited the worst situation relative to his program, burnt everything to the ground because he knew he had the leash from the administration, and has steadily improved the team each year.

I disagree that Frost has improved the team each year and I think that is why many fans are frustrated with him.  We have seen some steady improvements on defense yet gone backwards on offense and special teams. He inherited a team that was 19-19 in the prior 3 seasons and was under .500 the year before Frost took over.  We have continued to have sub-500 seasons under Frost.  The record is not actually the thing that concerns me the most. It's the culture and continuous mental mistakes we have seen in nearly every game including too many penalties, botched snaps, turnovers and poor game management.  If that has not shown improvement in the first 3 years I am not sure how that magically improved drastically in year 4.  

If Frost had no ties to Nebraska (like Mike Riley) I guarantee there Frost would be on the extreme hot seat.  He is getting the benefit of the doubt with his ties to Nebraska.

 

[skers83]

This is a good post, and while I personally think Year 4 must be the year Frost turns the program around, you may be right that he will get a 5th year.  With that said, I think it's important for Frost not to just get to a .500 season in Year 4 (or 5) but we really need to be a couple games above .500.  I think the bar has gotten so low with this program that some may accept .500 as a great thing when in reality that should be the floor and only happen every great once in a while.

.500 happened once with Solich and he was gone. I know he had a year after that and there were other circumstances involved too but that one .500 year basically sealed his fate. 

 

[Husker03]

If Frost had no ties to Nebraska (like Mike Riley) I guarantee there Frost would be on the extreme hot seat.  He is getting the benefit of the doubt with his ties to Nebraska.

It is not just the ties, it is the entire package. It is the coaching resume combined with his age, his NFL playing resume, and also his cultural fit. Yes, there is a small part of, "He is from the state and played well here," but I really think that is just a small part of it. Matters not to argue though, the fact is the "fit" is better than you could write up in a story book. Which is why even the Frost haters better pray on all that is holy that he gets the wins heading this way because this is as good as it gets here.  This is our lightning in a bottle and if the glow leaves, we will be left holding an empty bottle.

 

[TheSker]

I disagree that Frost has improved the team each year and I think that is why many fans are frustrated with him.  We have seen some steady improvements on defense yet gone backwards on offense and special teams. He inherited a team that was 19-19 in the prior 3 seasons and was under .500 the year before Frost took over.  We have continued to have sub-500 seasons under Frost.  The record is not actually the thing that concerns me the most. It's the culture and continuous mental mistakes we have seen in nearly every game including too many penalties, botched snaps, turnovers and poor game management.  If that has not shown improvement in the first 3 years I am not sure how that magically improved drastically in year 4.  

If Frost had no ties to Nebraska (like Mike Riley) I guarantee there Frost would be on the extreme hot seat.  He is getting the benefit of the doubt with his ties to Nebraska.

Did Mike Riley ever have an undefeated season or named national coach of the year?

 

[Mavric]

I seem to recall a freshman named Taylor Martinez who had great speed and athleticism but had a horrible passing motion.

Then you recall incorrectly because his throwing motion was pretty good at first.  It wasn't until after he got injured that things went sideways.

I disagree that Frost has improved the team each year and I think that is why many fans are frustrated with him. 

There are a bunch of things that show he has improved the team.  The fact that you choose to ignore them doesn't mean they don't exist.